lowering my fe 350

im 5/6in and find riding enduro challenging, how much could you lower my fe 350,, wold love to touch flat footed and gain some level of competency in difficult terrain

webfoot

Assuming it's a PDS model, low seat (6/10") and X-bushing (7/8") will drop you down about 1.5 inches and with the frorks dropped to it should handle the same or better. (Lower CG)

Husaberg Tanks, Seats and Footpegs

X-Bushing

Or, you or a suspension shop (expensive) can lower it.

Lowering

If it's an older linked suspension, you might find a lowering link that works, but they tend to make the geometry kinda goofy in my experience.

- I'll also advise against lowering links! (Actually I think lowering links should be banned ... They multiply the leverage the wheel has on the suspension which turns the rear to mush :O )

Fortunately it's actually much easier than most think to lower the suspension internally! It's a DIY job! (Same goes for revalving.)

Here's one writeup for the DRZ: Lowering a DRZ, lots of ways, this is my preferred. - DR-Z 400 - ThumperTalk
Another: Proper suspension lowering/valving...DIY or Outsource? - DR-Z 400 - ThumperTalk

Together these give a pretty good picture of the job, even though the DRZ is a rear linkage bike. Mechanically it's quite simple.

Wow! everyone is onto the X bushing now! it's not so easy with it, you have to remove a lot of metal more or less by hand.

the other thing you can do is fit a spacer inside and a shorter spring. this should be done quite quickly.

regards

taffy

I guess I'm just a pain but I think the X bushing is horrible. I tried it on my FE450 and as Taffy says you have to pull your rear shock and grind the boss down to fit it and looks crappy after it's done. IMHO It's a shoddy way of doing things and the bushing doesn't offer that much of a lowering benefit. Adding spacers in the shock and forks is the best way to lower the bike and yes it costs more but the benefit is huge!

The PDS system makes it really difficult to lower a bike over having a linkage but then again nothing to drag or hit when riding single track etc.

FWIW

I have done my 350 and just did three new KTM's right out of the dealership in the last month. The X bushing works fine, just make sure you get the with the x-bushing bolt with the grease fitting. The machining is something anyone can do with limited ability. Using the rolloc discs make for a nice finish and better than stock look. I use a rolloc disk on a small air grinded and buff the lower shock mount. You don't have to take much and it does not affect any strength properties as you just take off the casting marks. As for the swing-arm. With a larger grinding wheel you take off a quarter inch on the inside of the mount and about the same on the mount itself but that is done with the rolloc disc. I can re and re and machine in less than 30 min and it doesn't screw with the suspension such as a spacer does and or cutting a spring/shortening a spring. Your shock metrics are the same as oem spec as designed by WP engineers as they should be for travel and safety.

I have seen allot of people screw with suspension and play with things to get the bike down and end result is a very unsafe dangerous bike. Yes shims work but they can cause issues if the right person doesn't install. Good techs are hard to find and cost is huge when you do and for sure a backyard shim job by someone who is not a suspension tech can do more damage than good. It is hard to find riders with sag set correctly let on adjusting suspension.

The hardest part of the whole process is drilling and taping for the set screw to hold the bushing. If you have any mechanical knowledge and enough tools to do basic repairs this is a fast, easy and trouble free way to lower. My biggest point is that it is safe and don't screw with travel metrics.

The seat will come down 2 plus inches from stock. Shave with a hacksaw or electric knife if you have and use a palm sander to smooth out the foam. The cover will pull tight and a staple gun will hold the cover to the seat shell. You should not be on your seat anyways Ha-ha so the foam thickness don't matter.

Have had mine since 2014 and not an issue yet, no wear no problems and a nice low bike without any suspension issues.

FE350 -

I'm sure the X-bushing can be made to work well, but IMO it's perfectly fine to encourage people to work on suspension internals. People who can operate and maintain a Husaberg offroad-racing motorcycle can do suspension work It just takes basic knowledge of what's OK to do and what not. To keep shim selection within reason, people can either find proven stacks online or simulate with Shim Restackor.

