couple of queries :)

[devon-tony]

Hello :)

right then, my latest project is now going well and Im just after a little bit of advice from someone that may be a bit more experienced in suspension geometry and physical measurements than myself


so first question is ground clearance, whats minimum recomended from ground to lowest point under the engine etc, my problem is that with the engine in frame I now noticed that on the underside of it theres a lot of crap that protrudes down through the frame rails towards terra firma

wheel base of the bike is 75" its a soft tail so will have to take this into account, the exhaust meets in a collector in front of the engine and then is piped downed the side so this isnt a worry, but the thought of mr engine meeting too many speed humps is rather concerning

also wheel sizes, currently built around 16 rear and 19 front, thing is that I really would like to lower the front, shorter forks is the expensive option currently 37" from top to spindle, but was wondering about maybe a smaller wheel, I ran 16 front and rear on my last chop and was bit of a pig, but that was with same width front and rear, would the effect be the same if the wheel widths were different?

ok finally what about shocks, looking to replace the twin shocks on the rear, they 12" between fixings and looking for something fancy to replace them but at around 10 or 11" between centres, anyone know of any places that might be able to help

sorry for all the Q's

thanks

Tony

[dracken1]

firstly what engine you using?
4" ground clearance may be fine on an inline v2 but on a 4 cylinder cornering may find things scraping,
shorter forks/smaller diameter front wheel will change your steering geometry, the rake & the trail will be less, making the steering more twitchy.
by lowering the rear end the trail will increase again but the steering effects of the smaller front wheel will remain.

[devon-tony]

HMM thanks for that

using a zephyr 1100 motor, is a very tall motor, Im currently looking at moving it up in the frame a bit, maybe even altering the top tube, it really is that crucial to me, to get it low and right

[dracken1]

couple of things to watch out for if raising the motor on a softail frame.
the gearbox sprocket position in relation to the swingarm pivot point.
wheather the exhaust ports will be covered by the frame tubes.
the exhaust system does'nt have to go under the engine.
if you intend going really low i would consider some form of sump guard