Triumphrat

DoABarrelRoll

This may be a stupid question... but how do you raise the bike? I think adding more preload to the rear will do that... but at a price.

GNTurbo6

I'm not sure but I love your username.

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'00 TT600
'87 GN

Triumphant600

^^^ Hahahahaha. Why would you want to raise the bike? Has it already been lowered and your looking to get it back to the original ride height?

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How about we play a game called "just the tip" just for a minute, just to see how it feels? - Vince Vaughn

DoABarrelRoll

I want to raise it because I need it higher... unless a bear on a tricycle is the look I am going after.

BombFactory

I love it; clear and to the point! But to try and get some info to you, I will first off say I've never raised a motorcycle nor have I even thought about doing so; good question to ponder though. Hang with me as I discuss lowering in order to discuss raising:

Front Suspension:
In order to lower the front suspension you can add lowering spacers which are pieces of tubing that go in the fork tube with the spring. To not go into detail, this lowers the inner fork tube into the outer, thus lowering the bike. So, theoretically, you might be able to do the reverse and cut a few links out of the spring to raise the inner tube in the outer. There is the question of whether or not the damper rod will allow this to happen before topping/bottoming out. You would also have a weaker spring which won't help your situation. You could always cut up a stock spring to experiment and then buy stiffer aftermarket springs to cut for the final in hopes of getting approx. the stock spring-rate after the modification. Again, I have no idea about the actual logistics of this, rather I’m thinking aloud via text. Resorting to lowering the forks in the triple clamps won't work due to the need for the extra fork for your clipons to be supported by.

Rear Suspension:
The rear shock is mounted to the chassis and swingarm on the bottom via a triangle dog-bone setup. To lower the rear many people assume you can use an extra long dog-bone like other motorcycle manufacturers do, but this will alter the geometry on the type of setup the Triumphs have and in effect yield negative suspension performance out back. The same goes for using an aftermarket rear shock with an adjustable end. The reason for this is that when a longer dog-bone is used it changes the angle of the triangle which connects all the pieces together. Rather than having specific forces placed on specific areas of the triangle system (hence the purpose for having a triangulated system), the swingarm will not function as it was designed to (i.e. it will want to bind more or move more erratically.) The fix to this is to lengthen and change the angle of one side of the triangle connector, and with the longer dog-bone everything will move to the same point keeping the proper geometry while lowering the rear. The aftermarket company Great Bay offers a lowering kit that does just this. The reason for me explaining all of this is because the opposite might apply for raising the bike. If you shortened the dogbone and triangle, you might be able to lower the rear without sacrificing proper preload. As with the front suspension, this is very theoretical and by shortening everything up you might have a negative effect of binding or the sort.

As far as preloads go, you will keep the bike raised if the suspension is set up on the stiff side; however, your ride and handling performance will be drastically affected. Lowering and raising the bike for the street should not be done using the preload settings, as these are to set the suspension up for the rider's weight, not what height he/she wants the bike to be. I hope that sheds some light.

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The Resurrection: ’02 CE Speedtona w/GSXR Forks
Project Straight-Line: The TT600 Drag Bike
The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways; the point, however, is to change it. - Karl Marx

yimmit

i think raising an S4 would make it look more aggresive and had thought of doing it myself but was put of the idea as it is likely to increase wear on the rubbing strip on the swingarm. if you could fit bigger sprockets it may help reduce it but the only off the shelf sizes for the fronts that ive seen are 14&15tooth ones although someone on speedfour.org has managed to get a 16t one.
good luck with the mods and post pics if you do manage it

themaster

Would adjustable rearsets not be somewhat easier, or are you mahusive?!