is this a good idea?

[smoothee125]

i'm 5'5 and ride a 02 yz 125.. it's a little tall for me ..i'm on my tippy toes..my question is...if a lower my front forks about an inch from my triple clamps...lowering my front end...how will this change how my bike turns..?..and will this help lower my bike much?...an inch closer to the ground sure would help... :laugh:

 

[i_955]

An inch is a major change and will definitely change the engineered characteristics of the bike. It will turn sharper, way sharper and be more prone to head shake in bumps, jump lands and general high speed anything.

That said, I lowered my boys KX100 more than an inch to help him in several ways. First was to lower the bike (confidence), to aid in turning sharp for low speed kiddy tracks and to help train him to stay up front (it is a KX100 2 stroke for a beginner).
He has grown in height and abilities and has now graduated to the big track so I lowered the forks about an inch now and he has picked up much speed and confidence with a much more stable setup for speed. He tells me he is coming up on me in corners, hehehe what-ever….

It is recommended to raise/lower the forks in 5mm increments. You can loosen the shock spring tension lower the rear equally and that should be done. If changes are made to the front, you should make equal changes to the back. Balance is important.

 

[sick 96 250]

shave your seat down some, it will help you touch better

 

[darringer]

Shave the seat. If that isn't enough, cut the subframe down about 10mm at the lower mounts where it bolts to the frame. Then raise your forks about 5-7mm in the triple clamps. These changes will make a huge difference without any adverse handling. Do a search on suspension lowering, as there has been quite a few threads on this subject.

 

[gwcrim]

If you lower the front and the rear the same amount, the rake measurement stays the same. You may encounter rear suspension issues depending on how you lower the rear, i.e. sag vs. links vs reworking the shock.

Cutting the seat foam is a great approach.