Lower the Yokes for Better Tight Traffic Handling
While more and more riders in Thailand upgrade to bigger motorcycles they also find that this bigger motorcycles are often less maneuverable in tight traffic. Dropping the yokes down the front forks can help. It is a good idea but how do you do it?Adjusting how far down the front forks a motorcycle's yokes sit will make a big difference how it handles. Moving down the yokes will speed up steering but also decrease ground clearance too. It will put more weight on the front tire too. It tends to make motorcycles steer faster but less stable on a straight.
To lower the yokes you have to remove any bodywork necessary to access the yoke bolts. Ideally get the front end of your motorcycle in the air with a paddock stand or jack although it's possible with the motorcycle simply on the side stand.
Loosen the bolts on one fork slightly. Do one fork at a time so there's no chance of the motorcycle crashing to the floor although this is unlikely anyway. Loosen the bolts on both yokes until you can just turn the fork leg by hand, then loosen them by another quarter turn.
Twist the fork leg and work it upwards, and record how much you moved it up – in fact the fork isn't moving up or down but the yoke is getting lower.
Tighten the bolts and repeat the procedure with the other fork leg. Don't over tighten; use a torque wrench set to 20Nm.
It's critical you make the same adjustment to height on both sides so measure with a steel ruler or with something like a Vernier Caliper. A drop of 5mm should make a slight but noticeable difference and we wouldn't suggest changing by more than 10mm as it may make the motorcycle very unstable.
