Three points: 1. When you lower either end of the bike more than the other you are changing the rake and trail parameters which changes chassis handling characteristics. If the rear ends up lower it will steer slower/harder but be more stable in a straight line. If vice versa (front lowered more), the bike will steer quicker, likely become "twitchy," and introduce a risk of dangerous oscillations at speed (tank slapper). So best not to lower the front more than the rear. 2. Lowering the forks so that travel is limited by clearance to the lower triple clamp could cause a loss of control; when you hit a big bump mid-corner; the sudden suspension bottoming will suddenly upset front tire grip. 3. I, same as you, don't care for the look of the excess fork protrusion above the top triple clamp. You might be able to move your clip-on handlebars to above the triple clamp, improve riding comfort, and the forks would then look like they were designed to protrude that way.
It has become much more stable and takes a little more effort to turn. It have not had and bottoming out issues in the suspension. It didn't take 2 inches of travel. It took maybe a half inch of travel if I remember correctly. It is pretty much how I thought it was going to be. I am glad I didn't get 2 inch lowering shocks though. I have it level now. And I would not take the front any lower to match. That would cause travel issues if I had to.
Great video, I've been looking for a video like this for the past week because I recently booked my bike and i was planning on lowering the bike so I can flat foot the bike but I was unsure about how much I should be lowering the front forks to, the lowering kit I'm getting will lower the back by 1inch so should I be lowering the front by 1inch as well?
Thanks! I don't think the front is mandatory. If you are not sure, I would do the rear first and see how you like it. I wanted to do the front because I wanted it to look lower as well as have lower seat height. It was for aesthetics as much as anything else. It does seem to handle a little different now. Based on the one day it was warm enough to ride so far, It is more planted and seems a little harder to turn. And that is all coming from what I did in the front.
The seat is actually from India. It is the MK Designs India cafe racer seat. You can order it on their website. They sell several seats. This is the one with no hard cover shroud. It is the best looking one in my opinion. I have others from them, but they didn't look natural or very good when on the bike.
I actually made a whole video on how to do it that is up on my channel. I used a panel kit from MK Designs India, but I replaced their steel panels with kydex panels a friend pressed for me. You could actually do it using your original panels if you put the stock battery box back in. The video has where to get the pod filters, and what size.
Do you happen to know who the manufacturer is of these shocks? I'll be interested in how they perform. I would love to see a drive by with you on the bike to see your seating position but I have to say I love the look. keep up the good work.
I linked them in the description. I was under the assumption TEC made the shocks themselves. On their foreign site, they said they were made as orders came in. Thanks! I do need to do some more cinematic content.
This is a cut and paste from a reply I made to someone else a year ago. I'm going to throw it in here for you: -------- The instrument cluster probably should have been its' own video. The goal was to get it lower and to lay flatter. You will have to remove the top of the triple clamp to get at it. There are, I think, 4 bolts underneath the cluster to remove. There is a thick bracket, or collar, just under the cluster which the bolts are also holding on. I removed the cluster and placed it under that bracket. It required the use of a dremel on the inside of the cluster, where it goes up against the fork, to get it in. When you attempt to reassemble, you will need nylon spacers to take up the space created when rearranging the parts. You will also an assortment of new, longer bolts (maybe some shorter), because the originals will no longer reach. You will have to figure out what the correct length will be. I no longer remember. I also used some rubber spacers on the two most interior bolts where they contact the triple clamp. Their ability to compress allowed me to fine tune level the cluster. But don't use rubber spacers anywhere else. They compress too much. I'll link to all the parts I used here for you. You will have to get in there and see how it is set up for this to really make sense. If you do not use spacers, the ignition switch, where the key goes in, will stick up out side of triple clamp. For the clip ons, I did not remove the front wheel. I took off the triple clamp on the top. I think I had to loosen the bolts on the shocks and used a jack to move the bike frame up and down, with the rear tire in a stand. I never removed the shocks though. I didn't even do that for the fork gators. I had two sets, and I did a test fitting of the gators by slicing one set and just gluing it back after it was on. Then I just left it because it worked and you can't tell I did it like that. I never had to buy new cables, except for my speedo cable because it died. I removed all the hardware from the old handlebars. Everything worked. 2 sets nylon washers: amzn.to/3ZB5OTc 1 set Rubber washers: amzn.to/3J9ADrh M6 Bolt assortment longer amzn.to/3Fimtml M6 Bolt assortment shorter amzn.to/3ZXiYd5 Black Metal Washers (I don't think I used these) amzn.to/3YJAaSa Handlebar drill guide. You need this to install switch gear. amzn.to/3T6TUOm
@@OakInch ah i did the same . with stainless washers. but at the end i did just bend them down. So they are low and at a less awkward angle . think i have a vid on ny channel.
I'd love to buy the lowering shocks for my RE 650 but there is no way to contact TEC USA by phone, they don't respond to emails and their page says they are in located in the "San Francisco Bay area" without providing an address.
I didn't notice the lack of phone number until now. www.tecbikepartsusa.com is where I ordered from. I see the silver ones are out of stock at the moment. They did ship at a decent speed for me. I have never used them for anything else, but I was pretty happy with the experience overall.
@@OakInch it looks like you installed the halcyon bar end mirror at the end of handlebar. but I couldn't see a hole for that from the product image you told me.
i believe tec shocks are chinese made, they claim to disassemble and rebuild them in uk, recently the Missenden flyer on youtube came home to find u his shock leaking, i went for more expensive yss, do you still have full front fork travel?
If I have an issue with the rear shocks, I will post an update and find some other lowering shocks to try. I have seen another video where they said the same thing. I lost 20mm of travel out of 110 in the front. I am not using half of that travel when I sit and shake the bike really hard. If I have to raise it 10-20 mm, I can do that. I'm going to keep it like this and see what kind of riding difference it makes for now.
Actually, I don't know if I lost any fork travel or not. I wasn't counting what was already compressed in the lower shock body. It has a total of 110 mm. I have 90 available outside of the shock body. There is probably an inch or so buried.
I have see a few videos showcasing their problems. TBH, I am noticing a couple of sus things on them already. Unclear clicking while making dampening settings, and the lower part of the shock seems like Chinesium. I am still working on the feel of the ride, so I can't comment on that. They did lower the bike though. If the ride is good, and they don't start leaking, I'll hold on to them. If not, I'll make a review while I swap.
