Raising the rear ride height of VFR800 RC46

[ride_slow]

Hi,

 

Anyone has raised the rear ride height of the VFR800? Increasing rear ride height by shimming under top of rear shock mount. Any shop to recommend? Thanks.

 

 

Desired result should be like in this sample picture:

 

Edited October 6, 2012 by ride_slow

[greysnail]

Use a couple of washers, cut to make it a U shaped. 2 washers will give abt 4~5 mm. U'll need a higher clearance on the rear wheel to do it as u loosen and put the washer, ur rear wheel will touch the floor, so i assume u have mainstand? Put a 4x4 on ur mainstand and loosen ur rear shock nut, shud be size 17, insert the washer and tighten. Take note wen u do this, ur chain will slack so u need to tighten it. And there u go, a shorter wheelbase vfr and u'll turn corner sharper.

[ride_slow]

Hi greysnail,

 

Is the VFR800 rear shock set up similar with the Blackbird? If so, I will try out your method. Thanks for the guide.

[vfrT]

Good move to improve the bike's handling.

 

I assumed you have already max-ed out the rear pre-load to raise the rear. The other adjustment available is to lower the front end by dropping the yoke by btw 3 to 8mm.

 

I did both the above and the steering fits me much better - being quicker without sacrificing hi speed straight line stability. ( I've tried this shimming method and found that shimming is not necessary after these adjustments) .Also by adding the shims the ride height is increased making the overall CG higher thus requiring more effort to lean in and maintain the lean. By lowering the front end, the height is reduced - hence lowered CG.

 

Beyond this, adding shims/washers to the shock may make the bike skitterish too.

 

So go easy, taking baby steps one at a time.

 

However if your idea is to raise the tail just for cosmetic reasons as shown in the pix -which I strongly dont recommend - you will need to get longer dog-leg extensions for the rear shock.

Edited October 8, 2012 by vfrT

[ride_slow]

Thanks for the heads up, vfrT. Will look into the lowering of the front end.