Hi all, first question of what I'm sure will be many!! Just got my replacement ride height adjuster for my st4s, as mine is completely solid. Works perfectly well, threads are free and we'll greased. I managed to undo the top bolt on mine no problems, and I managed to undo the bottom bolt fairly easily. However, for everything I've tried, I can't get the bottom of the adjuster out of the swingarm! I tried levering it, knocking it with a drift and hammer, pushing it, pulling it, twisting it, raising and lowering the swingarm with the top bolt back in place, and it just won't budge. I'm pretty certain I got the bolt out far enough, as the head of the bolt was almost at the hole on the swingarm. I didn't want to go any further incase it came out from the shock. Any ideas on how I can get it out! Thanks!
There shouldn't be. The bolt slides through the shock eye and the bottom spherical joint of the tie rod and screws into the special nut which is set into the swinging arm. Use a jack to lift the swinging arm up to the correct height when refitting.
Just an update, I managed to get the adjuster swapped over today. I ended up having to completely remove the bolt and drop the swingarm down, then get a lever under the rod and lever it out. It was in very very tight! However the new one dropped straight into place so I'm guessing the other one was just corroded in place. I've put about 10mm onto the length of the rod, and then tightened everything up. I didn't get chance to try it out tonight but I'll take it to work in the morning and test it out. Fingers crossed I can notice the difference!
10mm on the rod seems like a helluva lot to me, but maybe not. It extends by 1mm for every turn. The standard setting is 272mm between eye centres. Most people lengthen the tie rod until the rear tyre is about 5mm - 10mm clear of the ground with the bike on the centre stand.
Thanks Derek, I mustvmu read it wrong, I thought it was 10mm on the rod! I'll give it a check in the morning and adjust if needed. Thanks again
I've always had mine so that the wheel just touches the ground once on the centre stand.its a pain to clean the chain then though as the wheel isn't easy to spin round., But it's worth the effort for quicker turn in.
Well I just checked it, the tyre was just touching the ground, I've adhadjusit a little now so there's around 8-10mm underneath. I'll give it a try and then maybe lower a little more depending on how it feels .
Dropping the front by 10mm improves things. The arse end then does not need to be so high. Had my ST4S set up by an expert who did this and adjusted everything to suit me. The improvements were great.
That's a good point Chris. I tried adjusting the tie rod until the tyre was just kissing the ground but couldn't get on with the extra height so backed it off until the tyre was about 10mm from the ground. Dropping the forks by 10mm would have given the same geometry albeit with slightly reduced ground clearance.
Well after a quick 20 mile blast to work, I have to say it's not what I'd call a huge difference, but definitely a good one. It makes the bike seemore responsive and easier to change direction. Definitely worth doing.
