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#Post#: 3523--------------------------------------------------
Lowered seat height
By: trailpioneer Date: April 1, 2016, 11:01 am
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I finally decided it was time to lower my 2014 because of
several reasons. Looking at 70 years old. Short stature 5' 7".
Hip replacement this winter. Plus I added a Seat Concepts seat.
While it isn't any taller, it is wider which spreads your legs
farther apart. I don't have a problem riding once I'm moving,
it's getting on and off, plus stopping at stop signs without
falling over.
I decided to lower it 50mm or about 2" overall. The forks were
relatively easy to do. Completely disassembled them and made a
50mm long delron spacer that slides on the damper rod below the
rebound stack. This reduces how far the fork can extend by 50mm.
With travel shortened the spring is now 50mm too long. Instead
of buying shorter springs which are next to impossible to find
for these forks I noted that the spring base on the damper rod
is held on by a snap ring groove. Chucked the rod in the lathe
and moved down 50mm and cut a new groove. Reassembled the forks
and put back on the bike. Cost. $3.00 for the delron.
The shock was harder to do, but still not bad. Most of the time
was spent getting the shock off the bike. Could KTM have made it
any more inaccessible? You need a good spanner tool to loosen
the lock nuts. It's a stiff spring and they are preloaded by
20mm. I took the shock apart and dumped the oil. I made a 15mm
long delron spacer to slide on the shaft below the compression
and rebound stacks. The length of the spacer was determined by
putting the shock back on the bike without the spring and
measuring how far the shaft moved while compressing the seat
50mm. I don't have the proper equipment to bleed the air out of
the oil or recharge the nitrogen so I took it to my local KTM
dealer for this. Put the spring back on and reinstalled on the
bike. Cost $50.00
I've ridden the bike about 200 miles since I lowered it and can
say I'm really happy with it. I can't get my feet flat on the
ground, but I can get the balls of both feet down when stopped.
No more rocking from one side to the other on my tiptoes. I
don't notice any less quality of suspension action and it
doesn't bottom out, but I'm not pounding it over offroad
conditions like I do with my 350 race bike.
#Post#: 3537--------------------------------------------------
Re: Lowered seat height
By: Proslider777 Date: April 7, 2016, 11:18 am
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Great report Trailpioneer. Good to see you still riding (I'm
67) and have 29" inseam. Going the 1.625" Kouba Link route (in
transit). A little worried about tire rub - more later.
#Post#: 3538--------------------------------------------------
Re: Lowered seat height
By: SLAP75 Date: April 7, 2016, 12:43 pm
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[quote author=Proslider777 link=topic=623.msg3537#msg3537
date=1460045883]
Great report Trailpioneer. Good to see you still riding (I'm
67) and have 29" inseam. Going the 1.625" Kouba Link route (in
transit). A little worried about tire rub - more later.
[/quote]
i've had the kouba link sitting here for months, just haven't
had time to put it on. i did read that they shortened it a bit
to prevent bottoming......
from their site:
*Note: We have available 2 lengths of the KTM690 links which
are (pictured below left) We have also shortened the the "KTM8"
link slightly so as not to allow the tire to bottom on the fuel
tank as easily. The tire still may touch if bottomed very hard
and/or are running the large knobby tires with this "KTM8-2"
link. The link with KTM8-2 engraved on the sides are the new
shorter ones and replace the old "KTM8" link which is no longer
available from us.
let us know how it works out for you....also, i think the
kickstand needs to have 2in. cut off of it.
#Post#: 3636--------------------------------------------------
Re: Lowered seat height
By: Jetgreg Date: June 25, 2016, 11:02 am
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Curious if anyone has used the Tractive Suspension Adventure
shock or the Tractive Suspension Overland shock offered by Rally
Raid to get the seat (ride) height down. They claim about an 1'
and 1/4 reduction.
#Post#: 3642--------------------------------------------------
Re: Lowered seat height
By: ShakeWell Date: June 28, 2016, 2:14 pm
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Some info that might be useful;
My riding buddy is lacking on inseam which initially scared him
off from our beloved 690's. However, after riding with me a few
dozen times and the increase in lowering options, he has now
moved from 'considering' buying a 690/701 to figuring out when
he'll be making the purchase. He has a Husky 650 Strata now so
I'm thinking he'll go for the blue/yellow/white bike.
However, directly after purchase of the bike, he's going to go
with a lower seat from SeatConcepts and also sending his forks
and shock to Enduro Engineering
HTML http://www.enduroeng.com/suspension/.
Since I've been following
suspension for our bikes the last couple of years, I've noticed
EE seems to be sustaining good reviews for their work and now
have "lowering" as a very prominent option.
Both mods will total less than $1,000usd and get him a great
bike with a seat height that he feels more comfortable with when
on pavement.
#Post#: 3643--------------------------------------------------
Re: Lowered seat height
By: Jetgreg Date: June 28, 2016, 2:47 pm
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Thanks for the info. I picked up my bike at the dealer after it
sat there for 3 weeks- really disappointed in the customer
service that muti brand/multi type dealers give anymore.
Anything more complex than a oil change or tune up and they seem
stumped. They are happy to sell you a KTM yet not all the techs
(more like 2) can actually work on them. I brought it straight
to suspension shop and to my surprise it will be cheaper in the
end and I'll have a better performing bike. I think the KTM 690R
has quality suspension parts from the get go so it makes more
sense to tweak the existing system. I can't say enough about Tom
at Tractive in the Netherlands who traded emails with me (on a
Sunday) suggesting the suspension shop route vs. buying his
$1000 shock. It's nice to cross paths with honest people every
now and then.
Regarding the Seat Concepts lower seat- is that the regular seat
for the 690; I see a "tall" version but not "low".
#Post#: 3644--------------------------------------------------
Re: Lowered seat height
By: ShakeWell Date: June 29, 2016, 9:58 am
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Congrats on finding your suspension solution, seems to be a good
route to go. I'm looking at the seat concepts options for the
690 and you are correct, they do not list a "LOW" version.
However, there is a "complete seat" option where you don't use
the stock pan and it costs more. I think you have to call them
to get that going and I believe they can offer a lowered
version.
#Post#: 3645--------------------------------------------------
Re: Lowered seat height
By: mcnut Date: June 29, 2016, 3:33 pm
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For the benefit of others reading I believe Seat Concepts has 2
seat heights available. It depends on what year 690 as to which
SC seat equals stock height and if the optional seat is higher
or lower then stock. This is explained on the SC website.
The 690 seat pans are a special plastic composite material which
is more brittle and difficult to staple, for that reason SC will
not mount their foam/cover kit for 690 customers as they have
had past issues doing so. As a result they decided to offer
complete seats using their own seat pans, I have one and an very
pleased.
In my case 2009 690 EnuroR so the optional seat for that year is
taller then stock which was perfect for me as I'm 6'3" with bad
knees.
Bruce
#Post#: 3761--------------------------------------------------
Re: Lowered seat height
By: rider_marc Date: January 2, 2017, 7:30 am
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Some good information here for sure. Searching for optional fork
springs, I cannot find any. There is one site but their spring
availability stopped at something like the 2009 model. I would
like to find a set that is a bit softer. Anyone know of a
source?
#Post#: 3762--------------------------------------------------
Re: Lowered seat height
By: mcrider Date: January 2, 2017, 11:19 am
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Check with Enduro Engineering. I got a stiffer set for my 625
SXC from them.
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