Moto Journal: v-strom lowering links = a world of difference

So yesterday the lowering links (ordered about a week ago from Murph’s Kits of Hanson, KY: https://www.murphskits.com/product_info.php?cPath=27_116&products_id=36&osCsid=MmHAaVLizzUPjKQYSgTll3) for my V-Strom came in and I eagerly trotted out to put them on the bike. 

It seemed like it would be quite easy: just take off the two nut-and-bolt pairs that hold the suspension links in place, swap out the old links for the new ones, and bolt them back in place. Unfortunately, the nut that secured one of bolts was so badly threaded that even when I got enough leverage (by using the longest wrench I could find and then stepping on it!) to make it turn, it just turned the bolt with it. It took me the better part of fifteen minutes to find a way to steady the bolt head on the other side with another wrench braced against the side stand. I continued to work on that nut for what felt like a long time until I finally heard a sickening “crack” and the nut started to turn. Slowly. A fraction of a turn at a time. 

The other nut came easier, and then I had to get the bolts out. Again, the front bolt didn’t want to budge. A combination of turning it with a wrench and pushing it through the sleeve with a screwdriver eventually managed to get it out. The rear bolt was tough for a different reason: the chain was in the way. Eventually, I got the damned bolts out, was able to swap the old links for the tiny bit longer links I had just ordered, and put all of the hardware back where it came from.

Success:


And, by the time it was all over, this is what my hands looked like ex post hand soap:


I’ll have to post some sort of review later on the best products to get grease off your hands, but suffice it to say that eco-friendly foaming bathroom hand soap ain’t it. 

This is the size difference between the old links and the new ones:


Looking at them side by side, it’s hard to imagine that this tiny difference would add up to any noticeable difference in bike height or handling, but I’d already spent the time and the money, so I might as well give it a try. 

Here are the results:

Height: my 30”-inseam leg can now swing over the bike comfortably without having to stand on the footpeg first. I still can’t flat-foot the bike, but instead of tip-toeing I am now able to get the entire front half of my foot down, which is a marked improvement in stability, and allows me to walk the bike out of my garage or out of a parking spot and get it facing the right direction while sitting on the bike, which is also a tremendous improvement. All-in-all, a qualified success. 

Handling: omigod, this is a different ride altogether. Where I used to take curves and corners through my neighborhood as slowly as I could for fear of tipping over, the 1/2”-lower center of gravity has me zipping around my neighborhood streets at (or, tbh, slightly above) the posted speed, and I live in one of those neighborhoods where they made the streets artificially winding as a sort of traffic control and beautification strategy. I can’t wait to take her out on a main road at full speed and see if the same observation holds!


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