Lowering the XS11

[Hideki]

How do you lower the front of the XS11? I was going to take my forks apart and find out the old fashioned way, but before I tear apart my bike, how do you do it?

[psycoreefer]

I've read the "old school" way is to take the caps off the top of the forks, then remove the spacer thats in there above the spring and cut however much you want it lowered off the spacer, then reassemble. I'm sure this has some downsides but I'm not sure what they are, anytime you mess with stuff like that it will change the way the bike handles so be careful, and start slow, on your next ride.

Another option is there is a guy listed somewhere on here that makes "custom" length fork tubes, you could just order some shorter ones from him.

[D. P. Larmee]

It might be easier to just choke up on the tubes a bit. An inch or two is pretty easy to achieve this way.

[Hideki]

Sorry, I found the "sticky" that answered my question. I'm still gonna try that "old school" way and see how it goes

[btdtdan]

John has done this on wildkats bike. Check
with him or her.

[daddyp]

Hideki can you post a link to that thread about the forks? This is something I was also wanting to do. I have seen the manual and pm'd some folks around here concerning this subject But in all my searching I haven't stumbled on to a thread about it. It seems complicated as the spacer is in the bottom of the fork tube and you need some special tool to take the lowers & uppers apart. I started to get scared off when I read about building a special too just to take the forks apart! As for right now I have slipped the tubes down in the triples about an 1" but I can't get any more due to my handle bars. I lowered my wife's 84 700 virago like 3.5" all round by cutting 2 coils out of the back and sliding the trees down on the tube. Put some new heavy duty springs to keep the front from hitting the engine, worked pretty well.
(my Wife is barely 5')

[TopCatGr58]

Hey DaddyP and Hideki and Pyscho,

I don't remember any spacers in the STOCK forks of either Specials or Standards. With the Progressive springs for the Specials, they provide a spacer, because the specials have longer tubes, but the Prog. springs are the same length....1 size fits all, and so they were designed for the Standards, but require a 4" spacer for use in the Specials!

You don't need a special tool to get just the springs out, just need to remove the top tube cap. Oh...a special tool was suggested to be made to make it easier to put the fork cap back ON. But you could cut out a coil or so from the spring to allow it to sit down a bit for a standard. And with a coil or so removed, will be easier to put the cap back on as well!

Now, the springs have a special shaped end, so not sure about what you would want/ need to do to keep it hitting even, may require some grinding to make a flatter contact area, and may also want/need to put a large washer on the end as well!?
T.C.

[Hideki]

How do you get the top tube cap off? I didn't want to damage anything finding out how

[bikerphil]

fork caps

If you have the air forks, remove the schrader valve assembly (10mm), and use an adjustable crecent wrench. When the cap is almost off, hold a rag over it and push down so it doesn't fly off and hit you in the face. Take the weight off the front wheel before unscrewing the caps.

[daddyp]

Hay guys back with a bit of clarification. I was referring to the tool to steady the inner fork leg when disassembling the forks.(you'll have to excuse me as I have never disassembled my forks)
in the tec tips

Da-Bubble sent me a PM on his custom lowered forks and how he worked his magic
pics about half way down the page

He said that once the springs are out and the legs are removed there is a steel spacer in the bottom of the lower legs.
This tube needs to be replaced with a shortened one the length removed equals the length lowered. Also he mentioned that the top cap is much more difficult to put back on (like it's not impossible already), because the spring now sits that much higher in the top tube. This can be negated by using a progressive rated spring, nice upgrade any how. And as TC mentioned they are shorter already, unless you have a standard. It's easy to trim the PVC included with the progressive spring kit to fit at the top of the tubes leaving just enough to compress the spring slightly. You will defiantly need a manual for this one! but Da-Bubble's bike is one of the sweetest I've seen & he's got the picks of the forks right there for the whole world to see, so it must work.

[Da-Bubble]

Hay guys back with a bit of clarification. I was referring to the tool to steady the inner fork leg when disassembling the forks.(you'll have to excuse me as I have never disassembled my forks)
in the tec tips

Da-Bubble sent me a PM on his custom lowered forks and how he worked his magic
pics about half way down the page

He said that once the springs are out and the legs are removed there is a steel spacer in the bottom of the lower legs.
This tube needs to be replaced with a shortened one the length removed equals the length lowered. Also he mentioned that the top cap is much more difficult to put back on (like it's not impossible already), because the spring now sits that much higher in the top tube. This can be negated by using a progressive rated spring, nice upgrade any how. And as TC mentioned they are shorter already, unless you have a standard. It's easy to trim the PVC included with the progressive spring kit to fit at the top of the tubes leaving just enough to compress the spring slightly. You will defiantly need a manual for this one! but Da-Bubble's bike is one of the sweetest I've seen & he's got the picks of the forks right there for the whole world to see, so it must work.

Thanks for the compliment! One thing though, when you disassemble the factory fork there is a dampening spring in the bottom (not a steel spacer). The spacer stacks onto the spring making it longer not shorter. This keeps the dampening rod from sticking thru the bottom of the fork tube as far as it normally would. That lowers the ride height and makes it harder to reinstall the stock fork springs. I first cut them but later went with progressive springs. Hope this helps! Post some pics when you're done.