[calebjm]

I'm not a great rider (been riding 15 years) as far as knee dragging racing stuff. I feel competent and have been playing with the idea of doing a track day or going to a racing school (no interest in really racing just learning to ride better and without worries of tickets and cars). In the process I have found that the center stand drags very early and so I removed it but the exhaust is dragging on both sides now. Perhaps I am not moving my weight to allow a more straight up cornering but I feel like I am. I am just curious if anyone else has struggled with this and what they did to solve it. If I am the only one then please tell me what I might be doing incorrectly. Also I am now looking for a rear stand any opinions?

 

[ducsrfun]

I was having a similar problem with my pipes dragging... I read some threads on this site to help set up the suspension better... I raised the rear by adjusting the rear link so that I had about 3/8" gap between the floor and the bottom of the tire when the bike was on the centerstand. This helped the turn in for corners (quickened it up a little) and gave me more ground clearance. That fixed the problem until I went on a 5 day trip and with the bike loaded down with junk the pipes dragged again. I just put a couple of turns of spring into the shock and never had the problem again.
Randy

 

[danrduc]

I'm not a great rider (been riding 15 years) as far as knee dragging racing stuff. I feel competent and have been playing with the idea of doing a track day or going to a racing school (no interest in really racing just learning to ride better and without worries of tickets and cars). In the process I have found that the center stand drags very early and so I removed it but the exhaust is dragging on both sides now. Perhaps I am not moving my weight to allow a more straight up cornering but I feel like I am. I am just curious if anyone else has struggled with this and what they did to solve it. If I am the only one then please tell me what I might be doing incorrectly. Also I am now looking for a rear stand any opinions?

I can't touch anything on mine, can't even touch my toes yet. Maybe I should lower it a bit, the seat height is just a bit high?

 

[ST4Rick]

silly question, but you did raise the exhaust to the upper mounting hole after removing the hard bags, right?

 

[Desmo_Demon]

When I was sitting upright on the seat and the bike was in stock configuration and pipes in the upward position, I noticed that the bow in the centerstand arm and the outside of the right can had a tendency to drag....

I rasied the rear ride height, adjusted the preload and compression in my front and rear suspensions, installed slip-ons with a smaller can diameter, and started getting off the seat a bit. At that point, I dragged the bend in the '98 "dogleg" sidestand, a foot on the centerstand, and the bend at the collector on the right slip-on...

Since then I have moved my butt even more off the seat and have proceded to drag a knee and on a rare occasion a toe with the knee, but I have yet to drag any hardparts, again.....without crashing.

 

[calebjm]

silly question, but you did raise the exhaust to the upper mounting hole after removing the hard bags, right?

Yes but I was dragging the same place as the last pic on Desmo_Demon's post in the header on the slip-on not the can. I will stiffen the suspension and go from there I guess.

 

[mad]

Raise the rear ride height until the rear tire damn near rubs the ground when on the center stand. That will help many issues.

Make sure it's sprung for your weight. If it's factory and you weight more than 160 then it probably isn't.

I'll still drag stuff if I push the tires to the absolute limit...otherwise A.O.K.

 

[calebjm]

When my bike was on the center stand the rear tire was touching the ground before I removed it... I thought it might be a slightly bent center stand but when comparing it with another ST2 sitting side by side it didn't look like it which is now making me wonder if the suspension was already extended and that's why... I have since (yesterday) removed the center stand.

 

[butch]

Is your sag set correctly? Have the forks been moved in the triple clamp?

I would start with the basics of suspension set-up.
I have been to the track 5 times with my ST and rarely have anything touch down.

 

[calebjm]

How to I check if my sag is set correctly and if my forks have been moved in the triple clamps? I don't think anything seems odd or out of place with the forks and their relation to the triple clamps but I'm not sure what to look for. I feel like an idiot right about now .

 

[stryder]

What do you weigh? What year and model ST do you have? Have you or PO upgraded the shock or springs or are they the OEM? Is the fork oil fresh? Have you adjusted the dampers?

If the fork tubes project above the top triple clamp, their stock position is flush with the "deck" of the top triple clamp, it will reduce your ground clearance, though sharpen the steering/handling.

 

[freighttriain]

it's been a while since i set my SAG up... but it wasn't that hard to do... it just takes a couple of friends to do it with you.. and it doesn't take that long..

have one friend hold the bike in an up-right position off of the kick stand. i had my friend hold the bike by the nose fairing next to the headlight. with the bike held vertically... with out you on it... have the third person take a measurement from a fixed point on your swing arm.. to another fixed point on your bike on the tail section .. ( turn signal.. or a point on your tail fairing. i used a piece of tape... and marked a line with a sharpie pen at both points..) that way i was able to get consistent measurements from the same exact points....

write that number down.. now with all of your gear on... mount your bike while the your friend is still holding your bike vertical.. with your feet on your pegs and your body in the riding position... have the third person take a measurement from the same exact two points as before this time with you on the bike in full gear... i believe the desired difference should be around 1 3/4 inches...

like i said.. it's been a while... but i found the info on the Sport Rider websight... and pics were included in the article as well... do a search to be sure...

