Lowering Front End 4Th Gen. Why? And By How Much?

Question for those of you that did...

What will be the result of lowering the front a bit?  :unsure:

By how much did you raise the stanchions?

I will measure mine when I get home and tell you.........the front drop on my 4th Gen that is......

You lower the front and raise the rear of the bike to quicken the steering transition/handling, so that the bike would be easier to handle and go faster in tight turns.

The VFRs understeer quite a bit as originally designed and set up at the factory and it can take quite a bit of adjustment and not feel too "nervous"/twitchy.

The top of the fork caps (the round portion, not the adjuster and hex shaped extension) on my bike is 52mm above the top of the raised brushed finished portion of my top triple clamp While on the rear, I added enough auto body shims on the top mounting clevis for the rear shock to raised the tail roughly, about 22mm higher from original. I think I pretty much maxed out the height adjustments for the front and rear, as going lower up front might cause things to start dragging on the fairing when I lean it over hard on turns. I also have just enough body shims on the rear clevis so that I still have full engagement for the threads on the mounting nut to the threaded clevis bolt. Adding more shims will also make the "dogbone" link on your rising rate linkage at the rear hit the bottom eye of the shock at full shock extension (on the center stand), so you have to watch out for that as a limiting factor on how high you can go with the rear.

The bike was totally transformed, and I have lots more confidence and feel on the front end of the bike, compared to before I did the suspension height mods.

You might also consider going in little steps with the adjustments to a point where you will feel more comfortable. You do not have to exactly match the maximum values I arrived at as different riders have different riding styles and things like rider weight and position on the bike will also factor in.....

I was very dissapointed with my 4th gens handling in the twisties, as it was nowhere near what my Hawk GT 650 that I had before the VFR handled on the same roads.

With the mods I did, I think I got pretty close to what I wanted, but still not what I remembered my Hawk could do (that bike just had the best feeling front end in the twisties that I ever felt on a bike so far).... I think with the 4th gen VFR's heavier weight and larger size, there might be no way to really match the Hawk's handling with just these suspension adjustments.

Have fun doing the suspension height adjustments on your bike. As doing such is the easiest, most cost effective way of making your VFR handle much better..... :fing02:

Beck

95 VFR

mmmmhhh,  where would I add the shims to raise the rear??  :unsure:

I have seen modified shocks of earleir model where one could do that.

But on a 4th gen the mounting is with 2 horizontal bolts no?

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The top bolt for the shock is fitted to a Y shaped clevice hanger, the single leg passes through the frame & is secured with a nut, there is normally enough spare thread to remove the nut, drop the hanger through the frame, slip on between 1 & 4mm of washers, then pop back into frame & replace the nut. The nut should always have full engagement. If there's not enough, then get a new Y made by a local machine shop.

For every 1mm added to the shock length, you get between 10-20mm of ride at the rear wheel due to the ratios in the shock linkage & the length of the swingarm ! So a couple of mm will make a noticeable difference.
One thing to watch out for is if you keep the centre stand, you cam measure the effect. As standard the VFR has approx 25mm clearance under the rear tyre when on the centre stand. If you lower the front this will increase & you will find it harder to put on the stand. If you raise the rear it will return it top normal stand effort & if you raise it further the stand will be easier to use, but be aware that you need some clearance under the rear tyre Oprah the bike will be unstable on the centre stand ! I have my 5th gen set to 12mm under the rear tyre, just be careful where you park it !!!!

Have fun, the VFR is very stable & I have the front down 10mm & the rear raised by approx 45mm at the wheel :) Handles lip
K my old CBR600 now, even better with the correct tyre pressures !!!!! Oops.

For your year, all rear shock bolts get torqued to 40-50 NM, or 29-36 ft lbs according to my manual. Sorry it took so long to get rhose numbers to you, but I had to locate my manual.

But i need the torque spec for the bolt that holds the clevis....

RFT

Found it!  45Nm...............
 
 
I stopped yesterday after loosening the bolt, had another BBQ waiting... 
 
I intend to support the rear swing arm with a small jack and lower it so the clevis will drop.
Will this drop enough (for me to slide the o-tings on) with the rear rim on? Or should i remove the rear rim (thus allowing for a larger "drop")
 
I rather use the wisdom here than find out myself and cock things up. I'm a bean counter, not a fully trained mechanic.....


 [image: IMAG1993.jpg]

Removing the rear wheel will give you more access. As far as the swing arm is considered, I don't remember supporting mine when I changed out my rear shock, but that was also several years ago...

For future reference, even with the rear wheel off, things donot drop enough for the clavis to come out.
You need to remove the bolt that holds the top of the shock in the clavis. You pivot the shock backwards and it comes out, allowing you to put o rings on.
But to get to the bots you need to remove battery, battery box (the metal part).

You can avoid having to disassemble your clevis upper shock eye connection by just using "U" shaped auto body shims. using body shims, you will not have to take the clevis threaded portion out of the frame mounting hole completely as you do for regular washers. With body shims you just slip them in after you loosen the clevis mounting nut......but remember to position the opening of the "u" on the shims towards the back so they will not fall off if for some reason, the clevis nut loosens up while riding.....

I have mine shimmed this way for many years and miles now with no problems...

Good thing with body shims too is they come in a variety of thicknesses so you can fine tune the amount you raise the rear of the bike.

Too late now...... ;-)


Never seen u shaped spacers before......

I did consider for one moment to cut into the o rings, but decided to go for the whole enchilada ;-)

Will take the bike out tomorrow, keen to see if i feel a difference in handling.

One is never too old too learn........

Never realised how much change a few milimetres make....

Dropped the front stanchions 6mm and slotted two 2mm washers under the clavis.

I now really feel the PP upfront is doing what it is paid to do....  cornering!

[image: IMAG1994.jpg]

You will have a hoot on track day!  :wheel:

You never sampled what my VFR had to offer, you've seen what's it's capable of, and should have tried it out. The change of direction is very effort-less, and well you know about the brakes, you saw what Superchode (Kevin) did...