dumb question.

believe it or not that actually clears it up. I was seeing other threads where trail was refered to and changing the rear shocks modified the trail, so I was thinking it had to do with the rear end. If I read the chart right, a stock bike with say a 32 degree rake may have say 3inches of trail, but when you rake the front end to say 38 degrees you may end up with a 4 inch trail. given that the neck is used to draw the line to the ground, I see how changing the rear shocks to a taller shock would raise the bike and decrease the Relative rake on the neck and thus change the point on the ground at which the neck centerline points to.

If I have that right, the trail is measured from the front axle forward to the point on the ground at which the neck centerline points to, and since the neck and the forks are parallel, just offset, the offset is not enough to counter act the longer line of the neck centerline, compared to the forks shorter length ending at the axle.

I have an interesting ? then. on the triple trees that give a total of 45 degrees of rake that you have on your site, it looks like the shocks are no longer parallel to the neck. I don't know the numbers but in theory, since the neck is the same then the spot to which it is pointing could end up being behind the front axle verticle line....would that make the trail a negative measurement. If that's right how is stability with that triple tree setup. I ask because that is one of the major mods I would like. The first is a 240/250 kit, the second is the rake. given the cost though they will likely be some time apart. I plan on the foots mod almost immediately.

so when I do the foots mod, as long as I make sure the outer diameter of the 1800 tire and wheel is the same as the 1300 then I won't have to worry about different size shocks.

thanks for the help

See this is the type of info that I will need to make sure I get what I want. I will be driving the vtx to and from work during the good seasons, about 70 miles mostly highway, and then around town for leisure.....So handling is definately a concern. I have seen the custom choppers with the bigger tires like a 300 or so and it looks soooooooooo nice, but if I loose function it's not worth it for my purposes. The bike in your sig... is that the 240 metz? cause that's the look on the rear tire with shorty fender that I am looking for, and the short pipes really open up that wheel. I will be keeping my ears open for info that I need for these big mods, and when I get the $$$ for them I'll call to make sure I get what I need. Like I've said, modding bikes is new to me so I know there are things that I need to get used to, and concerns to keep in mind when modding, lucky for me I don't mind asking the "dumb" question, rather than assuming I know it all. My very first upgrade will be a new helmet and jacket, since my current ones were hand me downs from my dad and are old enough that they wouldn't know a chin vent, from a piece of kevlar armor. Thanks for the info, I will tap your wealth of knowledge plenty of times in the upcoming months, from this to the simple stuff, like is the hypercharger Pro-r the best performing intake, and if not is it close enough the I can give up the 1/2 hp difference, for the cool look on the hypercharger and the vacum operated butterflys??? more on this later though.

********* said:

My pleasure sir!
The dyno results I've seen indicate there are better choices, as far as maximum power production but you'd be within 1 or 2 HP of the best.

Click to expand...

Cool, that's what I was hoping to hear. If I was worried about having the most HP I'd get the 1800, build the motor as much as possible and do some type of turbo setup. My little scooter ( rebel 250 ) had a low enough power to weight and torque to weight ratio, plus gearing, to beat most cars off the line ( not that I was racing but you can tell when a car is trying to speed up to keep you from getting over). Most bikes have that advantage over most cars, and given the additional power of the 1300 ( over the rebel ) I think it will give me plenty of power to keep me happy for a while. I don't need to be able to beat a sport bike ( otherwise I would have gotten one ), I just want enough to have fun.

I will probably every bolt on mod that will give better performance, without having to rebuild the internals on the motor. I have seen some writeups on the smog deletion and reed valve block off and I think that may be the second mod that I do. I have never understood, from a performance stand point, why the auto makers ever thought to inject warm air into the intake...it totally goes against the logic for performance. I understand it helps with emmisions, but the guy who thought this up needs a :spank: .