12.5" shock shock to a 10.5"

[dezmitchell]

Well im goin for another look for my xs.....goin bobber style guna hang the flamed out tins on the wall for now. To get the look i want i need to lower the rear end to do this im goin to replace the stock 12.5" with burly 10.5" shocks will i be running into any drive line issues here??

Also im goin solo seat route (sportster seat) and im thinkin i will sit about 3" lower just from that (i currently have the lazy boy edition of the king/queen bike seat) so by doing this i know the bike will feel way lower in the rear end/more of a rake.....As well as im lookin @ drag bars but i dont know what size to get the pull back risers.....What will work What wont.....

I will be starting my build/revamp on here soon with many picks stay tune.....

Prob guna have a lot more questions along the way also.

[jwhughes3]

sounds interesting...

you are basically going for a hardtail "look" but keeping the suspension and just lowering the rear...


I doubt that 2" lower on the shocks is going to bind your driveline - someone else may have different take, but the u-joint should be good for any size shocks you want to put on I would think.

I like the idea of a lower solo seat - can't do it on mine as I have been told by SWMBO that I shall maintain a seat for her at all times (and none others may ride!). But I think it will definitely change the character of the bike.

Post before pics and progress pics.

John

[natemoen]

Won't run in to ant issues until you hit a bump or pothole and gouge your tire. If you go that low your guna need some pretty stiff shocks!

[jwhughes3]

he could go fenderless - or a flexible plastic stub fender

That may limit the tire damage issue?


John

[crazy steve]

...will I be running into any drive line issues here??

Very possibly. This bike was designed so that at 'normal' ride height the driveshaft/u-joint is running in a more-or-less straight line. The issue of increased angle at the u-joint probably isn't a big one, but I'm not so sure at the splines at the final drive. The shaft does swing in an arc (about a 3-4 degree range between fully compressed and fully extended, with most of this in compression) when the suspension moves up and down, and the splines are cut to allow this intermittent misalignment when it does. But permanently running this near it's tolerance limit won't be good for it...

[dezmitchell]

Won't run in to ant issues until you hit a bump or pothole and gouge your tire. If you go that low your guna need some pretty stiff shocks!

as mentioned i am goin with burly shocks ....(there a brand name) and there used on the harleys so ya there a really heavy duty shock.

[motoman]

A U-joint's working angle is 4-7degrees. Straight in line at no angle WILL pound out the joint fairly quick. It has to have a slight load at a "working" angle so as not to self-destruct. Haven't a clue what that angle is in stock form or if THAT much shorter of a shock would create any sort of binding angle shortening u-joint life.

[dezmitchell]

So im going to fab up some steel plates that are 10.5" i2i and bolt them up on the bike ....From there i will rotate the driveline and check for binding. makes sence for me .....i wont be able to check for binding when the bikes susp is loaded up.

[cowboybob998]

short shocks

tell ya the problem i had with 11" shocks, they bottem out twice if ya hit a big enought hole, there is not enought travel for the shock, it will bang when you go down and it will bang when you come up, would be less wear on the frame and swing arm if just put struts on it, might as well hard tail it, its gona ride rough no mater what you do to it.

[Dragon Tamer]

I ran 10.5" shocks for a while on mine and ran into no problems with the drive line. A friend of mine has had 10.5" sportster shocks on his for several years now and has had no driveline problems either. They do bottom out a bit more but I cannot say that I ever hit the tire on the fender. I went back to the originals because the handling characteristics are far superior.

Last year Mind Webs changed out his rear shocks and we got the wrong shocks off the shelf. After we had installed them and rolled the bike off of the center stand we discovered that we had inadvertently installed a set from a Honda 90 or something like that and the bike turned itself into a hardtail. He rode the bike about 60 miles that way before we changed them back. The ride was hard on him but not the tire!

[XS1100 Newbie]

I quit worrying about lowering mine. When i can afford another seat, or pan, i will lower the seat some. For now, i will just keep with one foot down at a stop. Being Height challenged is a problem with a lot of bikes. I tend to drag the foot pegs once in awhile, so i am sure that lowering it would spoil some fun.

[dezmitchell]

I just cant stand the height anymore and i dont consider my self height challenged (im 5,11). that and i just HATE all that space between the tire and fender YUCK!!!!!.....Im on the hunt for shocks this weekend (a buddy has a TON of parts) so if i can find a set of 10.5 i will throw them on and post up some pics.

[cywelchjr]

Driveline problems are not likely, but very likely cornering ability, something these bikes are not known for anyways, will be decreased significantly.

I found that just going from the incorrect 130/70-17 rear to the correct 130/90-17 rear on mine that the cornering ability and handling improved greatly. It's a very different bike. It used to drag parts on almost any turn taken with any bit of aggressiveness, and now I can get pretty aggressive and not be dragging anything where before I couldn't even think about getting near to dragging the pegs, cause other parts were gonna drag long before the pegs, and that was with the stock shock height and 17" rear wheel.