marksmith

That's exactly the worry - rear wheel clearing undertray. There's quite a bit of space there now, so I was surprised they said it wouldn't go lower - but they've seen it and I haven't, so presumably they have some reason for saying that. Don't want it snagging and ripping it all apart if she hits a bump. Girlfriend is 5'1"; forget what her inside leg is but 25" rings a bell. Or 27". To be fair she can touch the ground now (bike lowered one notch), tiptoe both sides. With the built-up boots and lowered seat she'll be OK, but it only takes a road with a steep camber or a bit of a rutt, or to put her foot down before she's quite stopped so it's angled back slightly, and she'll run out of leg length. It's the sort of thing an experienced rider would probably be able to deal with, and she'll be fine after a few months of riding it, but she's only just starting out so want to have everything on her side.

Yep: Seems a bit strange that the kit has three settings and only two of them are usable, mind, hence maybe getting a second opinion. Trouble is it's £40 for the opinion because you have to get them to lower it, see how it looks, and then maybe put it back. Couple of them and you've spend £80 finding out it's not possible...

Thanks for all the replies on this. In the end we took it to the dealer to do - had a go myself but getting axle stands under the frame was very difficult as there's really not much frame exposed at the bottom. Just about enough, I think, but wouldn't have stood up to a bump or any vigorous spanner-turning without risking slipping off. Anyway, the dealer had no such problem BUT said it couldn't be lowered any further because it would bring the wheel too close to the bottom of the seat. What a pain. I might get a second opinion on that but in the mean time, girlfriend has had big thick platform soles welded onto the bottom of her boots, and the seat it being cut down as we speak. Hope that's sufficient... (Crash bungs have also been added just in case of any unfortunate toppling-over incidents the moment she gets on it...)

Thanks both. Understand the job now - just a case of doing it. (How confident do I feel with that MIG welder in my cellar..?)

Hi all, My (very short) girlfriend has just bought a Kawasaki Z750S, which has a lowering kit already installed - works by providing a lower mounting point for the bottom of the rear shock. The kit has three positions - original height, and two lower settings. Currently it's on the middle setting. We need to drop it to the lower setting. Looks really easy - bolt out, move the swing arm down, bolt into lower position. The forks have also been dropped a cm or so through the yokes at the front. May drop it a further cm or so, to level it up. Firstly, this (we are told) requires the side stand to be shortened. How is this done? New stand? Drill a new hole and angle grind the end off the old one? Something else? Secondly, how can we do the lowering? The bike doesn't have a centre stand, so I don't think we can get the swing arm to "hang" to remove the bolt at the bottom of the shock. I have jacked up the FRONT of my bike using a car jack before, but that was with it balancing on the centre stand. Paddock stand for balance and jack under frame for lift? Easier way? I don't have a paddock stand... The Kawasaki dealer has offered to do this for us (for a price of course) - but we have a further issue there: the bike is not insured (so we can't ride it there), and won't (can't!) be until she does her Direct Access - ON THE BIKE! So it needs to be lowered before she can insure it, and it needs to be insured before we can lower it Suggestions welcome Thanks, Mark

No. Bike shop declined the work, but I've found someone with a TIG welder who will weld nuts on. Unfortunately the next time we're both free at the same time is 2 weeks away... bike's been off the road about 3 weeks already

No I tried with the intention of putting two on, locking them together and turnings it out using the inside one. Threads are too mashed from using the bolt extractor. Also you'd have to really seriously mash down the head to make it easier for the stud to turn than for the nut to re-cut the thread, wouldn't you? Ta, M.

We're down to two remaining sheared bolts stuck in the engine. Cannot get bolt extractors to grip on them but I am hopeful that if I could get purchase I'd stand a good chance of turning them out. My last hope before I resort to removing the head (which I really don't want to do) is to MIG weld a nut onto the tops of them and turn them out with sockets. Any thoughts on this? One opinion I've heard is that it will make the bolts hard and brittle and they will snap and not be able to be drilled out. Anyone agree / disagree? Thanks all!

