first ride on my new CT in the twisties and after lowering kit instal

[sidco10]

So I decided  lower my new to me CT DCT before I rode it again after buying it last week (I'm 6ft with 31"leg), turned out it had a gel seat mod done raising the standard seat slightly, I had test ridden one last  year and noticed  the height anyway , I just didn't feel comfortable on the balls of my feet plus I have a knackered  pinned left ankle  which only highlighted the weight and balance issues.

Buy luck I managed  to get 20mm lowering plates plus short stand from a Honda dealer who had one  lying around which they had removed from a bike .
Fitting the kit was made easy by having a centre stand (greased all the needle bearings too which where pretty dry for a 3yr old bike with only 13500 miles on and full service history) lowered the front forks by 15 mm too and what  a difference it has made, both feet flat foot on the ground and now confidence at sudden stops  without the fear of  overbalancing,  the handling feels really good even with a squared off rear tyre and seating position wise my legs don't feel cramped up.
I also  set the suspension to Veejays settings and they seems to work for me.

The problems I can see are the main stand is now virtually impossible to lift without a block of wood under the rear wheel  so it  might come  off ,plus  the rear  hugger seems  low  to  the back ,I haven't tried 2 up yet to see if anything touches or grounds out its too cold apparently ?
I'm thinking of leaving  the low set up  for normal use and getting a low seat (if anyone has one for sale let me know )and reverting back to original ride height for 2 up touring with the good lady and all the luggage that comes with such a experience 

Hope this helps anyone else with the  ride height lowering dilema.
Now for a new set of tyres and decent weather :)

[DE65Y]

Originally Posted by sidco10

Lowered the front forks by 15 mm too

Took mine out for it's first proper run after I fitted the lowering kit. I'd done a couple of 20 mile runs on my own but I felt I needed to ride with someone that I normally rode with in order to judge it better, at a pace I would normally ride at.
I dropped mine approx 20mm (measured under a point where my bum usually sits.) 20mm makes a lot of difference to the feet!

The physics around the dropping of the front forks I haven't quite got my head around yet. For now a straight forward 20mm seems to have kept the geometry the same.

ps. Is there a position where the measurement should be taken? Rear wheel axle?

[sidco10]

I looked through the forum and there was a post about ride height ,some one suggested that if you lowered the rear by 20mm it should 25mm at the front ,then another said it should be 10mm at the front so I went for a 15mm compromise as a starter which seemed to work for me. But I've only ridden 80miles so far, I need a proper test in Wales 2up to confirm the settings are ok :)

[bazza950]

sidco see my spinner  -I need to get a slightly higher plank with wedge end but with one maybe 40mm thick you could roll the bike up the wedge end ,then put the bike on the centre stand.I reckon to get a plank/alloy tyre stand with wedge on both ends -so easy up and down.I havent got the cost yet from my man who made it but expect no more than about £120 ,more than those on ebay but heavier construction! Dead easy to turn 180o to exit the garage

[sidco10]

looks good baz ,my mate is making me a ramp out of diamond plate to roll the bike up onto,plus I do have a abba stand so if Idecide to take the main stand off I can use that.
I must admit  this is the first bike I  have had to think about where to park no front first sloping car parks for  me   

[bazza950]

The thickness of the tyre ramp has to be calculated by your lift ability and better too high than too low- My thoughts are to take stuff off the bike before "standing" it but even the amount of fuel in the tank could affect the lift.I am just being careful (titanium hip is 6 now) but cant imagine not having the bike up in the air .A mate said why not a winch but my garage has those multiple thin roof trusses and I dont think he's seen the Hippo!

[matt28]

Originally Posted by sidco10

I looked through the forum and there was a post about ride height ,some one suggested that if you lowered the rear by 20mm it should 25mm at the front ,then another said it should be 10mm at the front so I went for a 15mm compromise as a starter which seemed to work for me. But I've only ridden 80miles so far, I need a proper test in Wales 2up to confirm the settings are ok :)

Dropped my one 20mm but decided to keep front forks at the same height. So far done about 1000 miles within last 4 weeks and can't see any issues.

Bazza, you can buy really nice turntable from ebay for £75 for 400mm or 500mm for £95. They are made from aluminum and weight is only approx 2.5kg.

[sidco10]

I was just going off other peoples experiences fork wise,thats why I experimented with 15mm seems to handle well but I am comparing that to my old sv1000 haha  I need to put a few more miles on it then I might try standard again its only a 5 minute job to adjust which is a bonus:)