Posted: Sep 6, 2010 04:31 PM  (Msg. 1 of 2)

I finally lowered the Gladius. Used some aluminum links that were engineered for my bike (Kouba Links -- thanks for the tip, NedRex!). The job was a pain in the butt but it only took about 3 hours and one trip to the hardware store. I noticed a large difference as soon as I let the jack down because I couldn't pull it out from under the bike. I had to chainfall the back end of the bike up and off the jack. When I started the job, I just slid the jack under, lots of clearance.
The new links looked only a little bit longer than the old ones but they lowered the bike 1 1/8". It really doesn't feel a whole lot different when I sit on it or ride it, just more secure footing at stops. That's nice. I rode it about 10 hours since then and it doesn't seem to ride any different. I am supposed to lower the front end about 1/2" to maintain the designed handling characteristics but I sort of suspect that I don't ride to the level that subtle handling differences would be noticeable. I also am not really sure what changes I should be noticing. I'll probably go ahead and lower the front next weekend anyway, though. I am afraid that the whole top half will come crashing down when I start loosening bolts. A big imagination can be a bit of a hindrance sometimes. As long as I keep track of all the pieces I take off it will be okay.

It was a good weekend for riding, temps were down a little, finally. Got rain the last 5 minutes as I hauled a$$ for the house. I miss my Intruder's windshield -- rain hurts!
Edited by alwaystj9 on Sep 6, 2010 at 04:54 PM