I cannot understand the difference of strapping with a strap and the lowering from the triple.

Both does the same job?

What is the legal height from the ground for a drag race?

I have a strap from schnitz racing and basically it goes from the caliper over the neck of the frame to the other caliper. When you launch a motorcycle obviously the front wants to come up in a wheelie, the front suspension assists this motion buy unloading and "pushing" the front end up. MY strap doesn't lower the bike it just prevents the suspension from unloading during a launch so the front doesn't come up as easy. I have heard of people running and actual ratchet strap on the front end that they cinch down to compress the forks and effectively lower the front, i have seen people do this at the track before and they made several passes with no problems so i would asssume it's "ok" to do but it doesn't mean it's the best (i'm sure someone will chime in on this) Lowering the bike by sliding the forks through the triple tree is probably the most common way of actually lowering the front. disadvantages of this is it changes the suspension geometry and thus handling characteristics and takes a bit longer to do than just putting on a ratchet strap. Also this will be more unstable and be more likely to give a "tank slapper" at high speeds. When lowering the front especially at the drag strip make sure you ROLL off the throttle and ease into the breaks or you could be in for a real handful, the best thing for this is just a steering damper. This season i plan on running a strap and lowering the front by sliding it through the triples. As far as how low can you go? it's pretty much up to you, they don't want you to scrape the track (and neither do you cause your oil pan is probably the lowest point if you don't run lower plastics...) but just remember if you do wheelie at all it has to come back down and you should allow for a LITTLE suspension travel so don't slam it a 1/2 inch from the ground:lmao
I hope this helps a little bit, if you still need help i'll try to contribute my thoughts

as said lowering from the tripple lowers the bike and changes the geometry of the steering... this is not something that you cant easily get used to... i still take corners and twisties with my friends and i am stretched 6 inches... a lowering strap is made to lower the bike and keep the suspension from extending on hard launches so the bike doesnt come up... it helps keep your center of gravity from changing during the launch. i have my bike lowered in the tripple trees and have a strap on order to help during the launch... i am only going to put the strap on to keep the suspension from extending though, not to lower the bike.

The truth is that I don't understand whatever you said.. haha!

So the strap is only to lock the suspesion to don't unload, right?
I will not ratchet the strap to lowering it, right?
I will lower the bike from the triple.


Why I need steering damper?

I don't understand what you said...
When lowering the front especially at the drag strip make sure you ROLL off the throttle and ease into the breaks or you could be in for a real handful, the best thing for this is just a steering damper.

Thanks for the help and yes I need sure more help because I am new to the drag with bike!

I run many drag races with my car.. Nissan 240sx RB26DETT 800hp

I will run the R6 maybe with nitrous!! :)

alright try number 2

strap=doesn't allow suspension to unload but can't really lower the bike
ratchet strap=same as strap but you can ratchet it down to compress the suspension thus lowering the front but not sure of the validity of this method
lowering through the triple= just as it sounds it lowers the bike
tank slapper= the handle bars going lock to lock back and forth uncontrollably... very bad and difficult to recover from. to prevent this a steering damper is like a shock absorber except for your steering and is adjustable for a high or low damping rate, it not necessary but doesn't hurt anything and could save you in jam.

any time you lower the front or rear of the bike you change the suspension geometry, not necessarily a bad thing but definitely something to take note of.

when you lower the front of the bike you reduce the angel of the forks from vertical, to see this step back from your bike with the front wheel facing forward. now imagine sliding the forks through the triple or compressing the suspension with a ratchet strap. this brings the front wheel further under the bike closer to the header. in non technical terms this reduces high speed stability. a situation known as a "tank slapper" is more likely to occur when you load the front wheel by abruptly closing the throttle or grabbing a bunch of front brake, just like when you launch you get weight transfer to the rear well this is what you want to avoid when speaking about the front.

Thank you very much for the help!
Now I understand what do you mean tank slapper! Before I couldn't understand it because I never feel something like that.. because I never run my bike lowered yet.

It is necessary a steering damper or I can control the shake of the handle bars easy?

a tank slapper can not be controlled easily. basically, the two ways to control it are take the weight off of the front and hope it recovers, or hold on and pray it recovers on its own. A steering damper will not help in the recovery, just in helping prevent this from happening. DO NOT use a ratchet strap to lower you front end... that is just dumb and can't be a good thing. with a strap, you can compress your suspension and tighten the strap to [effectively] lower the bike to the desired height.

a DO NOT use a ratchet strap to lower you front end... that is just dumb and can't be a good thing. with a strap, you can compress your suspension and tighten the strap to [effectively] lower the bike to the desired height.

yeah, but after 1 or 2 runs the strap loosens up and is back to stock height just restricting the motion of forks. Not saying you should run a ratchet strap but using a normal lowering strap for actually lowering the bike doesn't work all that great for multiple runs without constant adjusting.

Thank you very much for the help!
Now I understand what do you mean tank slapper! Before I couldn't understand it because I never feel something like that.. because I never run my bike lowered yet.

It is necessary a steering damper or I can control the shake of the handle bars easy?

it is not necessary to run damper (I don't) but you can not control the shake of the handle bars during a tank slapper. like i said the easiest way to stop a tank slapper is to prevent it in the first place and don't load the front wheel too quickly, you do this by rolling of the throttle and easy on the brakes.

So if I leave the throttle immediatly at the exit of quarter mile and don't press any brake I will have tank slapper??

Thinking also that I will have +40 shot of nitrous!!!

From the time that you said me for the tank slapper I scare very much!!
I have never feel something like that..

For some days I had my bike lowering only from the front for 2" and I drove the bike in the street but I don't remember any feeling like what you say.. tank slapper we have only in high speeds? But I remember that I run the bike in the street to test if I can start better with lowering front and sure I run it much more quarter mile exit.. if I had any effect like tank slapper I would remember it... but I don't remember how I brake it..

yeah, but after 1 or 2 runs the strap loosens up and is back to stock height just restricting the motion of forks. Not saying you should run a ratchet strap but using a normal lowering strap for actually lowering the bike doesn't work all that great for multiple runs without constant adjusting.

my friend actually uses his strap to keep his bike lowered during daily driving... it is the same brand you have and his does not loosen up at all.

my friend actually uses his strap to keep his bike lowered during daily driving... it is the same brand you have and his does not loosen up at all.

that's weird, maybe i have a bad strap then all i know is it works great for a couple runs but ends up loosening back up again, not disagreeing with you just speaking from my own experience.

What differences I will have if I put also extensions in the swing arm??
The tank slap effect will be more possible?
Also any other problems that I will have with extensions?

I had lowered my bike 2 inched and got tank slap at about 45mph. Then i lowered it to 3 inches, reset my spring preloads (increased it) all my tank slapping is gone. Now she just wants to fall into the turns. No strapping. i just raised the shocks in the triples. Just gotta watch out for those pesky speed bumps.

I have a terible headache for the time that you said me about tank slapping!!
The tank slapping at the exit of the 1/4mile is possible to fall the bike? Or it is just a wag of the handle bars?