Lowering your TR650 with a Kouba Link

[ATGATT]

In the interest of sharing info with my fellow TR650 brothers and sisters, I figured I share my experience lowering my TR650 Strada with both the 1" and 1 3/4" Kouba Links.

First, I'm a bit on the short side at 5' 7" with a 29" inseam. I weigh 225 lbs. I'm big-boned, dammit!

With the OEM link and at the standard sag setting (from the dealer), I'm on my tip-toes (both sides) when sitting on my Strada.

Without messing with the sag setting, the 1" Kouba Link (with forks raised 3/4" - the max recommended by Norm Kouba) drops me down to barely the balls of my feet (both sides). This probably would be a good dual-sport setting but since my bike will be ridden 95% on pavement, I wanted to lower it even further for better stability when stopped.

So, I ordered the 1 3/4" lowering link and with the forks still raised 3/4" (not changed since I installed the 1" link) and sag not adjusted, it lowered me just beyond the balls of my feet. For street riding, this is perfect for me. The bike is now low enough such that I have no issues straddling it when stopped. I would estimate that the bike still has more than enough clearance and suspension travel for riding on forest service roads. The back end hasn't bottomed out yet during my street riding, even with my weight. I am planning on adjusting sag to increase stiffness since I think the back end is now a bit too soft. I expect to lose a small amount of lowering by adjusting sag to a stiffer setting but I think the seat height will still be good for me.

One issue that I ran into (not unexpected) is that with the 1 3/4" lowering link, with the side stand down the bike now sits a bit too close to vertical for my comfort. I am planning on having a local shop shorten the side stand to bring the bike back to its OEM lean. With the 1" link, I felt the bike lean was still in the "safe" zone with the unshortened side stand.

Anyway, that's been my experience lowering my TR with both of the available Kouba Links. Regarding the links themselves, they are the usual high-quality pieces that Kouba is known for. I have no complaints and they work as advertised.

Also, for normal street riding, I experienced no adverse effects with the Kouba links installed. The bike handled and steered just fine with either Kouba link installed. I certainly don't ride on the edge so I have no data on how they affect steering and handling at the limit or off-road.

Hope this helps!

 

[Greg Jetnikoff]

I thought I would add to this as I have installed both links .
I am average height (177cm/5'10") but have short legs ( canardus pedus...duck's disease lol). My girlfriend sold her bike and I have 2 so I thought I might make the tr so she and her 5'3" could ride it. Both of us are ex road racers so we are both sensitive to handling changes.
I first lowered the front internally as shown elsewhere in the forum by 40mm. This results in only about a centimetre at the seat because it is so far back from front and gave no useful help to Sally's ground reach. What it did do was substantially improve the road handling by improving the turn in.
I then installed a 1.75"(45mm) Kouba. The improvements from dropping the front disappeared and back to the aweful turn-in and Sally still couldn't touch the ground safely. The sidestand is an issue as well.
As she couldn't use it I bought the 1" (25mm) Kouba. The sidestand is better and the turn-in improved but not as good as without the link and the front lowered.
As a side note..When are bike manufacturers going to wake up and make bikes that 66% of women who below 5'5" can ride ( cruiser crap not included). All bike manufacturers are guilty of anti_women bike design and Husky is one of the worst. They make not one bike that Sally can ride and she is within ONE standard deviation from the mean in height.

 

[ATGATT]

Good info there, Greg!

I think it's less of an anti-women bias and more of a "these are offroad bikes, let's make them tall" mentality on behalf of the manufacturers. KTM, in particular, thinks everyone is 6' 3" and is racing Dakar!

 

[mario33]

BMW spotted that first, went right direction and offered lowering options on all their GS's (lower seat and/or lower suspension). At a price though...

I'm similarly sized to Mr ATGATT and Terra is not that bad in this respect. You may try lower seat cover from Seat Concept (1,5 cm lower): http://www.seatconcepts.com/products#!/~/product/category=1671357&id=24590609

 

[ATGATT]

Presented without comment:

View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFmv22ghzQw

 

[Bobzilla]

Adding my 2 cents since at 5'1" I am smaller then most who will/would ride the Terra. I installed the 1.75 Kouba as soon as it was available. Before that I had taken my saddle to a guy to trim some foam out of the seat. The dealer had lowered the front end for me, he had also promised to lower the back but never came through but that is another story. When I sat on the bike at the dealer I was butt to the side barely on my toes. Now I am on the balls of my feet but will never be flat footed. I feel totally comfortable on the bike in all conditions even if I have to stretch out sometimes. Not a motocrosser but love riding the gravel and dirt roads.
Time line might looks like this:
mile 1 lower front end
mile 100 trimed saddle
mile 900 installed Kouba link
mile 1000 dropped bike on stand by turning front wheel the wrong way
mile 1100 dropped bike trying to put kick stand down on uneven surface
mile 5500 happy as a clam
Morel of the story: Get used to the bike and you will love it.

 

[Greg Jetnikoff]

Even with the 40mm lower front end AND dropped through the clamps and the kouba link 1.75", Sally cannot touch the ground even on tiptoe and is definitely not strong enough to lean the bike over far enough to touch the ground AND support it on one leg while she gets on or off.

 

[WoodsChick]

I'm 5'1" with a 27" inseam. I commute on my Terra every day. I slide off the side a little and get one toe down. I haven't lowered it yet, am putting that off til I decide what to do with the suspension. I'm thinking it will compress enough to suit me once I soften it up and get it revalved/resprung for my weight.

