Hey All,

Can someone please do me a large favor? I put an RC front end on my bike and need to know what the stock chassis height is. What I would like is for someone to just stand there bike upright and measure from the ground to the bottom of the oil filter and please post up the results. If more than one person would do this I can have an average to work with.
An easier place to measure from that is straight and would not require removal of the chin spoiler is the oil cooler which has a straight edge on the bottom.


Thanks Dennis

 

Gotta respect that mod. The oil cooler is kind tilted. I measured 24 3/4" to the bottom front corner, which is not its lowest point.

 

Hey Scoober,

Was your bike on the kickstand at the time of measurement or was it being held up straight? Thanks for taking the time to measure for me!

Dennis

 

I stood it up straight!

 

Wish I could help you out but my S'Chicken hasn't been stock for years! L8RGYZ has a stock bike. PM him. I think KC (kickenchicken996) has stock components as well.

 

Thanks you guys!

Dennis

 

Hi Dennis. I have the RC51 forks and tried to recreate the SH stock front ride height, minus 10mm. I measured mine at 25" from the front edge of the oil cooler to floor. BUT, remember, there is stiction/friction in the forks. By that I mean when you set sag you should measure by 2 methods. First compressing the front end and very slowly letting it up; then by lifting the front and very slowly letting it down. You measure both and take the average. Without rider on bike, I measured 10mm difference (5/12 of an inch) on the RC51 fork - 10mm is actually very good. The stock superhawk system may have a lot more and its not uncommon for some streetbikes to have 25+mm (1 inch). Not being picky but we may have to clarify what type of measurement you want.

what are you getting for yours?

 

Ah crap! My forks are raised by approximately 8mm!

 

Well I just went and measured and I have maybe 2mm of fork showing in the triples and I am sitting at 25 1/8" at the bottom of the oil cooler and that is with me pulling up on the bars and then letting the bike settle. IF I push down and let the bike settle I am at 25"

Dennis

 

so it seems pretty close. It depends on how much /preload sag you have set also. Before I measured and set it, it had a LOT of sag. I set mine to about 30mm sag, measured with me on the bike (most of that sag is taken up by the bike and the addition of me doesn't add that much). Be nice to know where you were with that. As i recall I think I have my forks a good bit higher than yours.
The important thing for front ride height is how it affects turn in. So if riding it you think it takes more effort to intiate a turn, lower the front; if falls into turn, raise the front. I have mine so its just short of neutral- at slow speeds it even seems like it want to fall into turns. But higher speeds its about where I want it. Some people also raise the rear to accomplish this, but that is very indirect way of doing it and doesn't get the same bang for the buck as changing fork height.

 

Hey Cilby,

From riding it when I went to the GP last week it feels pretty good other than when you get a little hot into a corner it wants to go wide. It is not pushing or sliding the front end but I think that I will pull the forks up to the first ring and see how it goes from there. I have 9/10" (used my calipers)of an inch sag set up in the front end. So what is that about 25mm? and that is with me not on the bike. So it seems like it is pertty close.

Dennis

 

right, without me on the bike I have 22mm, which is almost exactly what you measured. If its pulling wide while you accelerate through the turn, its more likely the rear suspension - too much squat (either ride height or compression damping can be changed). But its worth pulling them up 5-10 mm in the front just to see what you think and observe the changes. I learn a lot by making one change and seeing the effects.

bill

 

Cool Bill! Hey thanks for all of the help today. I will try the front forks and see where the compression is set at on my Fox and start a little log so that I can keep track of everything. I already have the base fork settings written down so that is a good starting point. Have a great week and I will keep in touch with updates when I get them!

Dennis

 

Dennis,

The goal for front sag should be 10-15mm without rider and 25-30mm with rider. Let me know what you measure and I can make some recommendations.

 

Cool thanks!

 

I'd like to change that statement based on the year of the RC forks you have. Please inform. Thanks.

 

As far as I know they are off of a 2004 RC

Dennis

 

Okay, 30-35mm with rider then. The later forks work better with more sag due to slightly longer top out springs.

 

Hey Guys,

Well I continue to tune the front end on my bike. I have pulled the front forks up in the triples a total of 16mm and it seems to be really stable in the corners with no ill-effect on high speed straights etc... I wish that I would have known about this mod much sooner it makes all of the difference on this bike! I have also been messing around with the bars and getting them place just right as far as the rwd and aft adjustment.

Now all I need is a new set of tires! I plan on going to a 2 day track school in November so it should be pretty awesome! (Pahrump NV)

Dennis