Tuning and modding » Adjustable Paralever Arm

I've scoured the internet but cant find anything for our bikes.

adjusting the rear ride height 20mm in either direction on these bikes would be so simple by changing the length of the paraver arm.

Its been done on loads of other R series bikes, I think something needs to be done with ours.

Does such a thing exist? My reasoning is that I test rode a S1000XR, and I thought it was awesome, apart from the engine. I told the sales guy that if they did that bike with the boxr engine in it I would be sold. He agreed. Ive got the wunderlich bars on my bike, and with +20mm at the rear and the +10mm thats available at the front I reckon I would have was i was looking for!

I might get some alluminium bar and fabricate one myself as a test

Err, they do make an XR with a boxer engine and shaft drive! It’s actually pretty popular I’m told. I’m surprised you haven’t seen any about.

I hear what you are saying however, and this is only my opinion, they are one of the ugliest bikes I've ever set eyes on, and I really don't like the isolated feel of the telelever front fork.

I owned one a few years ago and just didn't gel with it

I think the arm from a GS will do this. Not adjustable but you will find one second hand

I'm not sure it will. looking at both bikes the extra height at the back is mainly due to the extra length of the shock.

I'll have a play about and report back

Just checked with Realoem.com and the only differences between the GS, RS and any others is the color choice for silver or black. P/N 33358550387 or 33358550388.

Haven't checked lately, but several aftermarket manufacturers used to offer shocks with adjustable length.

Frank

yeah i think the extra height on the GS is definitely down to the shock length

If the goal is to raise the ride height then, if you haven't already, you could buy the High Seat which IIRC is 840mm High vs the 820mm of the regular seat. This would give you the 20mm increase you mentioned.

I had an R1100S with a GS arm on it and it raised the rear ride height, it is what the Boxer Cup bikes had/have

i dont want to raise me, I want to raise the back of the bike up. Numerous people (myself included) tend to prefer running the preload on pillion setting as it makes the bike feel more agile and lively. Thats because its lifting the back end and altering the geometry of the bike steering head angle.

You can do the same by dropping the front, but then you have ground clearance issues, and I have always preferred taller bikes.

In fact, if I can take the back up 30mm, I will also lift the front the 10mm that is available and just have a taller bike.

There is no adjustable paralever arm available for the RS, I messaged wunderlich to ask why they dont do an adjustable arm for the LC range of R1200's and there response was 'For various reasons'

If you are thinking of adjusting the length of the "torque stay" (for want of a better term) that runs along the top of the swing arm to adjust the rear ride height, that would mess with the geometry of the para lever drive system itself. Not a good idea I would think. I would not second guess the engineers that designed it.
If your intention is to sharpen the steering (turn in) by steepening the fork angle, then as you say, increasing the rear shock pre-load and/or raising the fork tubes in the triple clamps would be the safe way to go. Or maybe the longer shock from a GS would work?
The lower fork legs without (the offset) from the R bike would achieve the same result, but that would be expensive.

Is there an operational limit regarding top height and bottom shock compression with how much extra angle you would be adding but still giving adequate drive shaft clearance inside the swing-arm tunnel?
Are all swing arms the same item, much like the bevel drive (apart from model specific gear drive ratios) or are shock mounting points different?

Is the extra GS height gained by suspension height or the build of the frames at either end of the engine gearbox unit?

I agree with the higher rear end and have been using the ESA set as one helmet plus luggage (except when selecting two helmet for touring holidays).

Now I have lost weight from over 14st back to 11st 8lb I did some experimenting today using the esa at the solo setting and I think in road/road it seems ok (I guess those testers have better knowledge than me!) and will try this for the next few weeks to confirm as I have been using the heavier setting for so long.

I did like the 'two helmet' taller setting but I think this is just muscle memory over the last 8 years, time will tell.

I have no issues modifying the paralever arm length. just because thats the way it came from the factory doesn't mean it wont work in any other configuration. the guys in the boxer cup did this exact same thing, if it compromised grip levels it would be an absolute no no on track.

Once the roads have been salted and winter is in I am going to remove the arm and construct an adjustable one to play with. We are only talking about small changes. 20mm at the rear. the arm will still be in exactly the same position relative to the swing arm. so the action through the travel will be the same. The only difference will be a couple of degrees on the angle of the UJ at the rear diff, which shouldn't make any difference at all.