Well,I rode my baby a day or so with the 1"lower ride height all the way around.I "thought" it was feeling pretty good...but she was having a hard time stayin on a line in the curves.Just kinda wandered if I didn't hold er extra steady.Leanin didn't feel very comfy either.Felt like she wanted to fall in.Ah....I had enough of that.Back to stock dogbones and front height(and rear)again with some new settings to my suspension.Gotta say...Privateer...you were right about the lowering.It did kinda mess up the handling.She's a rockin now again.High speed curves and such..."look Ma,no hands!" Just like the old days...she's planted and wantin to fly through the sweepers and all.Excellent again and me happy.New tires as well.Strada rear,Rosso front.Sweet combo so far!Removed the Buell pegs also,and re-installed the stockers.Had to keep my Helis on there though....just a tad too sharp an angle for my "getting older" back.There IS a difference in the way she behaves with the "other" stuff on there.My dream bike as a youngster was the 750 Honda.Now I'm ridin the biggest,baddest sportbike on the planet...WooHooooo!My baby's been an experiment alright.Lots of changes to her since 07.But my BEST configuration is STOCK(no flies)Piped with the Helis and 16/42 gearing.Just great!.Ride Safe all.Gonna be a great day to ride!!!

* Last updated by: blue07 on 8/20/2010 @ 2:28 AM *

Thats what people seem to not understand. There is no way you can lower a bike and expect the handling to not be affected period.

congrats on getting her to point of being happy with her blue.

And before anyone throws out the "stretched and lowered handles perfectly fine". I call bullshit and say yea if you live somewhere the roads consist of lots of straights and long lazy sweepers.

I have nothing against that, to each his own. It's just not my cup of tea.

WELL said HEATHUM THIS SUBJECT has bin bashed to death everywhere it's good to see quite a few other smart men besides the few to give many good points, in why not to changing "high/tech/engineering original designs, funny my dad also said when I was young this same thing you don't screw with the DESIGNED dynamics ever!

* Last updated by: bean07 on 8/20/2010 @ 6:22 AM *

Hey, blue.

I wanted to ask you about your lower height seat and how that affects handling in the corners. I suspect it would help quite a bit, and I think you said it did.

I'm working on trying to get my 14 to work better on track days (I know -- I should get a separate track bike -- maybe next year), and have been considering getting a lower seat. I have the Sargent standard height seat now.

Do you think that's a worthwhile investment? I'm not so concerned about comfort on long trips at this time.

Thanks! -bg

Honestly BG...I couldn't tell ya if a lower seat would benefit yer track day riding.I "thought" lowering my bike would "make it handle better"....wrong.It didn't.HOWEVER...lowering the seat(for me) allows me to feel somewhat more connected to the bike.I can't say if it's actually changed anything physically handling wise,but I do feel a tad more at one with it like this.To me it is a worthwhile mod....it's possible my center of mass has caused the bike to behave a tad more responsive.It's interesting as some of you all mentioned(And I secretly worried about)that the engineers designed our spaceships to act a certain way at a certain configuration.I'd say they were VERY accurate with what they intended this bike to be driven like.Even going back to the stock pegs caused me to feel more "confident" if I could use that term.Having my feet up higher...even by one inch,I can sense a more "aggressive" feeling in myself and the bike while runnin the curves and such.I've never doubted Kawasaki's bike design here.That's why I've been willing to "see" what something might do....but I've always returned back to the stock design and stuff.IDK.

I did have to keep my Helis on there though.Just enough reach angle to help my lower back and wrists.

Hi, Blue:

I think the lower seat is probably a big benefit while cornering. They say the lower your weight is, the better. Some racers even talk about not actually sitting in the seat through the corners, but putting as much of their weight as they can on the footpegs.

I guess I should go too far trying to make this thing do something that it wasn't designed to do. I don't think I'll spend another $500 on another Sargent seat, but I kind of wish I had ordered the lower height one. I wasn't doing track days at the time, so the high one was probably a good choice at the time.

If I found someone who had a low seat and wanted to trade for a normal height one, I'd do it in a heartbeat, though.

Thanks for your comments. -bg

gordon,

why not just cut your foam down to what you like. Take a little off at the time and shape it to feel and pull the skin back on. It's easily done with a hacksaw blades, sandpaper and a staple gun.

blue,

confidence is a big part of pushing a bike. If you don't have confidence in that the tires will stick you'll never push the lean angles.

I've seen it many times with tires. Guys put on a set of tires and someone comes along and say's "man I used to run those tires and they just let go for no reason at full tilt, I'd never run those again" That puts doubt in their minds and they never get the nerve to really push the tire and then blame the tire for their mental block.

That same holds true with most mods that are aimed at performance, some inpire confidence and some don't for whatever reason. But if you aren't 100% confident in your set up you'll always question her ability to get you through a corner at faster speeds or steeper lean angles.

HI everyone I just found the site about ! rear end raise or lower poll, all though this is about the cbrxx It would be good if some could go there because when I did this it did a massive great change in making my bird turn so much better,even my nutter mate said he can hardly belive how quick it made it turn. IF interested it's at www.cbrxx.com/honda-cbrforums

* Last updated by: bean07 on 8/20/2010 @ 4:38 PM *

Thanks Bean.I'm leavin her stock now.Had an AWESOME ride today.Was tankin up and low and behold...here comes a Busa and another rocket.Don't know what that was.Anyway...they went on by.So I RAPIDLY topped er off(they were headin the SAME way I was !

