Lowering Rt1150

[jupiteral]

How can you make an RT1150 lower ?

[TandemGeek]

http://bmwsporttouring.com/faq/LowerRt.htm

[jurgen]

Be aware that lowering may affect the handling of the bike since you're changing its frame geometry. If you are fully loaded or with a pillion, the suspension may bottom out. Finally, cutting sidestand and centerstand is a messy operation.
Try going with a lower seat with a narrow front. That may work for you.

[Rollifahrer]

I put Wilbers on front and rear in order to lower my bike 1". Since they were custom built to lower the bike evenly, there was no change in sterering geometry, but a huge improvement in handling and comfort.

I bought a used side stand (at Re-Psycle) and had an inch cut out of the thick part and a solid insert put in to reinforce the weld.

On tight rights the centerstand scrapes if I'm on the brakes with a lot of lean, but not if I brake early and am on the throttle.

It rarely bottoms out 1 up, but I underestimated the total load with pillion and luggage, so I'll send them back to Nick's BMW to have the preload re-set to match my actual load (I was off by ~100#). There is a downside to having less travel, but slowing for or steering around bumps and potholes is a small sacrifice for the improvements.

I was having serious issues keeping the bike upright if I made even the slightest mistake with the front brake coming to a stop or if my feet slid on sand or oil spots. Lowering made the bike a dream for me. I had serious thoughts about getting rid of it, but now I plan to get another when this one hits 200K or craps out early for some reason. I'll move my Wilbers and other aftermarket upgrades, so the 1200.00 investment in custom shocks that are rebuildable will be spread over a good long period.

You should be very carefull about any changes to frame and suspension, but it worked for me and I felt the people at Wilbers and Nick's knew what they were doing.