Suspension setting after lowering kit

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frankchance

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Previous owner installed a 2” lowering kit on bike and it does look nice but I’ve heard the handling can be affected from it. Just wanted input on suspension settings to maximize handling. I’m 6’0 and 200 lbs if it makes a difference.
 
Lean angle suffers....I thought about a lowering kit, but I'm already dragging pegs at stock height, so a lowering kit is a no go for me, lol. I've dragged my rear brake lever a few times, lol. If you ride in the Twisties you'll have to slow down a bit, but it's setup for straight line performance. A good starting point would be to set everything in the middle and go for a ride. All depends on your preference. Straightline, Twisties, solo, two up, Sunday ride, wot sprints.
 
If you enjoy riding where you corner aggressively, at your size/weight, I'd consider going back to a stock ride height. Are you dragging any hard-and-low pieces? If-not, leave things how they are, perhaps play with the rear shocks preload (stiffen it) and see if your riding enjoyment is better. I believe that guys who are short or who are into the 'straight-line acceleration' thing are the candidates for the lowering of the bike. Guys who corner hard, bigger/heavier guys, probably benefit from not lowering the ride height.

A 'rule of-thumb' is to make ride height adjustments the same at either end. However, trying to drop the rear 2" is not something a rider of your size/weight should do. The maximum rear end adjustment downwards is 1-1/2" unless you are doing your rides a quarter-mile at a time.

Question:
Is your triple tree showing any downtube space above the top triple tree? Or, are the downtubes' ends not-flush with the top of the top triple tree? If-so then the person who owned the bike before you was a midget, or very-short, or as-mentioned previously, spending their riding-time doing it a quarter-mile at a time. If you see any downtubes' length sticking-up above the top triple tree, loosen the top and bottom triple tree clamp bolts, and put the triple tree and the top of the downtubes flush: no downtube sticking-above the top triple tree. This will help your ground clearance, and achievable cornering angles.

You might want to-try some air in the forks, too, even though the Progressive Suspension (PS) directions say that you don't need air pressure in the forks, if you add some, you may gain some cornering clearance. Remember that your volume in the for downtubes is less-than the volume of a English racing bicycle, with those skinny 700C tubes. Recommended pressures are in the range of 4-15 PSI, stock, without the PS fork-lowering kit. When you add air, you'll probably see the bike rise-up in the area of the top triple tree/handlebars, because you just raised the ride height. To most-accurately measure the PSI you should use a low-pressure tire pressure gauge. If you're going to try to-add pressure off a compressor, turn-down the pressure regulator, and use the Schrader valve filler tool on the compressor hose for maybe a second at a time. Don't over-fill, as you could blow-out your fork seals, and that makes a real mess, as the oil goes everywhere.

I just-saw where you have a Gen II, and this advice was for a Gen I, I don't have a Gen II.
 
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