Lowering the X by drilling hole

[rigger]

Hey guys, I am fixing to bring home a slightly used CRF250X for my wife to ride. She is a tad on the shorter side so I need to do what I can to get the bike down some for her.

Key thing to remember here is I am pretty much poor so all mods need to be free or almost free. (this bike is comming home by trading and not by cash)

I had read on here about lowering the bike by simply repositioning the rear shock mounting point in the frame mount, drilling a new mounting hole and letting her rip.

Are there any down falls to doing this? Any frame issues afterwords? I have no problems drilling a hole. I have put holes in the bottom of million dollar boats. I just don't want to do it if it might cause frame issues. But it is alumminun so reinforcement would be easy welding.

I have thought about shaving the seat some, did that on an XR400 for her once, but did not really like it. It did get the job done.

Also used a lowering link before to but the advertised drop was not what was actually gotten.

So looking for cheap tips to lower the bike. The drilling the hole in the frame thing caught my eye. Easy to do. Easy to change and FREE.

[jake2]

Hey rigger,

It can definately be done. I have a friend with a 2004 crf250x and he's still riding it today! He's never bottomed it out riding over jumps etc. Just be careful with your measurements because drilling 1 inch lower will give you a full 1" drop etc.. my friend lowered his bike 2 inches he's 5'4". Your wife will like the ride height much better than a shaved seat and it will also give her more confidence being able to reach the ground.

[rigger]

Good to hear it works. I took her for a ride on the YZ250F that I just brought home the other day and she did pretty good with it. She is about 5'4" her self. We just went for a short spin and she got used to it pretty quick. A little hard for her to start just due to seat height but she managed.

From what I have seen of specs, the X is about an inch shorter the the YZ and if I can get the X down another inch on top of that, I think she will be just fine. Plus the E Button will be a big help for her too.

I stalled the YZ a few times is some tight spots and I was begining to like the idea of a start button.

When or if I get this X in the next day or two and explore this option for lowering it, I will update here and let you guys know how it all worked out.

[jfgjr]

http://www.speedmetaldesigns.com/ This is not free but affordable IMO and works pretty well. On somes bikes you can just oval out the mounting holes on the subframe and get the rear end dropped a little.

[rigger]

Well I got the bike the other day. I guess I was thinking wrong on the hole drilling thing. I thought guys were drilling new mounting holes on the frame. But now that I have the bike, I see that they are drilling in the extra space on the bottom of the shock.

Two questions I have on this now.

One.....After drilling a hole in the bottom of the shock to make a new mounting point and lowering the bike, does anyone have any issues with the extra shock length hanging below the bike? Ground clearance issues? Any related problems due to that left over part hanging down?

Two....Lets say in the future this bike is raised back up to the original mounting point, are there any strength issues with the shock after that? Will it brake or crack at the extra drilled holes?

[ThunderChicken]

Before you do all that have you tried:

dropping the forks in the triple clamps

shaving down the seat foam with a electric turkey knife

running "low boy" style handlebars

lower bar mounts

setting the sag for her height

At least you're not drilling a hole in the frame. If you end up drilling the shock and want to go back to the OEM mounting position you can always buy a used shock on ebay. I've seen them go for around $100 bucks.

BTW, I realize that most of my suggestions involve spending money. At least try dropping the forks, setting the sag, rolling the handlebars back in their mounts.

[rigger]

Dont really want to shave the seat, I have done that one before for her and it got the job done but neither of us really liked it. Forks are now all the way up and the sag is set up for her now. She seems to be ok with it, at least in the garage. We are going to go do some light playing around with the bikes this weekend so it will giver her a chance to see what she thinks. I really do not want to drill the lower shock mount if I do not have to but I will if the extra inch makes her feel that much better on the bike.

Has anybody that has lowered the bike by drilling a new mounting hole in the lower shock mount found any negative effects by doing so? Only thing I really do not like the idea of is drilling the hole, lowering the bike an inch, and then having that left over part of the shock hanging down. And I kind of hate to cut that part off cause then I cant raise it back up.

But if it works out and has no real negative effects, I guess there would be no point in raising it back up.

Any last thoughts?

[chopper61]

If you drill the hole 1" higher the bike will drop by much more than 1" due to the progressive nature and the leverage of the linkage. Think of it this way, if you have 11" of wheel travel the shock would need 11" of stroke if not for the linkage. You can see that the shock doesn't have anywhere near that amount of stroke. What you can do is switch the link arm to an 06-09 CRF250X. Honda used a longer stroke on the shock on these newer models but retained the same ride height as the 04-05 models by lenghtening the link arm, therefore with your shorter shock and the longer arm from the 06-09 the bike will ride lower. The link arms are usually very inexpensive on eBay.

[Jakeblues]

If you drill the hole 1" higher the bike will drop by much more than 1" due to the progressive nature and the leverage of the linkage. Think of it this way, if you have 11" of wheel travel the shock would need 11" of stroke if not for the linkage. You can see that the shock doesn't have anywhere near that amount of stroke. What you can do is switch the link arm to an 06-09 CRF250X. Honda used a longer stroke on the shock on these newer models but retained the same ride height as the 04-05 models by lenghtening the link arm, therefore with your shorter shock and the longer arm from the 06-09 the bike will ride lower. The link arms are usually very inexpensive on eBay.

You have more travel than the shock moves because it is measured at the wheel, which is mounted on an arm nearly two feet long. The longer the arm the more movement at the opposite end of the pivot.

[Jim Dettman]

Again not free, but another option:

http://www.koubalink.com/crf.html

Jim.