Ok, so some of you may have seen my faith that I just built up about a month ago. There was talk about flipping the links in order to drop the bb height and slacken the head angle. I wanted to investigate this, so tonight I took the time out to flip the links and see what happened. What follows will be my how to.
First of all, the links that need to be flipped are the top ones. There is no necessary order for taking the bolts out of the links and shock mount, but one suggestion is to have something under the BB to hold the front end up for when you release the links. As you can see in the pic below, the shock mount is offset on the link towards the front of the bike.
Once you have all the bolts loosened, go ahead and pull them out. *Make sure you dont loose the spacers that go between the upper link bolt hole and upper swingarm bearing, they are important for the proper function of the pivot*. Also, the lower link mount is sorta a thru axle, so go ahead and slide that all the way out. Once that is done, take a look at the links and see that the shock mount is indeed offset. Make sure to remember, you want to offset the shock rearward for when you put it all back together.
Now, flip the links to the opposite sides and begin re-assembly. The order of putting things back together is important, as you cannot leave the shock mount for last or you will not be able to get the thru-bolt in the hole. This is because of the changed geometry. I bolted the bottom of the links up, and then the shock mount and saved the top mounts for last. When you bolt up the top, make sure you have the bolts through the bearings with the spacers just barely on the ends, or else you will not be able to get them on later. (Because the links are now moving in one piece and by attaching one side first, the inner portion of the opposite bearing is blocked.) The picture below shows the bolt 'staged' and read for the front end to be aligned with the top bolt hole of the link.
Now, once both the top bolts are aligned, partly thread one side and locate the other threads on the other side as well. Dont tighten one side down first because you need some play to align the other side. Now, tighten all the bolts down and you should have a solid rear end again. The result is a BB just below 14" and a slackened out head. Check it:
I hope that this answers some questions about 'flipping the links' and will allow other people to do these as well. I know that the comparison pic is not perfectly aligned, and that is why I didnt attempt differential measurements. I just thought it was a decent visual of the change. Thanks for the other posters who gave me the idea!
First of all, the links that need to be flipped are the top ones. There is no necessary order for taking the bolts out of the links and shock mount, but one suggestion is to have something under the BB to hold the front end up for when you release the links. As you can see in the pic below, the shock mount is offset on the link towards the front of the bike.
Once you have all the bolts loosened, go ahead and pull them out. *Make sure you dont loose the spacers that go between the upper link bolt hole and upper swingarm bearing, they are important for the proper function of the pivot*. Also, the lower link mount is sorta a thru axle, so go ahead and slide that all the way out. Once that is done, take a look at the links and see that the shock mount is indeed offset. Make sure to remember, you want to offset the shock rearward for when you put it all back together.
Now, flip the links to the opposite sides and begin re-assembly. The order of putting things back together is important, as you cannot leave the shock mount for last or you will not be able to get the thru-bolt in the hole. This is because of the changed geometry. I bolted the bottom of the links up, and then the shock mount and saved the top mounts for last. When you bolt up the top, make sure you have the bolts through the bearings with the spacers just barely on the ends, or else you will not be able to get them on later. (Because the links are now moving in one piece and by attaching one side first, the inner portion of the opposite bearing is blocked.) The picture below shows the bolt 'staged' and read for the front end to be aligned with the top bolt hole of the link.
Now, once both the top bolts are aligned, partly thread one side and locate the other threads on the other side as well. Dont tighten one side down first because you need some play to align the other side. Now, tighten all the bolts down and you should have a solid rear end again. The result is a BB just below 14" and a slackened out head. Check it:
I hope that this answers some questions about 'flipping the links' and will allow other people to do these as well. I know that the comparison pic is not perfectly aligned, and that is why I didnt attempt differential measurements. I just thought it was a decent visual of the change. Thanks for the other posters who gave me the idea!
