Lowering

I have what may be an easy question. Forgive me if it's something that everybody already knows; as I said in a previous post, I'm new to the world of motorcycles.
Is it possible to lower an '82 XJ550? And, if it is possible, what's the best/easiest/least expensive way to go about doing it? I did some reading and found information on lowering links, but everything I read seems to suggest that they are only used on newer bikes. I'd appreciate any information you might have.
Thanks!

 

Front end or rear end? The easiest way to lower the front end of your bike is to simply loosen the triple tree clamps and let the fork tubes slide through a bit. The rear end is a bit more problematic. You can make some struts instead of your shocks or replace the shocks with some shorter ones, or just go ahead and hard tail the thing.

 

I thought I read that to do one, you had to do the other as well. This is not absolute?

 

Not really. When you don't, it kinda messes up the steering geometry, but it doesn't render the bike unrideable or anything.

 

is this low enough?

 

nice xs

 

It depends on how bad (or not) you want to change how the bike handles.

Lowering one end and not the other will affect handling; lowering the front alone will quicken steering; lowering the rear alone will slow the steering but you may find the bike tends to "wallow" in the corners (and stuff may drag.)

Lowering both ends, properly and conservatively, you can preserve the bike's handling to a great extent.

 

Its just a pic I found on the XS forums. Its the goal of the other bike Im working on.

 

This one was lowered only from the back. This is hard tailed with struts.

 

Something that you may have overlooked is the side stand and center stand. If you lower the bike any you going to have to alter the side stand. Otherwise, your bike will stand straight up or possibly render the side stand useless at stock length.

I lowered the rear end of my 650 with 10.5" shocks, eye to eye. They were 2 inches shorter than stock and lowered it about 2" as well. My side stand then pushed my bike over to the right. All I did was chop the end off, removed a short length, and welded the end back on.

If you lower the bike, getting it up on the center stand becomes a two man job. You will lower the focal point of the center stand which makes the legs of the stand too long. With the majority of the weight in front of the focal point, it becomes nearly impossible for one man to lift the weight, from the rear, high enough while shifting it backwards.

Also, after I dropped mine, it left about 4.5" of ground clearance without a rider on it. Since western PA has higher speed bumps, I decided not to lower the front.

Since you won't be getting the time it took to read this long reply back, I hoped it help. Best of luck either way.

 

Thanks, everyone! Nice, Bill! haha
Prince A- I thought about that, yeah. I'll have to shorten the stand. I don't yet know how much I'll use the center stand, though, as you say, I may not even be able to, once the bike is lowered.
My other option, I think, is to work with the seat. It had a custom, plushy thing put on, and I'm pretty sure it could stand to be shaved or squished down a bit, however that works.

 

I lowered mine with shorter shock springs, (cut 1" off the stock springs) just the rear of the bike, not the front. It handles just fine. 2" or so and it does not have any handling issues what so ever. I corner just as fast as I did before and it handles just fine.
Between getting rid of that ugly stock seat, cutting the shock springs and changing to a 16" rear wheel (from an 18" wheel) my feet are flat on the ground when sitting on the bike now. Much better than stock.
It took a little weight off the front, so it's stiffer now and actually handles better.

 

PainterD- That's what I'm hoping happens. The PPO put a custom seat on it, so I have a lot of room to work with if I cut it down.
It seems, then, that there isn't a better end to lower, if doing just one. Is this correct?

 

Well, in my case I got a good deal on my bike and wasn't sure what I was planing on doing with it. One thing I did know is I wasn't going to leave it stock. I don't like the looks of the Seca nor did I like the seating position. I sat up too high and leaned forward when I rode it. That's when I decided to lower the back of the bike and move the foot controls forward. I wanted to be able to put my feet flat on the ground when I stop.
Now by lowering the seat, shocks and installing the smaller rear wheel, I'm right where I want to be. And I still have the front high enough to keep my pegs from scraping on corners when I lean it over. It's more of a lid back riding position and I'm not a real agressive rider anyway.. Needless to say, it doesn't look much like a Seca anymore either.

 

The center stand length problem can be solved with a block of wood shaped as a wedge. (rear tire) You might still need a spotter.

Using just a 2X4 under the front tire makes a big difference in the needed effort on my fatter bikes.

 

I'm only 5'5", weigh 140 lbs. and I have not trouble getting any bike up on the center stand. I'm not Hercules by no means. It's technique and not difficult at all.
Look it up on Youtube and you find several videos to help you figure it out.

 

I talked with a bike mechanic today and he took a look at my bike. He lowered the front end a little and is looking for shorter springs for the rear. He also strongly suggested that I shave a large chunk off of the seat, since it's so blasted big, so I'm looking into that as well.
Thanks for all of your help, everyone! I'm still open to suggestions you might have!