 

[danrduc]

How to I check if my sag is set correctly and if my forks have been moved in the triple clamps? I don't think anything seems odd or out of place with the forks and their relation to the triple clamps but I'm not sure what to look for. I feel like an idiot right about now .

The idiot, is the one who thinks he doesn't need to ask questions. These guys have fun expounding their experience, bench racing on the net. I'll bet some of them are even chug-a-lugging while doing it. Maybe one or two.

 

[calebjm]

What do you weigh? What year and model ST do you have? Have you or PO upgraded the shock or springs or are they the OEM? Is the fork oil fresh? Have you adjusted the dampers?

If the fork tubes project above the top triple clamp, their stock position is flush with the "deck" of the top triple clamp, it will reduce your ground clearance, though sharpen the steering/handling.

215 and 6'4" (I like long walks on the beach and sitting by the fire and talking ), 2001, no they are stock shocks and I have not changed the fork oil.

The forks are flush with the triple clamps. The bike handles great compared to my previous bikes.

 

[calebjm]

it's been a while since i set my SAG up... but it wasn't that hard to do... it just takes a couple of friends to do it with you.. and it doesn't take that long..

have one friend hold the bike in an up-right position off of the kick stand. i had my friend hold the bike by the nose fairing next to the headlight. with the bike held vertically... with out you on it... have the third person take a measurement from a fixed point on your swing arm.. to another fixed point on your bike on the tail section .. ( turn signal.. or a point on your tail fairing. i used a piece of tape... and marked a line with a sharpie pen at both points..) that way i was able to get consistent measurements from the same exact points....

write that number down.. now with all of your gear on... mount your bike while the your friend is still holding your bike vertical.. with your feet on your pegs and your body in the riding position... have the third person take a measurement from the same exact two points as before this time with you on the bike in full gear... i believe the desired difference should be around 1 3/4 inches...

like i said.. it's been a while... but i found the info on the Sport Rider websight... and pics were included in the article as well... do a search to be sure...

Thank you I will try that out.

 

[stryder]

215 and 6'4" (I like long walks on the beach and sitting by the fire and talking ), 2001, no they are stock shocks and I have not changed the fork oil.

The forks are flush with the triple clamps. The bike handles great compared to my previous bikes.

Time to upgrade if you want to play harder. At 215 plus gear you'll need new frt springs and possibly a new shock, or a respringing of your current shock to a stiffer one. Just swapping out the fork oil will make a world of difference as well.

You won't get what you want with what you have IMO, that's to say, good riding/handling bike with improved ground clearance. Good luck, have fun, oh, and keep enjoying those long walks on the beach, you stud. LOL!!

 

[calebjm]

Time to upgrade if you want to play harder. At 215 plus gear you'll need new frt springs and possibly a new shock, or a respringing of your current shock to a stiffer one. Just swapping out the fork oil will make a world of difference as well.

You won't get what you want with what you have IMO, that's to say, good riding/handling bike with improved ground clearance. Good luck, have fun, oh, and keep enjoying those long walks on the beach, you stud. LOL!!

Any suggestions on what to upgrade to and where to get it? Or am I better off to loose weight?

 

[stryder]

Any suggestions on what to upgrade to and where to get it? Or am I better off to loose weight?

You're lucky in that a very good suspension tuner/shop is relatively close to you. call Rick at Cogent Dynamics, he'll set you straight.

Losing weight is always a good idea too. But, you'll still be undersprung IMO.

 

[danrduc]

I take it all back

I can't touch anything on mine, can't even touch my toes yet. Maybe I should lower it a bit, the seat height is just a bit high?

I have to take it all back. Mounted up some Dunlop Q2s last week, went to the mountains[Yarnell to Prescott] today, and dragged the left footpeg. My bike is fairly narrow, and not particularly low, and it has the small superbike footpegs[no nubs on the bottom]. Suspension is not set on the soft side, superbike fork springs. Must be time to invest in good riding gear.

 

[butch]

You're lucky in that a very good suspension tuner/shop is relatively close to you. call Rick at Cogent Dynamics, he'll set you straight.

Losing weight is always a good idea too. But, you'll still be undersprung IMO.

I could not agree more with Stryder. Rick rebuilt (new springs and carts) my forks and sold me a beautiful Ohlins shock sprung for my weight. The improvement over the stock set up is HUGE.