Late reply but my .02 says there may be an obstruction under the tunnel. I.e., my old Yamaha liquid Exciter had an oil cooler that hung down slightly, just enough to interfere with the longer pics. The solution if you rode on ice was to install suspension 'blocks' to limit suspension travel, in conjunction with shorter style v-studs instead of the long pics. With the suspension cranked to the stiffest setting, I never bottomed out with that setup and I could lift the front end no problem! Worth checking on...