Lowered RT Handling.

[planedr]

Hello Everyone,
I have an '09 lowered RT, and absolutely love it. (6000 miles on the clock) I've read in past posts that folks feel that the handling may suffer as compared to the standard height bike. Does anyone have any specific examples of how it's different, and in what situations would this become apparent? Thanks.

[Scott09RT]

I have the same bike and as the experts will tell you, with a lowered bike you have lost "some" cornering clearance. Now in my experience this past 12 months and 25K miles riding two up in the Sierra Nevada twisties, there is plenty of clearance. :) The only time I scrape anything is with the suspension too soft and a dip in the middle of the corner, then the center stand gets a little rub. I'm not the fastest most aggressive rider out there by any stretch but these bikes just love to corner.

Ride it and enjoy!

As a reference, my Harley gets scraped left and right after I've been playing on the RT. (I know they don't compare)

[Stixx]

any time you lower a bike you are losing some ground clearance so it serves to expect less cornering ability, If it was a race and the bike was a racing bike that might be an issue but like the previous poster commented it is relative to your riding style.

I am not lowered but have a lowered seat which has it's own problems , i.e. knee fatique on long rides but gives up nothing in the cornering ability. A GS has even more clearance as illogical as it may seem can corner with the best of them in spite of its ungainly appearance. So in short ground clearance and a good suspension can mean a lot, but you gotta ride your own game and if you are happy with the rate your lowered bike can go , more power to you.

I'm waiting on the ultimate option for RT's a power seat height. LOL That I'd rather have than a heated seat. That way I could raise it way up while riding the open road and save my knees and then lower it down when I get to the stop and go traffic. hahah

[RAS100]

I have an '08 with the lowered suspension which I bought used and can't complain about cornering or ride. I don't have much seat time in a standard bike so it's hard to compare. I did own a stock 1150RT for many years and the difference is unbelievable. The 08 handles so much better and feels very light. I did have to replace the awful seat that they give you with the lowered suspension. I still need more leg room to be completely comfortable so I've ordered a new seat from Rick Mayer to get me up a bit higher in the saddle than the standard seat. I don't think we have substandard bikes just because of the lowered suspension.

[Kaybee40]

[COLOR=RoyalBlue]I'm waiting on the ultimate option for RT's a power seat height. LOL That I'd rather have than a heated seat. That way I could raise it way up while riding the open road and save my knees and then lower it down when I get to the stop and go traffic. hahah[/QUOTE

I seem to remember that such a device for powered raising and lowering of the seat was posted on this forum by somebody in mainland Europe together with a number of modifications including a powered centre stand

[cliffy109]

This is a picture of a guy at a Reg Pridmore class back in July of 2009. I am pretty sure his bike was a standard height bike. He was not the fastest guy on the track, but he was pretty good. A little more body lean and he could have gone faster. The lowered bike would have been a big handicap in this kind of situation.

As was mentioned though... it depends on how you like to ride.

http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m217/LarryCainJr/IMG_8033.jpg?t=1248020787

[hopz]

A little more body lean? He has plenty of lean unfortunately it is the wrong way. I hate to see people lean to the outside of the curve.

But, none-the-less..He's dragging the tell-tale pegs anyway... see the sparks?

A little more lean (in the correct direction) would do nothing except drag the pegs more and create a dangerous situation.

Regarding the OP's question. Ride your ride and enjoy it. If you want to lean more, or to feel like a race-guy... get a race bike.

[cliffy109]

A little more body lean?

He's dragging the tell-tale pegs now... see the sparks?

A little more lean would do nothing except drag the pegs more.

Ummm... no. More body lean means less bike lean. If he got his body over more, the bike would not need to be as far over as it is and therefore, no sparks.

[hopz]

Well, I agree with that, but the last time I suggested the lean forward toward the kiss the inside handlebar position, I was pretty much excoriated by one of our members so I was trying to make up for previous sins.

The original question was if a lowered bike reduced the lean and surely it would. In my opinion, after owning and ridden 4 bikes that were lowered... it does matter to the lean, but it has never mattered enough to take the fun out of any ride. Sure, I scraped some but only in some fairly extreme conditions.

[thornbud]

I have the lowered 09 model, with a Mayer seat. I touch well, and I think it basically boils down to how the bike handles in low speeds and having feet on the ground. The dragging of the pegs... I have not drug them yet, but have not pushed them agressivily yet, but that is only a small percentage of my ride time.... if I want to lean this b_tch over and drag my knee I need to be at the track not on a public road... and that is not the real reason I bought this bike... would not worry about it the clearance issue... :D