i dont know what the part is called , but i know that if you flip over the link that holds the rear shock you can lower the rear about 4 or 5 inchs. but are there possible side effects that will damage my 03 raptor by doing this?

i would like to lower it for mx racing. but i know how abusive mx racing is anyway on a quad and i wouldnt do it if if i knew that it would cause problems.

any answers or suggestions on doing this <u>or not</u> would be greatly appreciated.


__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ ________
03 Raptor
mostly stock (for now)

 

Have had my linkage flipped over for more than a year now. Love it, more stable in the hard corners. No problems, and I ride pretty hard. If your serious about MX-ing, buy a new rear shock. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

I decided to widen instead of lower. I think I get better handling in the long run by not messing with the shock placement.

 

Flipped mine over about 2 years ago. Not 1 problem. made the quad about 2 inches lower in the rear.

 

I flipped mine over as soon as I got my Raptor....definetly better.

 

flipped mine the first year against the advice of Elka...almost made it a full year when my rear stock shock came apart on a jump and i can down and crushed my airbox. Yamaha replaced my shock and airbox for free. Elka would'nt say the linkage was to blame but they did suggest that it may have assisted an already loose shaft from backing out of the bottom mount...do to the change of force on the shock.

i ended up flipping the linkage back and bought the rear shock to compliment my front Elka's. the complete Elka package lowered my quad 2" without flipping the linkage.

i did notice that when the linkage was flipped...i bottom out more often.

Elka also said that the rear stock shock on the Raptor is a good shock...and suggested letting them just modify it to keep up with the new front elka's. nice offer...but i chose to just replace it instead.

 

When I flipped the linkage for about a month, I used to smack down on the rear of the engine skidplate. Took me some time too figure out what was happening. I couldn't believe you could compress the quad far enough to lose all clearance below the frame. I switched it back and went with an Elka.

/Jon

 

For those of you that did the flip - did you do anything to the front to get the quad level?

For those of you that bottomed out - how much air did it take to bottom out? Three or four foot jump? Rough trail riding?

Don

 

Thanks for the info, I have decided to leave the link alone because I already bottom out occasionally and dont wont to make it worse.

I have a bent rear axle so I'll just make it wider in the rear and maybe later do the rear shock. I'm also going to flip the front wheels,
even if there are legitimate arguements on the pros and cons of doing so, but my theory is this= I have widened the rear and the front very cheap and if i wear out the a-arms by flipping the wheels thats when i will buy longer a-arms. should be be a good plan and i will have plenty of time to do one thing at a time instead of all at once which would be hard on the pocket book.

feel free to share your thoughs about my theory and thanks for the advice.

someone sent me a PM and i lost it so try again if you would like.

 

it doesn't bottom out on trail ridding .........you would have to jump it to bottom it out......but it is not recomended for jumping, by the manufacturer......