My XS

[fredintoon]

A cure for duck's disease.

Here are a couple pics of my XS....I like it but its kind of high for me, I have rear shocks all the way down are there other ways to shorten it down to my height? 5'8" - - -

Hi 'rider,
you could also get medieval on the frame, cutting and dropping the seat rails to fit a lower solo seat, but that's kinda drastic.
Or think of a training wheel.
See the member's lounge posting "Craig's list add even fred would like" and buy that $375 Velorex sidecar.
Sidecars are serious chick magnets.

[psycoreefer]

I have to disagree with you steve, aspect ratio does not effect section width of the tire, it may look wider, but it shouldn't be. a 130/90/17 breaks down like this 130: -> 130mm wide, 90: -> side wall is 90% of width = 117mm, 17: -> 17" rim. A 130/70/17 is 130 wide, 70% width = 91mm, and 17" rim.

Now there is some variation, for example some 130's are a bit wider or narrower then others, especially between brands, but a 130 won't be as wide as a 140 and some people claim that some 140's will fit. I don't think you'll have to worry about rubbing with a 130.

As for selection you just have to look around, I'm looking at Avon roadriders, 130/70/17, 5.1" width (according to avon), and a load rating of 584lbs rear and 507lbs front for a total of 1091lbs. the bike weighs what, about 600lbs? that leaves almost 500lbs for rider and gear, I'm comfortable with that as I rarely ride 2up and I'm sure I don't weight 500lbs even soaking wet in the rain with my camping gear.

[crazy steve]

I have to disagree with you steve, aspect ratio does not effect section width of the tire, it may look wider, but it shouldn't be. a 130/90/17 breaks down like this 130: -> 130mm wide, 90: -> side wall is 90% of width = 117mm, 17: -> 17" rim. A 130/70/17 is 130 wide, 70% width = 91mm, and 17" rim...

As for selection you just have to look around, I'm looking at Avon roadriders, 130/70/17, 5.1" width (according to avon), and a load rating of 584lbs rear and 507lbs front for a total of 1091lbs. the bike weighs what, about 600lbs? that leaves almost 500lbs for rider and gear, I'm comfortable with that as I rarely ride 2up and I'm sure I don't weight 500lbs even soaking wet in the rain with my camping gear.

That's why I said to check width; aspect ratio on bike tires can be flakey due to variations in how the various manufacturers measure things and with all the oddball sizes out there (sometimes only offered by one or two manufacturers) it's tough to do a straightforward comparison. In automotive, a 225/50 size will be wider than a 225/60, all else being equal. And you bring up an important point; load rating. Now, the Avon you're looking at represents a 20% reduction in load capability compared to the OEM size (584 vs 694). That's a pretty big hit and would give me pause before doing that. But that's something the individual owner/rider needs to check when changing tire size.

'78E original owner

[perurider]

Fork are already raised there's like a rubber bumper between the forks and the handlebars. touching. on another note are my forks from a midnight special? the black is either factory black or a really good paint job.

[crazy steve]

The rubber 'bumper' is just a weather cap over the preload adjuster. And no, those aren't MNS forks, just a paint job. You have matching-to-the-bike standard forks.

There is a way to lower the forks; disassemble them and install an additional rebound spring on the damper. Don't cut the main springs! That will drop the front around 2", and you can do shorter shocks in the rear.

'78E original owner