Dog Bones/Front forks

[lardarse]

What is the standard length for dog bones please?

My bike has some shiny anodised things on, that have obviously replaced the originals. Reason for asking, want to use the bike for touring, with me, the missus and luggage, and dont want to bottom out.

Also, the front forks are through the yokes by about 25-30 mm, is this standard or has someone been lowering things?

Thanks in advance for any replies


Kev

[devilsyam]

sounds like lowered i have some stock bones here 142mm from memory if you want them let me know and i;ll post em
up to 10mm through yokes is normal to quicken steering but the size you give is excessive unless your a short ass

luke

[lardarse]

5 foot 9 in me stockings (not the nylon ones) Luke..

I sort of thought that, how does it quicken the steering please?

Kev

[PieEater]

how does it quicken the steering please?

In summery lowering the front will shorten the caster and the wheel base, the steering head angle is steeper and the center of gravity is lower, all elements that effect the bikes handling and turning. If you're still asking how type questions Google is your friend    If you're going 2-up touring you'll probably want to raise the bike back up the forks a bit as ground clearance will have been effected by lowering it and as Luke says 25-30mm is excessive anyway. Have you got a decent rear shock?

[lardarse]

Stock rear shock for the time being, as I've just got the bike! Understood about the caster on the front, makes sense now . Maybe it's time to get everything measured and sorted back to standard ish, maybe even raise the rear a little.

We're not going to be Euro tourers, but a jaunt down to Devon and Cornwall could well be on the cards.

[devilsyam]

the rear shock is not the best as you will read elseware and even worse two up
on my shock kits i offer std ride height or +20 at no extra cost
but my offer still stands if you want some stock bones i have em here

[sadlonelygit]

i sincerely hope you have decent front springs fitted.
if you're still on standard then the soft part of the spring (0.7XXkg/mm) will be taken up fully with the static sag, leaving just the heavier part of the windings (1.2kg/mm iirc) to do all the work. not good!
as an even cheaper alternative to the R6 shock is a spring from Faulkners (£35) to suit your weight.

[PieEater]

If you're going to stick with the standard shock for the time being I would deffinately reccomend shorter dogbones but hopefully you'll soon know whether you have these or not, the shorter bones give you more ground clearance but also noticeably firm up the action of the shock which helps overcome some of it's weakness. Most owners end up replacing their shocks or having them re-sprung / re-gassed & serviced. Had Luke's R6 shock mod been available at the time I would probably have gone that route but as it is I have a nice Nitron shock sprung and set up for me and would never want to go back.
 
Raising the front up will make the steering noticeably slower, you may or may not like the difference but as a compromise I'd start by raising it so you still have about 10mm of fork leg showing through the yoke rather than raising it all the way up. Best way of doing this is to support the front of the bike on a jack then once the bolts are undone you can just jack the bike up the forks and clamp at the right position.
 
I'm based in Devon so if you want some suggestions for roads to ride / places to visit drop me an email at pie dot eater at blueyonder dot co dot uk.