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LOWERING BONES INSTALL- detailed pics

138K views 257 replies 136 participants last post by  RFM1009 
#1 · (Edited)
First off, thanks to Delmustator for his tutorial, but for some reason, I needed more information than his tutorial provided. I hope that the combination of both of our tutorials answers any questions that you could think of during the install. Here Goes:



This is my bike before starting the bones install. Note the position of the rim and the trim piece above.



Start by removing the skid plate under the bike before jacking. I know that some say that it doesn't need to be removed, but I noticed that the bike sat much more solidly on the jack without the piece on as it is slightly rounded and narrower which made the bike less stable....which made me nervous.



The side cover comes off first. It has 2 push in connectors on back and a third that the upper trim attaches to. pull gently until the bottom two release and then push in to release the top one. See picture below.



the back of the sidecover.



A picture of the mounting points for the sidecover. Note that I also removed the trim bolt in preparation to remove the upper side trim.



I removed the side trim which has the same push-in connectors. At the top you will see a single special connector. Take a small allen key and push the center portion down and this connector will come apart. Here is a pic of the special connector beside the hole it was in.



Set the side trim on top so you dont have to disconnect the seat release cable.



The chrome drive cover needs to come off, and is held by 2 remaining allen bolts. Remove and set aside. (the 3rd upper trim bolt was already removed in the previous step)



The side cover bracket needs to come off. 2 bolts come out and set aside. Good idea to keep all the bolts with the respective parts, so you don't get confused as to which bolts go where.



Next, you have to take off the "resistor thingie" (this is offical lingo for this part:joke:) Note the 2 connectors which have push in tabs to separate them.



Need to remove the "resistor thingie" bracket. Set aside.



Here are the exposed bones. As Delmustator mentioned, remove the bones in this order.



I had real trouble with removing the bolt on the right side bone. I ended up using a ratchet on the far side, a box wrench on the near side and a hammer to give the ratchet a few whacks to unseize this bolt. Be careful not to round off the bolt!!!

Also, note the direction of the remaining bolts, if the shock blocks their removal, try moving the jack farther forward. It will be tight, but they should come out.



A picture of the stock bone beside my cycle house 2 1/4 bones. Thanks DLP! (Shameless Plug...) Don't be alarmed if they are almost the same length, Kyrider assured me that this was normal through a quick reply to my post, and I stopped worrying that they had sent me the wrong ones.



A picture of the bones installed. Be sure to use a good quality grease before installing the original metal sleeve that just slides out of the old bones very easily.



Here is a picture of the bones installed. From here, all you have to do is reverse the disassembly procedure to get everything back together.

Note: I also used a trolley/floor jack under the rear wheel to raise/lower the wheel which will align the shock with the bolt hole and allow for easy bolt reinstallation.



Here's a picture of the finished bike. It looks much better and meaner!! The seat is noticably lower to sit on.

I did use a couple of pieces of wood under the rear wheel to allow for jack removal, and then rolled the bike off the wood. I think my jack is low enough that it isn't a problem though, but I haven't checked yet.

Hope this helps you with the install of your bones. Good Luck!!!
 
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#100 ·
Thanks Canadian

Thanks to your photos and instructions,i too had no problems with my 2inch bones mod.
It would of cost me $200 to of had them installed, but my friend becouse you took the time to post all the relative info.. on this site it only cost me a BBQ+afew beers with my mate for giving me a hand.
Thanks from down under.... WISH I COULD BUY YOU A BEER:bigthumbsup:
 
#101 ·
Thanks to your photos and instructions,i too had no problems with my 2inch bones mod.
It would of cost me $200 to of had them installed, but my friend becouse you took the time to post all the relative info.. on this site it only cost me a BBQ+afew beers with my mate for giving me a hand.
Thanks from down under.... WISH I COULD BUY YOU A BEER:bigthumbsup:
One day, I'll get out to Australia take you up on that beer :bigthumbsup: Glad I could help a fellow 9'er.
 
