windshield, how tall is tall enough?

[Luke in Brooklyn]

Moose-- I've used both the RL1s and the RL2s. They're both beautifully machined pieces that work well, and both Mike and Fred (your two likely sources) are pleasures to deal with. I weigh about 190 before putting on riding gear and my experience has been that with Mike's RL1 (the more severe raise) I get about 3" race sag at preload 5, without gear. It's true that the links are easier to install than the spring, but at 280 I don't think links alone are going to cut it for you. Maybe they're a good start--and if you find it's not enough, you can do the spring, too. Swapping springs isn't actually very hard once you buy/borrow/make a spring compressor. It's maybe 15 minutes more work than swapping links. -Luke --- "David C." wrote:

> At 11:23 PM 3/27/2007 +0000, you wrote: > >Raising Links > > Posted by: "paladin_1176" > Paladin_1176@... paladin_1176 > > Date: Tue Mar 27, 2007 8:39 am ((PDT)) > > > >Does anybody have experience with the Eagle Mikes > RL1 raising links? > >Right now I have a stock rear shock and i'm trying > to find the most > >cost effective way of raising the pre-load and > capacity of the rear > >end. I'm 280 and i'm planning on riding 1 up all > summer with gear. I > >had thought about the 500/560 spring, but the links > should be easier. > > > >Moose > > I have a set on my '88 and they work fine. I'm 230 > and about 6'5". They > do make the bike a lot taller, so if you are inseam > challenged you will > have a problem. > > Dave C > > >

Brooklyn NY 92 CB750 nighthawk--naked simpleton 03 KLR650--fat girl with a dirty mind ____________________________________________________________________________________ The fish are biting. Get more visitors on your site using Yahoo! Search Marketing. http://searchmarketing.yahoo.com/arp/sponsoredsearch_v2.php

[dualsportnut]

Does any body happen to have a pair of R1 or R2 links that I could borrow to try out an see the effects? Thomas 190# Although I do verry rough riding = 20ft. + jumps.

[paladin_1176]

Anything I should look out for or pay more attention to as I install these RL-1 links? Important things, like...removing this bolt makes your rear suspension auto eject. Stuff like that. Moose

[Jim Priest]

On 4/10/07, paladin_1176 wrote:

> Anything I should look out for or pay more attention to as I install > these RL-1 links? Important things, like...removing this bolt makes > your rear suspension auto eject. Stuff like that.

If you are lucky the bolts will come right out - otherwise have a BFH handy... I had to use a torch on my 98 to heat things up a bit and even then I mangled the bolt enough where I had to replace it. Kawasaki does not like grease. I'd just plan on removing the swingarm and grease everything up while you are replacing the links. I don't remember doing anything special with the rear shock... Jim

[E.L. Green]

--- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, "ckahleer" wrote:

> I think the stock windshield was designed to direct wind into the > riders face.

Indeed. That's what keeps your visor clear in cool or rainy weather. Otherwise you have to stick your helmet out to the side to let the windblast blow the mist off from time to time. Don't ask me how I know this . If you are wearing an open face helmet, take the windshield off completely. Otherwise a well designed helmet like an Arai doesn't mind getting wind blast at all, it's aerodynamically designed for it and the wind keeps the visor clear in bad weather. My problem with the stock windshield is more the buffeting it adds than where it directs the wind. I cut the flip off the top and that helps a bit. But too much air is coming up between the tank and the handlebars, and that wind adds a nice little "booming" noise at the bottom of my helmet. BTW, I tried the "no windshield" solution. Doesn't work. Here in California the freeways move as fast as 80mph (or at 15mph, not much inbetween). Since you can't get anywhere without going on the freeway, the amount of windblast you get "bare" is utterly unacceptable, especially when you're going into a 30mph headwind (typical when the wind starts blowing in from the bay). The de-flipped windshield is my current favorite, a compromise between reducing windblast and reducing buffeting. A taller windshield closer to me, like the Slipstreamer CF-30, eliminates the buffeting altogether but is much too big and clumsy for offroad use and because the air bubble behind it is so still, will cause your visor to condense over during the winter (one solution there is simply take your visor off, yes, the air bubble is still enough to do that, but during rain you still get mist swirling in from the sides so you'd get damp swiftly without your visor).

[Luke in Brooklyn]

Moose-- Support the bike so the rear wheel is a touch off the ground (like an inch or two) and then put wedges of wood under it until the wheel is just barely not hanging. After you've installed the links, you'll need fewer wedges of wood for it the new legs to line up... if you didn't start with the wheel high enough, you'll be stuck trying to compress the shock some (or lift the bike higher). I lube my swingarm linkage every season and never had a problem with getting the bolts out. I did spend an entire day with a BFH on a parts bike that apparently had not been so diligently lubed. If I recall correctly, I sold the thing with the linkage pivot still seized in place. Grease is your friend. Luke --- paladin_1176 wrote:

> Anything I should look out for or pay more attention > to as I install > these RL-1 links? Important things, like...removing > this bolt makes > your rear suspension auto eject. Stuff like that. > > Moose > >

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