How to lower the front??

I'm sure this thread has been done before, but I couldn't find any info in a search...

I'm looking to slam the front of my 82' 750 Maxim at least 3" inches.
I'm also looking for info on how low I can drop the back before I have issues with the shaft??
I have several reasons for wanting to do this, not just aesthetics. But I'm only 5 feet tall... lol
It should make it a bit easier for me to ride.

 

3" might be tough to do but 2" kit is available from progressive suspension. Stock rear is 12.5" and 11" is available
Check with local bike wrecker for shorter ones to try, they usually have them stacked like chord wood.
After that you could hard tail the rear and do the front 2"

 

rear can only go down a little with out affecting drive shaft.
you can also let front fork tubes extend up through the triple tree and put clip on bars in the exposed tubes to cover it.
try changing front and rear tire size

 

Wreckers are far and between up here.
EBay has been my friend up to this point..

 

What about the valve, and crossover tube?
Can you just take them off, and reinstall them above the riser?

 

Yes. The o-rings will hold them in place.
Or you can clean the air holes and fill them with epoxy (but you'll loose the ajustablity of the air spring).

 

I read a small article from a different page awhile back.
Some dude with a 650 maxim posted that he made a 3" spacer that he slide into the tube. Then cut the spring 3" to drop the bike. It looked cool as hell!
But there were no pictures of the actual work, and I didn't really get the concept?

 

I just got done lowering my front about 2 inches by extending the fork tubes up through the tree.. I'm planning on clipons as mentioned earlier, so its a viable option for my build.

 

Clipons would be cool, cept I just dropped a bunch of cash on 650 bar clamps, and drag bars.. lol
I could sell them though. I just want to ride comfortably with out being on my tip toes at stop lights.

 

That has the disadvantage of reducing the fork travel and compromising handling/ suspension compliance. An analogue is cutting the coils on a Civic to lower it. Looks cool; drives like crap.

 

So in theory.. To drop a bit of height, all you have to do is cut the spring?
Is there more to it, or that's it??

 

You're still elimniating travel when cutting springs. A shorter progressive spring is your best bet, other than that you need to sacrifice travel/ride quality.

 

I can handle that for now..
Just till I can save up for the right springs. Gonna look into raising the forks as well, to hit the ride height I want.
Thanx for all the info guys..

 

You can do one, or the other, but you shouldn't do both. Keep in mind that you are also altering the front-end geometry. Go too far and you'll have a very unstable motorcycle.

 

If you drop the back slightly it should help save some of the geometry without messing up the trail, lower the front too much and you start to approach 0 degrees which Will 100% kill your handling like kmoe stated.

 

Lower the rear too much and he'll toast the u-joint quickly.

 

touche.. shafty problems!

 

That's ridiculous..........cut out three inches of spring, put three inches of solid spacer back in, and you've just filled up the space that you created. There would be no change in ride height......just a change in spring feel -------less coils means firmer handling.

No matter what you do, though-- keep in mind that you want to keep rake and trail within safe ranges.

 

The spacer goes on the damper rod (inside the upper fork leg) to effectively shorten the rod and limit travel.

 

But it isn't shortening it/lowering it