So I get er done..then I'm off.Caught up to em just outside of town.SHWEET.Nothin but sweeping medium curves and open bitchin road.Beautiful day here today.(okay,throw in some REALLY SWEET open curves...you know...those long,180 type deals followed by ones in the opposite curve.Big 90's.

So I wanna try out my suspension some more...you know.Make sure it's setup okay and all .Ya....so I'm followin them.Soon as we clear the main city outskirts,it's on.Guy's probably NEVER run with a 14.I passed and went ahead....up a ways.They're back there,but it's not yet solid on what we're doing "riding together". Okay,so I know ahead there's some BIG FUN comin up.Been this road MANY times.So I wave to em,make a curvey sign,and wave em to "come on".He gets it.She gets it.They're game .

Now we start rollin.Very cool.110,120,130+,leaned over and flyin fast.He's "tryin" to stay close to me....but he's most likely smarter than I am!Anyway-we run like this pretty much all the 80 miles to my hometown,where I wave em off and thumbs up.

NOW...my suspension impressions.All I can say is...WoooHaaaa!She's NEVER been so right.The faster I went,the more control I got.This is how it is supposed to be I'm thinkin.The roads are surfaced good,real good for fast bikes.But not perfect.Gave er more fuel....she got smoother and smoother.Road bumps and irregularities just "disappeared".Got those new Pirellis broke in just fine....lost the edge on both sides....no bouncing or drama at all.Just firm footing and plush smooth ride....leaned in at 130+.

We stopped momentarily(I did,he pulled in behind me there)to wait for his wife(or daughter,I never saw her face...but he was at least a good 59,maybe 60ish).He gave me a knuckle to knuckle punch...cool....and said "yer having WAY too much fun on that thing there"Kinda reminded me of Santa Claus...had that sly sorta grin on his mug...and that's how he said it.Real countryboy guy!I was like WAY stoked and surprised to see he was around my age.Amazing.Us seniors sure love these badazz birds!

Me no touchy me suspension any more.SWHEEET!

I've no idea who claimed a 14 can't turn.They should ride one before they open wide and insert foot!

I kept some reserve...today....I know she'll corner WAY faster.Thankfully,there'll be another time up ahead.(?)You guys ride safe and have fun.Heathun...yer absolutely keerect on the confidence thing.Couldn't agree more.That's why I went back as well....the bike just didn't feel solid to me.It does now again.Actually BETTER than it felt before I changed anything.The faster,the smoother...leaned over or straight.The ride quality is now consistent at lower highway speeds and on up.Amazing!

Gordon...I wish I could get to a track...just for the hell of it and ride my 14.But I can't really see any reason way your baby won't do just fine...hefty as they are.IMO not THAT heavy.

Okay....and before anyone says it....I'm STOOPID for riding like this on the street.And I don't advocate doing it either.(is that the same thing as a hypocrit?)HHmmmm.Probably die in a head-on.Well,at least it'll be quick,that's fer sure.If I do,I want to be lookin back over my shoulder,head check ya know,makin sure the coast is clear BEHIND ME!!!!Turn my head back around...BOOM...eternity baby....I've made it!

Not really...honestly...I wouldn't want at all to hurt or kill someone else on my way out.And these fast speeds...ONLY when it's CLEAR...NO traffic.

* Last updated by: blue07 on 8/20/2010 @ 6:29 PM *

Well,I rode my baby a day or so with the 1"lower ride height all the way around.I "thought" it was feeling pretty good...but she was having a hard time stayin on a line in the curves.Just kinda wandered if I didn't hold er extra steady.Leanin didn't feel very comfy either.Felt like she wanted to fall in.Ah....I had enough of that.Back to stock dogbones and front height(and rear)again with some new settings to my suspension.Gotta say...Privateer...you were right about the lowering.It did kinda mess up the handling.She's a rockin now again.High speed curves and such..."look Ma,no hands!" Just like the old days...she's planted and wantin to fly through the sweepers and all.Excellent again and me happy.New tires as well.Strada rear,Rosso front.Sweet combo so far!Removed the Buell pegs also,and re-installed the stockers.Had to keep my Helis on there though....just a tad too sharp an angle for my "getting older" back.There IS a difference in the way she behaves with the "other" stuff on there.My dream bike as a youngster was the 750 Honda.Now I'm ridin the biggest,baddest sportbike on the planet...WooHooooo!My baby's been an experiment alright.Lots of changes to her since 07.But my BEST configuration is STOCK(no flies)Piped with the Helis and 16/42 gearing.Just great!.Ride Safe all.Gonna be a great day to ride!!!
=======================================================================================================================

Hey JollyRoger glad you're enjoying that Big Bad Blue Machine

Hey Hey Hey!!!!!! I AM....wish ya could a been with me TODAY....the house was a rockin on Highway 2 into Kalispell!

80 + miles of zx14 heaven!

* Last updated by: blue07 on 8/20/2010 @ 7:40 PM *

* Last updated by: bean07 on 8/20/2010 @ 7:41 PM *

why not just cut your foam down to what you like.

Wow. I wouldn't want to take a knife to this beautiful seat. I'd totally muck it up. Not at all handy in that direction... -bg

No Gordon...YOU don't take a knife to it!You have SOMEONE who has some understanding of what yer azz feels like on a 2 x 4 after about 3 hours!It is a gamble though.Take off too much,oopps, another one bites the dust.

Check yer mail.

* Last updated by: blue07 on 8/20/2010 @ 8:29 PM *

Check yer mail.

Blue:

If you sent me an email, could you please re-send? I didn't get it. Thanks! -bg