Lowering links
 

Can anybody shed some light re: lowering links, which & how much the effect?

I have the 126MM links. They lower the back about 0.75"-0.8", but the forks need to be raised as far as they can go in the clamps. I'm getting ready to send my suspension in to have it profesionally lowered.

Good, thanks EFF. I have some Showa 49 mm twin chamber conventionls that I will be lowering to corelate proportionatly with the drop achivied in the rear with the longer pull rods. BTW are 126's the longest available?

I'd avoid the 126s. They will put a lot of leverage on the shock in the early travel forcing it to blow through quickly. I've used the 123s/124s on my '00 to bring the rear down a bit but for true lowering your better off having the shock shortened.

i used the 126. needed to respring and i warned les i had it on there when he revalved. i pushed the forks all the way up in trees (mine go up a bit farther - i have the adjustable checkpoint top triple clamp )

I honestly think that the pre '07 bikes work better with more sag, keeping the shock preload to 10mm max with a spring on the heavy side for your weight, than the longer links. The rear calms down nicely. With the links people tend to jack up the preload to meet sag and the bike is more harsh in the initial travel and moves through too fast. JMO, but works for me.

The whole exercise is going to be a compromise at best. The boy weighs 120 and stands 5 two so lowering will be first-most with perf secondary. i would like to avoid revalving but I might not have a choice.

hey wide bear.. i have a 4.8 spring and a set of the gofasters double links if you need them..
mine is perfect for me at 5'6" and the spring i got from you with the ltr 124's..
it lowered my 300 a little over a half inch.. and i put 7mm pre load on the spring and it turns great.. cannot move the forks at all, they are right on the bars.. i am pretty sure it has too much sag also, but i can touch and it turns great..

Les now has my forks and shock to be lowered on 07 250. I am 5ft 3in and have been using LTR lowering links. I put these on when bike was new. I have done OK but think being lower would only increase the fun factor. Plus as I get older [57] I need all the help I can get. This bike is so much fun to ride and somtimes I even get the chance to pass one of those young guys. Les always has good advice and eager to help.

Mr Widebear -

Les can insert a spacer in your shock to lower it and still use your existing spring. When you go too far with the links - you add leverage and need a heavier spring. He doesn't charge that much to lower bikes if you only need to go an inch or so - he started out life as a machinist making parts for boeing aerospace - he has machine tools in-house and makes up spacers to meet your exact needs. On some forks, he does a couple of simple "machine operations" to improve fork action - he doesn't tell me the exact details anymore since I spilled the beans once before - ya know, a secret is something you tell one person at a time, etc.... :)

I am 6 feet tall from the waist up and 5'4" from the waist down - short legs - so I am 5'9" and a tad vertically challenged when in the saddle. I just had my trail clearing bike shortened an inch by Les - it is an xr280 with 45mm zokes front and an ohlins rear shock. He used the existing springs and machined the fork and added a spacer for the shock - everything is competely 'reversible" if I want to take it back up an inch.

jeff