That people don't set their sag correctly is because they don't know that they SHOULD do it or how they CAN do it, but it's not rocket science

The average level of understanding of suspension basics is unfortunately very poor It's a failure of the market to educate consumers. For instance, on the DRZ side, people like to put lowering links on. Very bad! They go "oh here's a product I buy that says it's for 'lowering' my bike so that is what I want' and turn their rear suspension from the stock DR-Z soggy bottom into absolute mush.

People usually have no idea how front wheel trail works (I didn't!), and WHY they want to set their sag. Or how the position of the yoke on the front forks affects handling. They wouldn't even imagine that their bike can handle very different from how it was when they bought it.

And of course we don't know when we start out! The information is out there, but it's hard to find and piece together. It's the kind of knowledge you don't even conceive to search for until you're told "hey did you know you can do this and this? it's easy!"

But most suspension components are very simple and very self-evident once you've disassembled a front fork or so. The details of shim selection and valving are complex and hard to do by hand - except by lots of trial and error - but that's why we are fortunate to be blessed with simulation software for the hydraulic circuits Go Shim Restackor!

FE350 said:

Your shock metrics are the same as oem spec as designed by WP engineers as they should be for travel and safety.

Click to expand...

FWIW I take objection to this Suspension setup and valving on KTMs and Husabergs leave quite a bit on the table; If done right, even a home-valved bike is going to have more consistent and smooth handling than a stock bike overall, and will be safer to operate.

The stock DRZ suspension is even worse. The engineers there sell to people a dangerously undersprung and underdamped vehicle, and they don't know better than to ride it as-is. Factory engineers are NO guarantee for suspension safety or ride quality.

FE is talking of the basic geometry and safety of the suspension, the angles, the clearances etc. the X-bushing is a safe way of playing with ride height.

WP suspension is over estimated, mostly shyte. storys are legend on KTMtalk where people have spent years getting the bloody things to work only to find that a new ohlins works straight out of the box.

regards

Taffy

tourist said:

FWIW I take objection to this Suspension setup and valving on KTMs and Husabergs leave quite a bit on the table; If done right, even a home-valved bike is going to have more consistent and smooth handling than a stock bike overall, and will be safer to operate.

The stock DRZ suspension is even worse. The engineers there sell to people a dangerously undersprung and underdamped vehicle, and they don't know better than to ride it as-is. Factory engineers are NO guarantee for suspension safety or ride quality.

Click to expand...

Tourist,

What I was meaning is that the engineers have a standard they require to pass the machine through safety should it be dot/nsc or what have you. All factory motorcycles have to pass or can a standard. Cant just build and sell. Anyways the suspension will be in an engineers book with proven safety guidelines that pass. Some guy buys a bike and gets a stack and throws it it, reads a book online forum what have you and drills to revalve ect ect ect. Doing this off what others say, no experience ect. Now what we have is a engineered fork or shock that has been reworked and now can be unsafe. As for the engineers having no guarantee this is incorrect. Each machine will have a set guideline when purchased to what weight the rider can be and adjustment to feel such as sport soft ect. This is a guarantee as per passing safety standards or we all would be litigating seriously. actually a funny story following.

Honda Canada has sold a new machine call the Montessa Cota 260, it is new on the market. I have no idea who is working the engineering department but the dam pistons fall out of the clutch master and brake master leaving you with a floppy useless lever. Fun when you grab the brake and or clutch and you don't have one. A very poor design. Currently litigating the selling dealer as per PDI and Honda Canada. Friend went down and broke shoulder, hip, four places leg and ankle. Bike lost front brake on fourth ride, first ride clutch was lost and bike went back to dealer to be gone over, clutch works now but maybe they should have upgraded the front brake while in. Anyways this will result in a mass recall when I prove the engineered design is a failure, I have a feeling the masters are chineese lmao. but unsure at this time. So yes engineers can make stupid calls, but I still know factory bikes meet safety standards and these standards are mostly better than joe back yard farmer lol. Allot of us can play and make good choices but more than 10 fold others will not. Safety first