Question about lowering front end
- Thread starter Craigore
- Start date
1087
Vendor
Not even 1/2 inch, Craig.
10mm will be the ticket, regardless how silly it can look.
If you drop the front end more than that, then your rectifier can hit the front fender if you brake hard.
I hope this help!
thearcticsea
Rocker
Why does having thrux length shocks make the bike look silly??
2Monkeys
Street Tracker
Loose the rear fender then the more space between the wheel and the seat the better it looks...
With thruxton preload caps on my forks and M-bars I have very little room for playing with tube height.
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tooblekain
750cc
I did 8mm drop on my Bonnie (oem forks) and its perfect. Little more flickability and still tracks straight
Sal Paradise
Hooligan
Yeah, but Toob you don't have Thrux shocks. The more you tilt the bike forward, the less stable she becomes. I'd be careful,its not really about looks either.
Actually, the rectifier is not in the stock position nor do I have a front fender anymore. Should I still worry?
Here's a picture of the bike:
It doesn't look too bad from this angle.
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Chris in NC
Street Tracker
You can go 1" w/o worry.
1087
Vendor
You are wrong Chris!
If you drop the front end 1 inch, the bike will be a brick, extremely hard to ride, suspension motion will be severely affected, and freeway jolts will seriously compromise bike stability!
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1087
Vendor
I did not know that those went to you!
I think that I sold it to somebody else here in this forum.
I used the CRG bar end mirrors with those clip ons, and others and even handlebars.
Hope this help!.
PS: about lowering the front end like I said before 10mm will be great for your bike, going more than that it will be risky, but it's your choice!
Thank you!
Enjoy your bike!
SCBonneville
Two Stroke
I tend to agree with Carlos... though Chris is technically correct... with your clip on set up, from a clearance stand point, you can really drop the yokes all you want...
A couple questions... nice looking bike btw... is it a "Thruxtonized" Bonnie as I suspect? Based on that assumption, let me ask you:
Have you swapped out the Bonnie's 19" front wheel for an 18" yet? If so, you have effectively dropped the front 1/2" already...
Are the rear shocks Bonnie or Thruxton length... If they are Thruxton length, you have raised the rear and "steepened" the steering angle...
Ok... let's say that you have done the complete "Thruxtonization" of the Bonnie (18' front wheel and 14.25" rear shocks) and you are at just about the same overall geometry... it will be a bit different as the fork tubes in the Thruxton are longer... so you will actually have a slightly sharp steering angle...
If, with your current set up, the steering is solid and stable... and you want to lower the front, I'd do it in no more than 5 mm increments and do a thorough test ride after each adjustment... quitting at either the point that you have the look and feel the way you want it... say you like it at a 10mm drop... or... if you are adventurous, keep dropping at 5mm increments and find the point where instability starts to appear and back it up at least 5 mm...
Now... let me assume that you you have stock Bonnie geometry front and rear... you should have much more latitude (to a point) to drop the yokes...
I'd still do it in 5mm increments...
I'm doing a Bonnie project that will mix the Bonnie forks (tubes shorter than the Thrux.) and a Thruxton 18" front wheel... that will drop the front effectively 1/2"... over a Bonnie and 1" over the Thruxton... but I'm thinking that I am going to maintain the Bonnie length rear shocks and ride height... 3/4" lower than a Thruxton... If I decide to drop the yokes a bit... it will be a very modest amount...
Lots of things to consider when you are mixing parts and adjusting ride height... front and rear... they all affect rake and trail...
1087
Vendor
Nice post Tom!
If you look at his bike picture he has a T100 front end (forks and 19" front wheel), with Thruxton length rear shocks.
My answer to him was determined bu his current set up.
Now... in our Salt Flats racing Thruxton ( 18F-17R wheels), the bikes are drop 1 inch in the front end, because at the Flats we looking for maximum speed and less possible frag, hence 1 inch drop put the rider lower.
I always break in those bikes in the street, and the bike is hanful to say the least, the suspension motion is crap, a pig in the twisties, and a POS in the freeways.
I hope this help!
Yes, the clip-ons are awesome, I got them from localmotion411.
I think that I'll try 10mm as per suggestion, and I've gotta get me some of those CRG's!
PS- Thanks again to Lach for the headlight brackets and Rodburner for the speedo bracket and everyone else on here who've helped me ruin a perfectly good Bonneville hahaha
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SCBonneville
Two Stroke
Thanks Carlos... I couldn't quite make out if he had the chrome or alloy front rim in the pic... my old eyes ain't what they used to be... But going back and looking closer... I can make out the chrome rim and the standard Bonnie fork caps... Then I went back and re-read his original post where he stated that he has Thrux length shocks... If I can "cypher" all this out correctly... he has already "steepened" the steering a good bit by raising the rear 3/4"....
You could write a book on the effects on rake and trail that varying ride height, front and rear, makes...
I talked to Gregzilla about the effects of the Thruxton rim on a Bonnie front end... He made the change out and made no other ride height adjustments and really liked the effect... When he acquired a set of Thruxton fork legs and installed them, he "lost" the sharper steering... That's when he measured them and found out that the Thrux fork tubes were longer to compensate for the smaller diameter rim and longer shocks... raising the front end and thus maintaining nearly identical steering geometry as a Bonnie...
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