frame rake

Alright, I know alot of you on this forum are not fond of kz choppers(not sure if i am either, but what better can you do with a already hacked frame) but try to help me out here and give your opinions. I have come across a problem that I knew wasnt going to be easy to fix. I finished the hardtail frame section, and I welded it up so that the bike would sit LOW!!! It sits about 2-3 inches from the ground. the stance looks sweet, but the front end presents us with a problem. To level out the front with the rear I had to bring the forks up about 4 inches in the triple trees. This not only looks stupid, but it leaves us with about 0 fork travel and no room to mount the exhaust. This makes me believe that raking the front out is necessary. I found on the net once a how to on raking your own forks. As long as you keep it straight, you could cut up from the neck until the weight of the bike began bending (raking) the front outwards. When the rake was right you just re'welded and braced everything back up. Does this sound safe? DO you have any other ideas on raking?

Here's a link to a frame geometry calculator .
www.rbracing-rsr.com/advchoppercalc.html

alot of valuable information on that site. Has anybody actually seen it done on a bike like ours?

My buddy has a Z1 with raked frame that was done by the local chopper guru and it is as strong or stronger than stock.it was done basically the way you described.

Might be of interest --

Forking By Frank

If not already aware, as the forks move closer to being parallel with the road surface (front wheel situated out further and further in front of bike), the slider action and any damping effects progressively diminish, until the front suspension acts like it's just two long fork tubes sticking out there without any sliders.

This is one reason (besides appearance) why springer or girder style extended front ends are fitted in lieu of longer fork tubes.

As known, when lowering the front end, keep an eye out for any clearance issues such as header-to-road, cornering, and during maximum front braking. And of course the different handling characteristics.

Good Luck!

thanks alot for all of this helpful information. I have to find a way to have the exhaust come out either the left side, right side, or both instead of going under the frame to save on clearance. I am a little worried about the frame dragging under hard braking.