I am going to rake my front end. Should I rake the neck, or just buy a raked triple tree, or is there any difference. I'm looking for 37 degrees of rake.

Does this thread help ... http://roadstarclinic.com/component/option,com_fireboard/Itemid,187/func,view/id,46370/catid,13/

Doc

I thought rake was rake. how is 6 degrees w/ trees different than 6 degrees with the neck.

The other thread discusses the difference between neck and tree rakes.

You have to decide which suits your riding style best. To maintain stock trail you would do both a neck and tree rake.

Doc

something that is quite useful for reference.....

www.tolle.se

click on technical hints, then click on measure trail

had a virago 1100 in here about 6 months back with SERIOUS handling problems. the bloke who owned it is...er...vertically challenged, and another shop fitted a set of 7º yokes (sorry, triple trees) so that he could touch the ground. they had left the rear suspension standard and used the standard fork tubes.

can you say `negative trail´?

unstable wasn´t the word for it. for the benefit of the older riders, the best description would be worse handling than a kawasaki mach 3 on bald tyres! it was the first bike that i had been scared by in over 20 years.

i ended up dropping the back with some shorter shocks, and fitting 4" extensions to the fork tubes which brought the trail back into safe limits.

changing the rake angle needs careful consideration to get the trail right or you end up with something that is VERY hairy to ride.

Couple links to look at
Rake & Trail calculator
Rake & Trail Explained

erizo wrote:
can you say `negative trail´?

That's why my front end it up .... I have 4" over on a stock rear.

Doc

thx for the response. I have air ride on back, and have a 1.25 in suspension drop in front. If I cut the tree for 3 degrees and get 3 degree trees, I figure this will give me the 37 degree rake I'm looking for w/ no handling problems, right? Should I ditch the front springs for the old ones? I'm running 18's front and rear and want to keep the thing level.

With the raked front, the front end will drop, probably about 1-2" at the front floorboard bolt (guessing here) and will affect the ride, so you will need to either:

- put the stock spring back in
- lower the rear (means you'll be pretty low )
- buy fork extensions (probably 2" should do the trick)

Hard to say exactly which combo will work the best but the first 2 are free.

Once you get it level again, yes a 3 + 3 will mean your ride will stay the same.

Doc