What does lowering the Busa do?

[dadofthree]

I must have hit it right, because other than occassionally rubbing my bike handles the same and looks way better. 1 1/2 rear, 1 1/4 front.

 

[Tufbusa]

If you really want to screw your ride up, then lower it! There is absolutely nothing to be gained by lowering your bike unless you intend to compete at the drags. Lower it and every kid on a 70 HP Katana 600 will kick your ass on the back roads. You'll also learn the suspension bottoms out quickly and that can be as dangerous as wiping your arse with a broken bottle in a corner. Lowering can also create serious high speed handling problems such as head shake. If you've never had head shake at a buck forty, it's a bit unnerving until you get use to it. Head shake is usually created by having the rear higher than the front.

IMHO, I'd suggest you get some thicker souls on your boots or trim the seat if you are having a hard time reaching the ground and leave the suspension alone, expecially if you don't know what you are doing. I've known more than one guy who ended up with a bike so messed up it was worthless for anything other than curb appeal after lowering their bike themselves.

Your busa doesn't have great ground clearance with stock suspension. Once it's lowered, all of a sudden it starts dragging body parts at very shallow lean angles. Dragging body parts while leaned over will unload the rear tire and usually ends up doing the high side dance.

Just my two cents worth, for whatever it's worth.

 

[Guclu]

step by step , lowering my 06 ,

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step by step , lowering my 05 ,

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[Sloto200]

I lowered the rear when i bought the bike because i'm vertically challenged... didnt like to tip toe when i was stopped.  I rode the bike at stock height for a week before i lowered it and as soon as the rear was lowered, the bike drove like a plow.  DO NOT just lower the rear if you like to get in the twisties at all.  I have since lowered my front end 3/4" and my handling is back.  Like above, many different options to lower the front and rear.  I went with the fully adjustable lowering links for the rear so that i wasnt limited to just 2 different settings, and i dont have to remove a bolt to change the height either.  The front i went the cheaper route and bought reaper risers.  

 

[JusPlaynBob]

I recently lowered mine in the front, 1 1/4".
I used the GenMAr riser, and then pulled the forks up through the triples.
I used the GenMar riser because, I wanted to retain my riding posture, yet still taking advantage of the improved handling of th lower front.

By lowering the front only, you pull the forks underneath the engine cradle, which shortens the rake angle.
The static rake of the Busa is 24 degrees, from the manufacturer.
By lowering the front only, the rake is decreased by just under half of a degree.
Almost all Sportbikes are raked between 23-25 degrees.

This will make the "Turn in" noticably positive on the 'Busa however, it does have an extra 200 lbs to push through the corners.
Some people report that the front end gets a bit twitchy. If this becomes the case then it will be necessary to replace the stock damper with an adjustable aftermarket damper, like an Ohlins or HyperPro.
Most aftermarket dampers sugest a starting point of about half tension, in which case you may have to adjust your damper to a stiffer setting.

I love mine lowered, but again, only n the front.

 

[Zoinks!]

Lowering can also create serious high speed handling problems such as head shake. If you've never had head shake at a buck forty, it's a bit unnerving until you get use to it. Head shake is usually created by having the rear higher than the front.

Once it's lowered, all of a sudden it starts dragging body parts at very shallow lean angles.

I've known more than one guy who ended up with a bike so messed up it was worthless for anything other than curb appeal after lowering their bike themselves.

You just contradicted yourself. . . And I've never drug body parts, being lowred 2". I scraped the peg once, but never the body. I also lowered mine by myself and the proccess was fine. . . I don't really understand what you mean by "I've known more than one guy who ended up with a bike so messed up it was worthless for anything other than curb appeal after lowering their bike themselves." It's 2 bolts. . .

 

[CoastieBusa]

I'm not short so that's not the reason fro wanting to lower it. I think I'll leave it the way it is.


Thanks ya'll
Kev

 

[mikeonbike1962]

...I've known more than one guy who ended up with a bike so messed up it was worthless for anything other than curb appeal after lowering their bike themselves.

.... . . I don't really understand what you mean by "I've known more than one guy who ended up with a bike so messed up it was worthless for anything other than curb appeal after lowering their bike themselves."  It's 2 bolts. . .

yeah, for LIFE.  busted, broke, decroded(naploeon ref)... wait... what's that?  oh, it's reversable?  oh, yes, just undo the links back to the oem and the front TT plate as well.  Hmmm, special!

 

[Revolution]

guclu you look like you are going to start curling the bikes, good workout.

 

[Guclu]

guclu you look like you are going to start curling the bikes, good workout.

thank you ,

 

[heavyjeffd]

I personally thing the lowering thing is just for looks.

Short of dropping the front a bit to sharpen handling, I'd never lower the bike. I'm way more concerned about how it rides than anything else.

 

[Charlesbusa]

If you lowered the front the same as the rear, the handling may feel the same BUT....

If you ride fast at all you don't want to lower it. Stock, the Busa doesn't have good ground clearance. By lowering it, you make it worse. Depending on how you lower it, you can also reduce the amount of suspension travel. The suspension is already too soft stock, by reducing the amount of travel you increase the chance of bottoming out.

If you ride fast and want better turn in, raise the rear. If you ride really fast, raise both the front and rear(rear a little more than front) to improve ground clearance.

 

[busa2001]

i just lowered mine bike 3/4" in the front and back, don't just lower one end and not the other..and adj the suspension to match...

 

[BusaWhipped]

If you lower the front and back the same, there should be no effect on handling, but you will reduce the available lean angle.  

If you lower the front more than the rear, it will turn in better, but be less stable.  This is a good characteristic for corner carvers.  Like Charles said, if you are very aggressive in the corners, its better to raise the rear instead of dropping the front because of the additional available lean angle.

If you lower the rear more than the front, the steering will be slower, but the bike will be more stable.  Hope that helps.

 

[Powers739]

 

[Tufbusa]

Lowering can also create serious high speed handling problems such as head shake. If you've never had head shake at a buck forty, it's a bit unnerving until you get use to it. Head shake is usually created by having the rear higher than the front.

Once it's lowered, all of a sudden it starts dragging body parts at very shallow lean angles.

I've known more than one guy who ended up with a bike so messed up it was worthless for anything other than curb appeal after lowering their bike themselves.

You just contradicted yourself. . . And I've never drug body parts, being lowred 2".  I scraped the peg once, but never the body.  I also lowered mine by myself and the proccess was fine. . . I don't really understand what you mean by "I've known more than one guy who ended up with a bike so messed up it was worthless for anything other than curb appeal after lowering their bike themselves."  It's 2 bolts. . .

That time you touched your peg to the pavement, wasn't the peg at all but the peg feeler (That little nipple that hangs off the bottom of your peg that touches before the peg does, remove that nipple and you'll find yourself dragging hard parts). What that tells you is if you lean any further, hard parts will get road rash. I've seen a number of busa's with the case cover rashed up from touching the pavement when leaned over. I've also seen guys crash from dragging their hard parts. Most crashes caused by dragging hard parts are quite violent.

Read Charlesbusa's post above, he is well schooled on suspension.

If you want quicker turn in, the proper way is to raise the rear (I never raise the rear more than 4mm)not lower the front.If you get the rear too high, it makes the bike want to dive into the corners but it also wants to keep going and you'll find yourself wrestling with it to get it stood back up. I much prefer to use a little muscle to get her tipped in with good charistics while in the corner and be gentle on the stand up.

I don't think anyone can argue the fact that lowering your bike has absolutely no benefits to the performance of the suspension but can creat many problems. If you want your suspension to perform it's best, by all means seek advise from a professional. I think you'll find it money well spent.