- Sat Nov 11, 2017 12:48 am
#72021
This sounds like another case of fixing things that aren`t broken, until they are broken.
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For Royal Enfield owners and enthusiasts
- Sun Nov 12, 2017 5:22 pm
#72058
Mac, I have done this with my 535 and the position isn't that extreme at all. The riding position is much better and the bike looks better for it. Personally I have left my fork height as they were as I didn't want to upset the handling by moving them lower in the yokes. I've had no issues in 2yrs since doing this, so my advice is go for it.
- Wed Nov 15, 2017 11:16 am
#72299
To echo the above, don't extend the forks through the yokes (so making the front wheel further away) unless you want to make the bike run wide in corners and fall off its stand. Doing so will effectively increase the rake angle on the frame making steering slower with a tendancy to resist steering input then eventually "flop" into corners.
If the aim is to make the bike look more "track", having forks sticking up through the top yoke is exactly that. It's very common for racers to drop 1/2 to 1" of forks through the yokes to reduce the rake angle making the bike slightly more unstable so it will turn in more quickly and corner more tightly. There comes a pay-off in that that it is more likely to tuck the front end or have a tankslapper.
I've even heard stories from credible sources that "back in the day" some racers running bikes in production series where such modifications weren't allowed used to deliberately crash into a wall in the pits during practice to bend the forks under the bike slightly thereby making the steering faster.
I have a good 1/2" more fork sticking up through the top yoke on my VFR750 than standard because I find the standard steering sluggish.
All the above notwithstanding. Enfields are short bikes (overall length) so I'd be wary of altering anything that will alter the frame geometry too much. Leaving them in the same place as standard is probably the best idea given your level of experience. A little fork sticking up through the yoke will give the look of a bona fide racer anyway. If you want to fiddle with the suspension, spend some time setting your static and rider sag by spacing out the fork springs either with washers/coins on top, spacers cut out of blue water pipe or old valve springs (the latter works really well). This is a scutter to do on an enfied so measure twice. There are many online articles on measuring sag.
If the aim is to make the bike look more "track", having forks sticking up through the top yoke is exactly that. It's very common for racers to drop 1/2 to 1" of forks through the yokes to reduce the rake angle making the bike slightly more unstable so it will turn in more quickly and corner more tightly. There comes a pay-off in that that it is more likely to tuck the front end or have a tankslapper.
I've even heard stories from credible sources that "back in the day" some racers running bikes in production series where such modifications weren't allowed used to deliberately crash into a wall in the pits during practice to bend the forks under the bike slightly thereby making the steering faster.
I have a good 1/2" more fork sticking up through the top yoke on my VFR750 than standard because I find the standard steering sluggish.
All the above notwithstanding. Enfields are short bikes (overall length) so I'd be wary of altering anything that will alter the frame geometry too much. Leaving them in the same place as standard is probably the best idea given your level of experience. A little fork sticking up through the yoke will give the look of a bona fide racer anyway. If you want to fiddle with the suspension, spend some time setting your static and rider sag by spacing out the fork springs either with washers/coins on top, spacers cut out of blue water pipe or old valve springs (the latter works really well). This is a scutter to do on an enfied so measure twice. There are many online articles on measuring sag.
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