Topic: Time to get low.

[Caaveman82]

So I got this new 82 Yamaha Virago and I want to lower the front end. I don't want to spend a lot of cash and I really want it to be something fairly fast and easy.

Any ideas?

[BlindJoe]

cut your fork springs

[78CB750CAFE]

whut he said, and drop the forks in the trees an inch or so too

[Caaveman82]

drop the forks in the trees an inch or so too

Is that safe to do? It won't make it too unstable? I was thinking about that as well...

So how much should I cut the springs?

[78CB750CAFE]

Mine has been dropped 1" since I got it, no problems.

[Caaveman82]

So could I cut an inch and then push them an inch up? Would that work?

[Gordon]

How much you can push the forks up in the trees depends on how much clearance you have between the top of the forks and the handle bar.  Some bikes have clearance enough for a couple of inches, some have almost none. 

When cutting springs keep in mind that the more you cut the more you're increasing the spring rate. 

[Caaveman82]

Yeah I only need about two inches I think. It just barely sits too high kind of feels like a cruiser, even though that's what it was supposed to be back when it was made, the poor man's HD. I don't like that feel and would like it lower

Thanks for the help guys.

[Laminar]

How much you can push the forks up in the trees depends on how much clearance you have between the top of the forks and the handle bar.  Some bikes have clearance enough for a couple of inches, some have almost none. 

When cutting springs keep in mind that the more you cut the more you're increasing the spring rate. 

I read "increasing the spring rate" as making the spring tighter or increasing the "k" value in the equation used to determine the spring's force: F = kx. If you cut the spring, you reduce "x," which has the effect of lowering the spring's force. I would refer to that as "lowering the spring rate." But I could be wrong.

[Gordon]

How much you can push the forks up in the trees depends on how much clearance you have between the top of the forks and the handle bar.  Some bikes have clearance enough for a couple of inches, some have almost none. 

When cutting springs keep in mind that the more you cut the more you're increasing the spring rate. 

I read "increasing the spring rate" as making the spring tighter or increasing the "k" value in the equation used to determine the spring's force: F = kx^2. If you cut the spring, you reduce "x," which has the effect of lowering the spring's force. I would refer to that as "lowering the spring rate." But I could be wrong.

Fewer coils in the spring = harder to compress = higher spring rate. 

Take two springs of equal length and rate, and cut one in half.  Let's say it takes 10lbs to compress the longer spring 1 inch.  It will take a lot more weight to compress the shorter spring the same distance because it has half as many coils to be compressed.  Therefore, the cut spring has a higher spring rate.   

[Laminar]

Gotcha. I expect that this would be somewhat counteracted by the smaller amount of preload. At least on my Nighthawk, the fork springs stick out of the tubes an inch or two before I screw the caps back on. Cutting an inch off of the springs would mean that the springs aren't compressed as much to begin with.