It's more about a fine balance point than it is about strength. I've learned how to do it over the years because every dirt bike I've ever owned (other than my first one, a CR80) has been way too tall for me.

As you can see, my...uh...inseam starts quite a bit below the seat. I'm on the high side of the bike and it is leaning over, making it look a little less skyscraper-ish than it really is...

 

[nev..]

It's more about a fine balance point than it is about strength. I've learned how to do it over the years because every dirt bike I've ever owned (other than my first one, a CR80) has been way too tall for me.

Good on you WoodsChick. It's about planning, balance, technique and confidence, rather than just brute strength or ability to plant both feet on the ground. I try to get my wife (5'4) to be more confident about riding bikes that she can barely get a toe down, but she doesn't have the confidence or the forward planning to comfortably ride a bike on which she can't at least get a good portion of both feet down.
I am 5'7 and one previous bike I owned was a Buell XB12X, on which I could barely get my toes to the ground. Whenever I had to stop, I had to plan where and how I was going to stop, and how I was going to make sure I could get going again. In the 17000km I owned that bike, there was only 1 occasion where the bike got away from me and tipped over at standstill.
I believe it is the fear of being too short for the bike which will see a short rider overbalance unnecessarily, because they are already resigned to the fact that they are too short for the bike and it will overwhelm them, whereas a confident rider will know that it's only in the most extreme situations that they will not be able to avoid the low speed drops.
One of my favourite anecdotes on this topic is a shortlegged friend who was riding a Honda NSR150 sportsbike. She could flat foot both feet on this bike. One day we stopped in a car park. She hit the brakes from a low speed with the steering slightly turned, the bike's momentum with the brakes applied caused it to come to a stop and then rebound in the opposite direction, at which point she and the bike quietly had a lie down. This was a bike that weighed less than 130kg and she could firmly get both feet on the ground. Bike weight and leg length are nice, but they won't save you without technique and confidence.

 

[Greg Jetnikoff]

Nev,
Sally's problem with everything is confidence. She is a good rider ( she has been riding for 40years...longer than me!) but still thinks she is a lousey rider. I need to add here that she has a smashed right ankle from a motorbike accident that can't get full strength and a right knee with 2 stuffed ligaments from a mountain bike accident, so she can't twist on her feet because of stability problems.
Nice jacket woodchick. what is it?

 

[WoodsChick]

Thanks, Greg. It's a Rev'It Ventura women's jacket. I love Rev'It gear because it fits me well. I'm wearing the matching (although in black) Ventura pants, too, in their "short" length. They fit perfectly, too...no small feat for a 5'1" woman This is my everyday commuting suit. Waterproof, nice functional vents, accepts all my Forcefield body armor, removable top collar for hot days, warm liners for cold days, nice pockets...just a really nice jacket. I wear their Tornado gear, too...full mesh gear for hot weather. Wore it last weekend in +100 degree heat and it was great.

I can totally understand Sally's confidence thing. Confidence is everything, pretty much, when it comes to riding. I totally get the injury thing, too. I've had my fair share (including my left ankle with 2 plates and 13 screws and ACL reconstructions on both knees) and it really is a drag when your body won't function as you would like. There's nothing more frustrating than being willing but not physically able. I've been there...and I hated every minute of it

 

[v12gte]

I just did the procedure after getting the 1.75 koubalink. It was pretty straightforward. I did have to remove my bash plate in order to get to the stock link bolts and one of them did not want to budge. I also needed to lift the bike with a precariously positioned jack in order to line things up for the new link. A rear stand does not really work, and the whole thing goes slack and becomes a low rider, once you remove the stock link.

I did not fill the koubalink with new grease, assuming that some was already in there.

Should I?

 

[kjackbrown]

Steel bolt vs. aluminum hole...probably a good ideal to grease it.

When I had my KLR, once a year I would go through all of my suspension (had Kouba 1" risers), wheels, steering and swingarm joints & bearings with waterproof bearing grease. Not only did it extend the life of parts...it allowed me to keep track of the condition of everything (and it was kind of fun to tear it all down).

 

[Greg Jetnikoff]

Fill the Kouba link with very high quality grease.....DEFINITELY****************************************
Suspension links do not rotate very far but do oscillate constantly over a short angle. Thus unless you use really good grease they basically sweep the bearing area clean if not really well grease packed. The amount of grease that comes with them is not enough to actually run then. Luckily ( or actually due to high quality design) , you don't have to remove the link to grease it anymore. You just need a grease gun and good grease, though I would loosen the bolt on the link that you are greasing and retighten after OVER-filling it. Antithixotrophic waterproof greases are best for suspension links. If you use some marine greases you will need to wash it out relatively and replace it regularly, as some tend to become chalky and loose their lubrication properties over time ( mind you that was in the tropics).

 

[ATGATT]

I did not fill the koubalink with new grease, assuming that some was already in there.

Should I?

Yes, get a grease gun and add some grease. Be sure to back off the nut at the forward bolt so the grease can flow though the bearings more easily, then retorque to 60 ft-lbs.

 

[Bobzilla]

I think you can see by this picture how much foam I carved out of the seat. That along with the other things listed above have made this bike ridable for me. I was so scared of getting on it before I did this. Even after this I would still have to have a still for my right leg so I could reach my kickstand. Soon, I will make a video of me getting on and taking off. At 5'1" it takes a special still.
BTW, grease fitting on kouba link make it easy to maintain.

 

[Greg Jetnikoff]

If I was 5'1", the tr650 would not have been my choice, as it is a sky scraper. Thw BMW GS650 is a better choice seat height wise, but I admire you perseverance. Always like it when people turn "can't" into "already have"