Purpose of lowering forks?

[Blahhh]

Hello all,

 

I noticed majority of 2b bikes (Kips, SP, TZM, RX-Z) has their forks lowered, so they will have the upper part sticking out. This practice is very rare with the class 2a/2 bikes.

 

I asked my friends about the advantages available and none of them really know. I supposed it's only for looks?

[Aalex82]

cos 2b bike dun hav preload adjustment so they lower it to "harden" the suspension..

[Raptor]

Originally posted by Aalex82@Sep 15 2006, 03:36 AM

cos 2b bike dun hav preload adjustment so they lower it to "harden" the suspension..

Preloading the fork springs or changing the fork oil to a thicker viscosity is the only way to 'harden' the front suspension.

 

In this case, the total length of the forks nor the 'stiffness' do not change except for the location it is mounted on the triple clamp. What changes is the geometry set up of the bike.

 

Lowering the front forks will make the bike quicker steering. The same effect can be achieved by using a different profile tyre, eg putting on a higher profile tyre on the back or using a lower profile tyre on the front.

 

A 2B bike is already very quick steering due to its light weight so I don't know what is the purpose of dropping the forks on a small bike for.

 

Must be for looks only, the racer look.

 

Anything done should be purpose driven and not activity driven. In this case, it is a group activity thing.

[Aalex82]

Originally posted by Raptor@Sep 15 2006, 06:28 AM

Preloading the fork springs or changing the fork oil to a thicker viscosity is the only way to 'harden' the front suspension.

 

In this case, the total length of the forks nor the 'stiffness' do not change except for the location it is mounted on the triple clamp. What changes is the geometry set up of the bike.

 

Lowering the front forks will make the bike quicker steering. The same effect can be achieved by using a different profile tyre, eg putting on a higher profile tyre on the back or using a lower profile tyre on the front.

 

A 2B bike is already very quick steering due to its light weight so I don't know what is the purpose of dropping the forks on a small bike for.

 

Must be for looks only, the racer look.

 

Anything done should be purpose driven and not activity driven. In this case, it is a group activity thing.

u are rite..

cos i was thinking of this problem for quite sometimes..

by logical sense, onli changing to a higher W fork oil and preloading able to harden the fork..

i ask the pple around and they told mi is to harden it few years back..

that y i type "harden".. cos i still quite not sure..

[MrLau]

Lower the the front change the geomentry of the setup.

 

The weight will be shifted to the front, that improve the "feel" of secure and stable in cornering.

 

The drawback is the bike become not stable, when doing hard front brake, potential to flip the bike.

[wacko]

from what i know..

corner wise will be sharper but u will lose ur stability..

just my 0.02cents worth..

:smile:

[Aie]

Originally posted by MrLau@Sep 15 2006, 09:46 AM

Lower the the front change the geomentry of the setup.

The weight will be shifted to the front, that improve the "feel" of secure and stable in cornering.

The drawback is the bike become not stable, when doing hard front brake, potential to flip the bike.

Yup, I know of a guy who lowered the fork of his Class 2 bike and the stability of his bike was compromised. Suffered a tank slap and flew off his bike...

[boofeng]

the forks on 2B bikes are very long actually. if you notice, at stock height the handlebars are much higher (in terms of proportion) than the handlebars on 2A/2 bikes. by dropping they're only achieving the same geometry as the 2A/2 bikes.

 

i think this shows that the 2B bikes are not manufactured as "real sportsbikes", more of road-going bikes with sports look (notice also small brakes and RWU instead of USD forks). the "proper sportsbike" type of 2B bike, e.g. RS125 or Mito, you won't see them dropping their triple clamps down the forks.

 

not to say that the 2B bikes aren't good at performing, of course. some folks ride them so amazingly! ;p

[khaitronic]

yeah lowering the folk for me is just for the look...like me riding rxz,i will look like apek riding rxz with the standard height of folk...too high...but for those lowering it though...dont lower too much cause it will spoil ur folk...and for the geometry...of the front low and the upper part look so high...wah tat want if u corner ah ur back shaking sia...dangerous...but if both end is low...corner then got feeling!

[khaitronic]

yeah lowering the folk for me is just for the look...like me riding rxz,i will look like apek riding rxz with the standard height of folk...too high...but for those lowering it though...dont lower too much cause it will spoil ur folk...and for the geometry...of the front low and the upper part look so high...wah tat want if u corner ah ur back shaking sia...dangerous...but if both end is low...corner then got feeling!

[compfused]

How you pronounce it will be how you will think it is spelt..In this case wrong pronunciation resulted in wrong spelling..Ahaha..

[Father John]

There was a new paper article about this. They said that it's dangerous to lower the fork. Because the shock is stiffened and does not really absorb the shock from the front. They said people lower it to get the moto gp racer look. In short, it's dangerous to do so.

[eyanz_08]

Originally posted by khaitronic@Sep 16 2006, 09:04 AM

yeah lowering the folk for me is just for the look...like me riding rxz,i will look like apek riding rxz with the standard height of folk...too high...but for those lowering it though...dont lower too much cause it will spoil ur folk...and for the geometry...of the front low and the upper part look so high...wah tat want if u corner ah ur back shaking sia...dangerous...but if both end is low...corner then got feeling!

Yes I agree brother KUTU!! both ends sud b lowered 4 looks n stability..

[Tourer]

It changes the geometry of the bike. Faster launch as the bike will be less prone to wheelies as the weight is shifted to the front. It also alters the rake angle of front fork which makes the steering/turn-in quicker. Same effect is achieved by raising the rear and it will lose straight-line stability.

 

If both end is lowered then I think it defeats the purpose of lowering it. Because no difference is made if the rake angle is balanced when the rear is lowered too, probably lower CG and better straightline stability. Infact the cornering clearance will be compromised as the footpeg/body is nearer to the ground.