#107 ·
Don't let the previous horror stories deter you from attempting this job your self. I did it today with the help of a friend in about 2 hours. No problems what so ever.

I do have one question. I did not put loctite on my bolts, should I have? I just torqued them tight. They all have the stock lock nuts, should I be good to go?

Thanks,
:cop:
 
#108 ·
Don't let the previous horror stories deter you from attempting this job your self. I did it today with the help of a friend in about 2 hours. No problems what so ever.

I do have one question. I did not put loctite on my bolts, should I have? I just torqued them tight. They all have the stock lock nuts, should I be good to go?

Thanks,
:cop:
I'm sure there will be some saying you should have. I did not use lock tight. Torqued them down. got a few thousand miles on it. Haven't had any issues
 
#111 ·
Just finished instaling the 2.25 bones. Bike looks much better:bigthumbsup:

This might help the next one to do this.


Jack location. Shock out of the way, not removed.



Use and extenstion to remove the right side bolts.

Finished product.



 
#113 ·
Finished yesterday

I had 2.75 bones sitting on the shelf for about 3 years--installed them yesterday. Here are some pics. I like the way it rides. I had modified the fender for the 300 tire with the shortened screws, so no rubbing.
Thanks guys for the pointers. I included a pic of the tach moved to the headlight. yeah, I know, it doesn't belong here.
Happy New Year
dw
 
#116 ·
Today is the day:bigthumbsup: Got the day off and I'm putting in the YS 2" set-o-bones. ...sorta freakin out since I'm new to bike mods ...I'll be reading and re reading as I go. On a side note, when I went out to the garage I noticed condensation everywhere :edit: you'd think the owners would've told me that it does that in the winter (renting and in between sale of home and looking for another). Had a blanket over her but even it was soggy. Got the heater warming things up now. Any ideas on a good cover? ....even my :tools: are dewy .:edit::cus::edit::cus::edit::cus::edit::cus:
not too happy bout that whole deal ...but giddy bout installing da bones:doorag:
 
#117 ·
Good luck with the install of the bones. Even taking your time, it should not take too long. As one member mentioned and took pics of. Position the jack so the shock can drop down far enough. I positioned mine to far back. Had to reposition it. That was a challenge of its own.
Soggy garage? that's gotta suck. Hope the condisation does not ruin your tools. Spray a little bit of WD40 on them to help prevent rusting.
Looking forward to hearing how it went
 
#118 · (Edited)
dude ...I am NOT mechanically inclined :cus: Something that takes you guys 40 minutes will take me 4 days. BUT I can turn a wrench so away I go. :joke:
Got the bolts out, shock in way :cus: You have to put the bolts back in to lower right? I did and am now awaiting help (wife) to hold bike steady while I move jack fwd. --biting more finger nails

Before I started, I found the balancing point so when you jack it up it doesn't just raise the front. .....now I have to move it fwd? ...hmmm Maybe I need an anchor to hold the front down:dontknow: ...Jack, how did carlosng jack it level with the jack that far fwd Jack? :dontknow::joke:

taking a break ...frustrated ....been up since 7:00 last eve (worked the dark shift) plus I keep banging my aching knees on the jack! :doh:
need caffeine

Update ....ok, I was freakin out a bit. Jack in same position as carlosng so I am gtg ....back to caffeine
 
#119 ·
I know what you mean. I had to put 4x4's under the frame, lower and relocate the jack. That was my biggest issue. I had a pole that I was able to use as a breaker bar. Thank God.
If you can turn a wrench, you can do this mod. Just breaking some of the nuts loose is the PITA.
I also work the dark shift. Most of the times it's 12 hour shifts. By the time I'm doing what I need to do. I am dead tired. Hang in there. You'll get it. And you will like what you have accomplished
 
#120 ·
tnx bro. Got it done-whew:confused: greased and torqued + double checked. My son let me use his air tools so breaking loose the nuts/bolts were a breeze. :bigthumbsup: Never coulda done it without it. :redfaced:

I know those 12hr shifts too. Not much time for anything else when working those. Tnx for your help & encouragement this site is A+ :bigthumbsup:

A big thank you to the Canadian for his write up and pics --a MUST have, for me at least :D

I'll post pics when it's off the lift. polishing wheels next :bigthumbsup: I guess I'm a glutton for punishment!
 
