WR lowering post of the day in regard to the misconception that lowering links decrease travel.
All the bikes I have seen with stock links that have a rubber mark on the rear fender have been bottomed hard and are a long way into the neoprene shock stop. Mfg's advertise the total travel assuming the shock stop is not on the shock shaft, so to get the rubber marks on the rear fender that stop has to be compressed pretty hard, also you have to consider the sub frame and fender flex. The way to measure usable travel is remove the rear shock spring, cycle the swing arm thru its arc until the weight of the bike is lifted with the shock stop. That travel measured will be about 30% less than the advertised travel. Longer links increase the leverage ratio slightly so that in turn increases both the total and usable travel. They also allow the tire to hit the fender sooner and harder as the stop does not have to be compressed as far. I would not say that a bike is under sprung from the factory because the tire is hittng the fender, first compare the race sag and the free sag to figure the correct spring rate.
