Wanting to lower a bit (bike a tad to tall, or ok rider too short) and looks like the 2" lowering link and a seat shave might be the solution. Had a look but can't see a pictorial guide or youtube video for a TTR250, can anyone point me in the direction of one?
Google kouba link and it will give you a home site for the kouba link and there is a youtube video. the video is a fs 650 being lowered but basically the same principle. I purchased one recently and installed it in 10 min. It came with instructions as well.. It was very simple even for me and I am not a grease monkey. I have also chopped out the seat and reversed the handlebar mounts which let me lower the forks 21 mm.
Thanks mate I will check out the kouba link. Out of interest did you cut out the underside hard foam (I have seen this done on a road bike, but have not had a look at my TTR to see if that's possible) or the soft foam/padding under the vinyl? Could you post a picture of your seat post chopping?
The seat foam from under the vinyl was chopped. The third picture is the bikes stance after the kouba link installed. I just took the seat piccy. getting a bit dark in aussie land.
Wow yours is heaps cleaner than mine! Went out yesterday with some mates into our playground (The Brindabella Mountains are on our back door in Canberra) and we have had similar amounts of rain this week as you guys on the coast so muddy as hell.
Anyway, really impressed with your seat, did you chop and cover it yourself? If so is it hard to do or is there some company I should be sending it to do? I know there is a really good bike seat company in Goulburn, however I would like to do it myself if possible.
You can buy Brian's handlebar raising kit and lift the bars so you can slide the fork tubes up to restore the original front/rear height relationship. This prevents the loss of steering response associated with lowering the rear suspension only. As well, chopping 5mm out of the sidestand and rewelding it reduces those interesting stationary toppling moments.
Michael, last question first. My pipe is off the bike while I am mucking around trying to get it back running. To get it registered again after so long unused. I have a staintune pipe that I use in the bush and I put the original on it when just using it around the streets. I had the seat done at an upholsterer 9 years ago before I had access to youtube, but after seeing how they do it on youtube I would try it myself. It cost me 90 bucks I think. (Brindabella mountains you lucky dog, heard they are good fun.) Lin a pic of my TTR next to XT225 for side stand comparisson
Thanks for that info, I had a look at the kouba link site and will get one from them in the states or Brian in the UK depending on postage and the exchange rate into our dollars. I think I will have a crack at the seat and worst case scenario take it to an upholsterer to fix it.
The Bridies are fantastic! If you are ever down in Canberra let me know, 3 - 6 of us go out every 2nd weekend (not just Yammies, a Honda & a BMW in our group) and as long as your ride is registered (as we cross into fire trails in national parks) more than happy to have you join us on a ride. The one we did yesterday was to the historic McIntyres Hut. Even had a 4x4 with us carrying gear and supplies so we could have a nice BBQ lunch by the river.
Sounds good to me Michael, I will let you know when my bike is registered. currently sorting carby out as I have not ridden it in 8 years and carby parts have turned to blah. Going to tackle the fork seals this week with the help of Brian's tutorial.
I ordered a 2" lowering link today so will tackle that and the seat next weekend. Forks is something I have also been considering doing so I would be interested to hear if you run into any hiccups.
The rings in mine are gone and like you I am not a grease monkey however with a full manual and the internet a mate has talked me into having a crack at doing them myself ($220 in parts + $100 for the rebore) instead of spending $1,200 at the local bike mechanic. Have you had any experience with this sort of rebuild??
I ordered a 2" lowering link today so will tackle that and the seat next weekend. Forks is something I have also been considering doing so I would be interested to hear if you run into any hiccups.
The rings in mine are gone and like you I am not a grease monkey however with a full manual and the internet a mate has talked me into having a crack at doing them myself ($220 in parts + $100 for the rebore) instead of spending $1,200 at the local bike mechanic. Have you had any experience with this sort of rebuild??
Cheers, Michael
just wondering... If it needs a rebore how meany km are on it ?
It is a 99 model which has less than 8,000 ks, however when I bought the bike the speedo was not working (fixed now with Brian's 3 tab washer) so I don't know how long the trip counter has not been recording ks and really how many ks the engine has done.
Under acceleration it blows a **** load of blue smoke and to give you an idea last weekend I used around 5 liters of fuel on a 90k ride and topped up my oil twice using just under 1ltr of engine oil.
So plan to strip it down and take the block to a reborer to see what they think then order a piston kit to match.