#121 ·
tnx bro. Got it done-whew:confused: greased and torqued + double checked. My son let me use his air tools so breaking loose the nuts/bolts were a breeze. :bigthumbsup: Never coulda done it without it. :redfaced:

I know those 12hr shifts too. Not much time for anything else when working those. Tnx for your help & encouragement this site is A+ :bigthumbsup:

A big thank you to the Canadian for his write up and pics --a MUST have, for me at least :D

I'll post pics when it's off the lift. polishing wheels next :bigthumbsup: I guess I'm a glutton for punishment!
Congradulations on the install!!
 
#123 ·
Mojo!k, you will love the look with the wheels polished! I see you have the fastest color too. The drop looks killer!:bigthumbsup:
 
#125 ·
Before....



After.... :bigthumbsup:

Ok someone please explain to me how 2.25" bones appear to only be about 1/4" longer than stock bones, but yet the bike drops 2" or so :dontknow: I don't get it.

I ask because I assumed by how my bike sits in the rear that the previous owner must have installed about 1.5" bones. I have a set of 2.25" bones and I took everything apart and lined up the 2.25" bones over the bones on my bike (centered both bolts) and they appear to be exactly the same length. So does that mean my bike already has 2.25" bones on? I don't want to go through the work of removing & installing these new ones if it's what I already got on. You dig?

I just didn't think my rear end looked that low.

What do you experts think?
 
#126 · (Edited)
Way I understand it GR is, Length is very critical on these . Like 1/16" = 1/2" of drop. Zoomer and papawill chime in I'm sure,,,,,, Mine are 2" and some with the 2 1/4 say mine looks lower, Different manufactures i guess and the way they measure things.
 
#128 · (Edited)
GR, the change in length will be very slight from 1 1/2 to 2 1/4 maybe a 16th. The suspension and the setup of the bike amplifies or magnifies this difference to the height of the rear assembly.

you would almost need a set of calipers or a very good eye to accurately see the difference between the two bones.

Put a pencil or another straight item through one end and hang both side by side. You may be able to see a slight difference in the positioning between second hole of the two bones at this point, but in order to get to this point you would actually have to take one off, which means that you might as well just change them anyways :joke:
 
#129 · (Edited)
Thanks Dude! I guess I just can't wrap my mind around how that minute of a difference lowers it so much more. I'll probably go ahead and switch them out to be sure. Perhaps once I do that it will show that it's a 1/16" or a 1/8" different from what I got on my bike which stance wise always appeared to be about maybe what a 1.5" lower bone would look like to me.

Also thanks to Lucky06 for PM'ing me this link http://www.m109riders.com/forums/showthread.php?t=119590&highlight=difference+lowering+bones It gives the measurements of the bones.

You guys are alright! :doorag:
 
#131 ·
This is an old chart that showed the amount of lowering for every incremental length changes. It's based on C50 bones but you get the idea.



I did these pics of the stock bones for some reason. I don't remember why...




Here are the dimensions:

Total length = 6.125" (155.575mm)
Center to Center bolts = 4.4375" (112.7125mm)
Width (Large End) = 1.3125" (33.3375mm)
Offcenter (LE) = 1.0312" (26.192mm)
Width (Small End) = 1.0625" (26.9875mm)
Offcenter (SE) = .8125" (20.6375mm)

Comparison of stock to Jason Steel Bones...


Lowering is achieved by making the bones longer. If I calculated correctly, adding .625" (15.875mm) center to center will provide a 2.5" drop.
 
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