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Lowered shocks '02 K1200LT

71243

New member
Anyone have experience with lowered shocks ? My concern is deploying the center-stand & how it will sit on side-stand.

Seems too me a 1 inch lower...will make the center-stand, effectively 1 inch longer, thus harder to deploy,.. and the side-stand 1 inch shorter?

Any hands on experience appreciated....Ron
 
I installed a 20mm ( 3/4" approx) shorter rear shock on my last Airhead.

It did make it a "slight" bit harder to put on the center stand , to fix the problem I took two pieces of 3/4" thick plywood, beveled the front and rear edges so the bike would roll up on them without sliding around .

Solved the problem .
Side stand was not an issue.

I doubt i would do it again if i get another Airhead unless i found someone to shorten the center stand and reinforce it.
 
I installed a 20mm ( 3/4" approx) shorter rear shock on my last Airhead.

It did make it a "slight" bit harder to put on the center stand , to fix the problem I took two pieces of 3/4" thick plywood, beveled the front and rear edges so the bike would roll up on them without sliding around .

Solved the problem .
Side stand was not an issue.

I doubt i would do it again if i get another Airhead unless i found someone to shorten the center stand and reinforce it.

Thanks for the reply. This is on a KLT, which i understand [some] had center-stand woe's as is. And it is a behemoth anyway.

Good shocks @ good price. Just don't want to be sorry in the end.
 
I have a Wilbers shock, lowered by 1/2" and the bike is lowered by the same amount. It was not significant enough to cut and reduce the centre stand length. However, it is bit of a grunt to get the bike up and onto the centre stand, and I might add, impossible when touring. When parking at home, having a small board for you to run over with the front wheel and for you to stop with the rear wheel resting on it, eliminates the difficulty when using the centre stand. Unfortunately, I don't have the luxury of having a board waiting for me when touring. The side stand has not been an issue. Lowering the bike by a full one inch, for this old geezer, most likely would be impossible for me to put it onto the centre stand. :gerg
 
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Ron,

K100LT? K1100LT? K1200LT? What year?

It looks like you've been around the forum and around BMW bikes long enough to realize that it REALLY helps to know what year and model bike you might be talking about.

Please read: http://forums.bmwmoa.org/showthread.php?46057-Please-include-MODEL-and-YEAR-in-your-thread-title!

Try to remember in the future. It helps us all. I will add the info to the TITLE of your thread as soon as you clue us in what we're talking about here.


:dance:dance:dance

Sorry..2002 K1200LT
 
Ron,

I have a 97 K1100LT that I lowered, same issue. At first I cut a short length of 2x4 with one end tapered. It was small enough to pack and I just rolled the back wheel up on it to deploy the center stand. This worked but got a bit tedious. I later bought a used center/side stand assembly, got it shortened and replaced my stock unit. That worked best. It does however mis the stop rubber and clunk into the tail muffler a bit. I ended up modifying the bumper a bit.

Rod
 
Rod,

After giving it some thought, I passed on the deal. I understand using the board at home helps. But on a trip? different story. and the 1200 is a behemoth anyway.
Then I thought about the side-stand issue as well.....and as I said, passed on the deal..........Thanks for the reply.

Ron
 
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