Well, I managed to get the last two bolts off, after a fashion. Heated them again for a good 5 mins per bolt, let them cool, lots more penetrating fluid, then tried with the 12mm socket hammered on, and the bolt extractor again. Both sheared off (one with the 12mm socket, one with the extractor). Anyway the exhaust is now off, and I have the fabulous task ahead of getting out four sheared bolt shanks. I bought some smaller bolt/screw extractors which will grip the remaining shanks, and I'm hoping that with more heating, more penetrating oil and a lot of luck, the studs will come out rather than just snapping off too short to get the extractor on them. However they were previously seized enough to shear the heads off, so I'm not supremely confident! Fingers crossed...!

Yep, heated them with gas torch and got one out that way (five had already budged) but two remain. To be honest I think if I'd heated them BEFORE mashing the heads I might have had more success... but I didn't. I tried to drill one of the heads off and it just blunted the drill bit almost immediately, and hardly touched the bolt. I say hardly, because it did mash the socket so badly that there's now no hope of getting it out from the inside (using a hex key or similar). Argh. Sawing a slot sounds like a good idea but I doubt I'm going to be able to get a saw in there - the exhaust ports are sort of recessed into the engine. I might be able to get a tiny little "dremel" type cutter in there, though, possibly, at a push. Thanks for all the replies!

They're bolts, not nuts. Also I don't think I'd get one in there

Looking at the bike from the front, it's the two on the third downpipe from the left. Any ideas given that I no longer have this option? I did thoroughly soak them all with penetrating fluid overnight before I attempted to remove them. They've been in there 10 years - they're properly seized.

Hi folks, My '99 Bandit 600 has a hole in the exhaust, so it needs to come off. I've got 6 of the 8 socket-head bolts out but the last two are just completely stuck. I've tried penetrating oil (lots of), heating with gas torch, attempting to remove them with allen key sockets, hammering a spline key into the socket, bolt extractors on the outside and so on. Last two absolutely will not budge, and now they're completely rounded off inside and so badly mashed outside that the extractors won't grip. Part of the problem is that they're round heads so the bolt extractors were not ideally suited anyway. Any further suggestions? Thanks, Mark

Thanks all. Amazingly the full set of parts from Suzuki comes in at over £175! Wow. (Friction plates, metal plates, springs, gasket, cable.) Full set of aftermarket (with EBC friction plates) is £103. Set of EBC friction plates and gasket: £60. Now if my bike were lovely and shiny and new I'd push the boat out and have the full set of Suzuki stuff... but it's 10 years old and not exactly an oil painting. Think I'll just go for the friction plates and gasket. If any of the other stuff looks suspect I'll replace it too, but an extra £115 on "just in case" parts triples the price of the job. What's the concern with aftermarket friction plates? Ta all, Mark

Thanks all. Thanks all. Will heavy-duty springs make the clutch heavier?

Thanks all. Will heavy-duty springs make the clutch heavier? I never had a problem with it slipping before - only since it started to wear - so I'm not to bothered if it's going to make the lever stiffer. Ta, Mark

Thanks very much. I'm lost in acronyms though. RH = right-hand - i.e. clutch cover gasket? HD? No idea on this one Thanks for the sidestand tip! -Mark

Hi folks, The clutch on my '99 (actually '97 model year I think) Bandit 600S is slipping - need to change it. No other misbehaviour so I am expecting a straightforward job (famous last words). Just looked on eBay for the parts and I'm not quite clear what I need. A "clutch kit" seems to include 8 cork discs and nothing else. Is that all I need? No gaskets, springs, pressure plates, release bearings etc? Never done a bike clutch, as you can probably tell. I'd rather have all the bits before I start because I'll be doing the work in an evening or on a weekend so having to stop and get bits is a pain. Thanks very much! -Mark