7 Deg Morton rake & Soupys rear lowering. Review :P

[BrutalPancho]

Ok so finally I have installed the Mortons "plug and play" 7 degree raked trees + and adjustable rear lowering kit.

The Trees turned up in the mail with a nice hunk taken out of them where they had been dropped before being sent to me. No comment from Morton.

These trees are FAR from Bolt on and ride.
Morton's had told me I would be able to use everything except maybe my oem brake line (so I purchased and extended line) - that is fine.
They bother to drill some holes that are supposed to match up to stock parts but some are a few mm out so no go there.
It has some threaded holes cut that were a mix of imperial and metric!! *am I being punked?

The oem indicator mounts are not set in the right position. (U need to grind some off the oem ones around the black rubber/plastic in order to place them where the mortons trees have set them or they will look like a cross-eyed moose.
There is no bearing tension lock.

A few other things that were just stupid, like the stem bolt was finger tight (lucky we checked) They didn't bother to allow for the rubber dust caps on the bearings, and the dash needs some spacers or it will be against the oem bar clamps.
Also, yes there is a LOT more vibration due to the lack of any rubber handlebar mount dampening.

Anyway, all that done, they look very nice! And Mortons staff were good to deal with other than the product requiring some more revision.
I know most people don't even use oem indicators or handle bar mounts but I think they should be set to fit these as a starting point.
I think for the price, some photocopied instructions and some spacers and nuts & bolts would help make this product a lot better.
To me it's kind of a half done replacement part with potential to be better without costing the manufacturer much more at all but would generate more customer faith in product.

The soupy's rear adjustable lowering kit installed ok and its sitting pretty low.

I am scraping on leaned out right corners a bit too easy so may lift it a little although the fireworks are quite amusing.

The Handling: Is pretty f****** scary now tho.
Definitely 'Squirrely', wobbly and dangerous at higher speeds. 110kph on the freeway and any slight movement of the bars and the bike will ZIP and DART left or right to the point where I think if I sneeze, it may get speed wobbles and kick me off like a pissed off horse.

Hopefully I get used to it because it looks very mean now.
Unfortunately the awesome handling and really sure footed feel of the oem warrior is totally gone.
I knew I would lose some of this but didn't think it would be as bad as it is.

Anyone else feel the front is VERY sensitive now at high speed?
It feels like it needs a dampener installed but they don't look very nice.
Next thing will be changing the mufflers to perhaps some internal sports baffles with some short slash-cut ends...

[gilly]

Did Morons install your trees? I did not understand about who did not leave enough room for the dust seals for the bearings, mine went on just fine. I installed there new bearings and races, and i tightened my stem bolt to 37 ft. lbs. and then backed off and re-torqued it to 2.9 ft. lbs. maybe should have used blue lock tight. I did not have the issues you had with the install because i did not install the tach, stock headlight, or the front stock blinkers.
Mine does have sensitive steering compared to stock. Just sitting there the steering is a lot easier to move side to side so it is the same going down the road. In hair pin turns it has the feeling that it is going to fall over when i go into the turn, but it is just the longer wheel base making it feel that way. I have been ridding mine for a while now and i am getting use to it to the point that i am liking it more and more.

PS: BrutalPancho, you need to put some fairly thick rubber washers under your risers and between the washer and triple tree under the top tree to put some type movement in the bars or they will vibrate badly. I did mine but i am going to either double up on the washers i have under there now or get some thicker ones to see if i can make it better. I used the riser bolts for the warrior so it is 14 mm and just fits into the riser holes on the top tree so i think i am going to the harley riser bolt which is 1/2-13 threads and is a little smaller giving me a little more movement in the bars to see if that helps.

[BrutalPancho]

Yeah we lock tighted the S**** out of it lol
Same feeling here, very easy to turn when standing still also.

Glad you are getting used to it. I'll ride it more today. (35 degrees c here).
I have only done 50k's on it so far since so hopefully I will learn to love it.

[rquest]

First of all I don't think they should have told you it's a simple bolt on. I have 6 degree trees on my Wardawg and figured there were going to be delima's when installing, but I thought they went on rather smoothly.
Question, did you extent your ft end? What you've done by raking the front end is change the 'trail' and this could be very dangerous. Your bike will NEVER handle like a sport bike again but you may need to get the trail back to a safe degree by extending the tubes, adding a 21" ft tire, or as you already done, lower the rear.
Take a large 'square' and draw a line directly below the ft axle then take a piece of string and extend it from the middle of the yoke to the floor and measure the distance between the two, this is your trail. I believe you want to shorten this distance. (Google rake and trail)

[BrutalPancho]

Hi rquest. Yeah I'm aware of the rake and trail equations and knew it will feel different. Just didnt expect it to ne so dramatic.
I added the morton's fork tube extensions that came with the 7 deg trees.
I also thought lowering the rear would make the handling and trail worse rather than better?
Id love to ad a 21" wheel at some stage.
Bit pricey getting one from usa to australia though.

[upNover]

Originally Posted by BrutalPancho

Hi rquest. Yeah I'm aware of the rake and trail equations and knew it will feel different. Just didnt expect it to ne so dramatic.
I added the morton's fork tube extensions that came with the 7 deg trees.
I also thought lowering the rear would make the handling and trail worse rather than better?
Id love to ad a 21" wheel at some stage.
Bit pricey getting one from usa to australia though.

I installed my Nortons trees without any hitch and mine handles surprisingly fine. They did say to torque it just enough that you feel a little drag when turning (that says a lot). I did not install the 2" extensions tho, as I put 21" wheel in front and that compensate for the rake and overall stock geometry of the bike.

I don't know how they installed yours, but I didn't have any complaints with my Nortorn's. Good Luck!

[BrutalPancho]

would lowering the rear increase the trail and add to the loose feel in the front?
Im thinking of removing the rear lowering kit and bringing the back up to stock as Im scraping all over the place

[evilrider]

mine handled different but i got used to it in a week or so and now i can throw it around just like stock. i wouldnt go back. the install went well too.

[BrutalPancho]

at 100kph + it really feels unsafe tho'.
The slightest movement and the front wants to zip and dart either way.
Feels like an old school skateboard that is about to get speed-wobbles down a hill.
*I have stock wheels, + used the tube extensions.

Looks great, I agree.
Feels ok at cruising speed in suburban streets I guess...
Ill try upping the rear to stock again and see if that makes it better or worse.

[zipper]

There is a noticeable difference between the 6 and the 7 deg. trees. I've pointed this out a few times before on this 4m. Both my friend and I have ridden each others bikes and his, with the 7 deg trees feels like at a certain lean angle the bike wants to dive. Mine never acted this way. i had a 250 had he had a 240. I adjusted my rear air shock to the same hight as his. Neither of us extended the tubes, in fact I shortened mine an inch as you can see in my gallery. He didn't. Neither bike handled as good as before we started changing things but my Warrior still handled well, and better than his. At some point you choose between show and go.