HELP! Rear suspension ride height!

[blavenia]

Someone please help me! I purchased a 1999 ZX7R Ninja in the US a couple of days ago, and the owner told me the bike had been "lowered". I can see the forks were raised in the clamps, but the rear end is very low as well. How did he do this, and how do I reverse it? Are there aftermarket doglegs or something? It can't just be the preload because the bike is sitting about 3 inches lower than stock. Any help would be HUGELY appreciated!

I have faith in you guys here on KSRC! How do I get my seat height back to stock?

Thanks to all from a newbie!

Brian

[MadKaw]

I'd check the dog bones and the rear shock length as 3 inches is too much to have been taken out with with the adjuster....

[blavenia]

Is it possible that the rear shock comes in a smaller size? Or maybe was cut down? Thanks for your help. B

[MadKaw]

It doesn't come in a smaller size but they may have changed it for one with a shorter hole to hole size. I'd still say its got longer dogbones on the lower suspension linkage as this is the more common way of lowering bikes for drag racing.

[blavenia]

OK Madcow. Is there a way to find out how long the stock bones should be? I looked up the part numbers on Kawasaki.com, and part of that part number is on the bones. Does anyone know how long the stock ones are so I can measure mine and see if they're the right ones?

Or, does anyone have the stock ones they can measure for me? Should I just go buy a new set of stock Bones? If I do and they're the same size, I will have wasted the money. I'm so desperate!

Again, thanks for all your help.

[Barrabob]

Pull off your stock dogbone and pull out the shokie as well and take it too a breaker/wrecker/recycler of kawasakis and compare it too a stock item you will soon see the diference.

Wouldnt think it will cost you a arm or a leg to fix either might even find a ohlins or pensky unit for a reasonable price if you have to swap out your existing shockie just remember that one from a 6r/7r/9r in aftermarket will all probably fit you just need to know the lenth from eye to eye on the shockie and make up the diference with spacer removal.

Might just need to change the dogbone if your lucky.

[MadKaw]

hmm interesting. Can you take a picture of the rear end and post it.
Lowering links / dogbones usually look like these
http://www.pingelonline.com/suspension_ ... _links.htm

[Androo]

Someone please help me! I purchased a 1999 ZX7R Ninja in the US a couple of days ago, and the owner told me the bike had been "lowered". I can see the forks were raised in the clamps, but the rear end is very low as well. How did he do this, and how do I reverse it? Are there aftermarket doglegs or something? It can't just be the preload because the bike is sitting about 3 inches lower than stock. Any help would be HUGELY appreciated!

I have faith in you guys here on KSRC! How do I get my seat height back to stock?

Thanks to all from a newbie!

Brian

was he a short-ass or was it a drag bike?

[greenman43]

Actually, IIRC, you can quite easily take 3 inches or more out of the rear from the adjuster ; bear in mind that, through the miracle of leverage a change in the shock mount is magnified at the rear wheel. I don't recall the ratio, but off the top of my pointy head it's something like 6 or 7 to 1.

Standard dogbones for a 91-95 are 185mm eye to eye, I'm fairly certain that 96+ are the same parts - a quick visit to buykawasaki.com to compare part numbers will establish this.

Cheers,
Brian

[mattyv74]

Hi mate and welcome to the forum.
we've got two 7r's in my garage. One has been lowered heaps, and the other raised.
More than likely the dogbones will be stock.
The rear shock has adjustable ride height.
The 7r comes adjusted as low as they go in the rear when they come from the factory.
At the top of the shock, you'll see a upside down u bracket with a bolt that goes through the shock.
Just above this the should be a nut (the ride height adjuster), just below the frame cross member.
If you wind this up, the bike will rise in hieght. Ideally, once you obtain the the hieght you want, you should put some spacers between the nut and the shock. This just take the load off the two small welds in there. Most people get some large stainless washers and cut a side out of them so they are a u shape. slide them in, thewind the nut back down on them.

To lower the bike further than stock, some people take tension off the spring. this a dodgy method of doing it.
A better way, and still nearly free, is to remove that adjuster nut (mentioned above. If this lowerrs the bike too much, people then put spacers back in that are smaller than the origional nut.

So, if you don't have a ride height nut in there, that's what they have done.
Alternitively, they may have just taken tension off the spring.

Go and have a look. If it makes no sense, I'll take some pictures for you and post them.

I'll also post the part number that is on the side of the stock dog bones so you see oif yours are stock or not.

Feel free to pm me.

[Androo]

If you wind this up, the bike will rise in hieght. Ideally, once you obtain the the hieght you want, you should put some spacers between the nut and the shock. This just take the load off the two small welds in there.

that's what I did to raise the back of my bike - about 4mm worth of washers raised it enough for me