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Post by humey53 on Sept 15, 2009 9:25:41 GMT
Was thinking about fitting new dogbones to reduce saddle height on my 900 divvy. Why? When 'er indoors needs to climb aboard I find holding the bike upright a bit of a strain due (I think) to me being short legged (got nothing to do with her weight-she tells me!). This is only whilst all her weight is on one footrest I hasten to add, thereafter nae problem. Changing dogbones seems to be an easy fix. I accept that I'd need to adjust front forks acordingly. but wondered about other peoples experiences - good and bad - before taking the plunge. Is the handling likely to be significantly different? I know getting the bike onto the centre stand will be more difficult, and the side stand may need shortening btw.
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Post by CD on Sept 15, 2009 11:09:00 GMT
I suspect longer dog bones would affect the suspension rising rate. Sorry can't work out if the initial travel would get harder or softer and there's the reduced ground clearance to worry about.
I always get on with the bike on the side stand then Mon gets on and I push up the stand. Stand always goes down before she gets off. No worries about short legs until the ground is too uneven to use the stand.
You could soon knock some up from 25mm x 3mm steel strip and see how they go.
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Post by humey53 on Sept 15, 2009 18:24:10 GMT
Thanks CD for the advice, blinking obvious thing to do , the sidestand thing - and cheap too.
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Post by CD on Sept 16, 2009 10:48:05 GMT
Make sure she doesn't push too hard to the right or it can still go over. I want a pair of side stands linked together so they both work when one is moved. Then the bike would be held upright and not fall either way. I guess they'd struggle on uneven ground but normal side stands are often no good when ground is soft or lumpy or holed.
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Post by HRHpenfold on Sept 16, 2009 11:03:26 GMT
I have done the linkage mod in the past on my first D9, probably have a how to do, somewhere on my home puter, I dropped it a inch, then to put on the center stand, I just rolled the back wheel onto a piece of ply, did no mods to the side stand, though it was more upright and you had to watch the road camber, handling was fine, I think I made them 5mm longer, drilled the holes with a 12mm drill, and used some scrap 30mmX6mm flat bar
but I just got used to the height on my second D9, fitted crashbars, after having a r1150gs, then the height of a D9 aint to bad ;D
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Post by humey53 on Sept 16, 2009 11:37:00 GMT
Make sure she doesn't push too hard to the right or it can still go over. I want a pair of side stands linked together so they both work when one is moved. Then the bike would be held upright and not fall either way. I guess they'd struggle on uneven ground but normal side stands are often no good when ground is soft or lumpy or holed. Aren't they called stabilisers?
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Post by CD on Sept 16, 2009 15:08:21 GMT
Probably, but isnt a centre stand the same thing(?) except you cant use it while sitting on the bike and the Divvie stand is horribly weak and narrow. I guess the makers dont care because they get paid for the repair parts when you drop your bike off the crpy standard stand.
The side/stand center stand thing is another bike design issue that seems to be untouchable. Another one is the clutch and gearbox that have to be huge because they run at 50% engine speed and see double the torque seen at the crank. Why is that still done?
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Post by user1 on Sept 17, 2009 21:31:12 GMT
Had the same problem, being a short ass. Also evry time I braked the pill would slam into my back. So owered the seat about 25mm by buyin dogbones from C J accessories e-bay. £15. Did the job about 6weeks ago and since then done about 500miles. I found no diff in handlin and pill finds it more comfy also doesnt slam into my back. Have to be careful with camber when on sidestand and Its a pig of a job to put on center stand so I need to shortn.
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Post by HRHpenfold on Sept 17, 2009 21:34:01 GMT
Had the same problem, being a short ass. Also evry time I braked the pill would slam into my back. So owered the seat about 25mm by buyin dogbones from C J accessories e-bay. £15. Did the job about 6weeks ago and since then done about 500miles. I found no diff in handlin and pill finds it more comfy also doesnt slam into my back. Have to be careful with camber when on sidestand and Its a pig of a job to put on center stand so I need to shortn. just carry a short block of 25mm wood, then roll the back wheel onto the wood, then it should go onto the centre stand as normal
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Post by user1 on Sept 17, 2009 21:42:18 GMT
just carry a short block of 25mm wood, then roll the back wheel onto the wood, then it should go onto the centre stand as normal Good idea just need to get the timing and spacin right
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Post by CD on Sept 18, 2009 8:34:49 GMT
Some anti slip rubber mat on the pillion seat also helps them to not slide into the driver. No need to buy a fancy non slip seat cover.
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