2017 yz450f lowing link worth it?

fourfourone
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fourfourone
Edited Date/Time 10/10/2018 7:00am
Bike is pretty tall for me. I'm about 5' 10' but have short legs(195 lbs). My main focus is to try and improve the initial turn in on the bike. how I have it now, the bikes hates to initiate into a turn. Curious if installing a lowering link will help the bike turn
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Bruce372
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Bruce372 2/4/2018 12:18pm
2/4/2018 12:18pm
Lowering the rear of the bike will make it turn worse.

The Shop

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mx131
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mx131 2/6/2018 10:25am
2/6/2018 10:25am
I have 2016 YZ450f and I hated the way it turned and handled stock. For me it took P.C. link, 22 triple clamps from a 2014 and DRD engine relocation kit, each piece helped a bit but all of them together turned it into a pretty damn good weapon... good luck with yours...
kb228
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kb228 2/6/2018 10:47am
2/6/2018 10:47am
Have you tried raising the forks or increasing preload?
fourfourone
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fourfourone 2/6/2018 11:00am
2/6/2018 11:00am
kb228 wrote:
Have you tried raising the forks or increasing preload?
going to try that before the first ride of the season. I only have a few hours seat time on the bike. Was going to try and get the bike set up best I can before spring
rideng
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rideng 2/8/2018 9:58am
2/8/2018 9:58am
There are lowering links and performance links. Ride Eng. performance links are typically between 1 and 1.5mm longer than stock. I believe the one we make for the 2017 yz450f is 1.5mm longer. What this link does is it helps balance the bike with a sag setting of around 103/104mm. This link moves the starting point of the suspension curve further up. The rear shock will feel a little stiffer than stock in the first third of travel. That actually make the bike more responsive to your turning inputs so it WILL handle better even though the by product of the longer arm is lowering the rear about 8mm. It will also keep the rear tire more planted in braking bumps and help a little with hookup under acceleration. However nothing is all positives and no negatives. Becuase the arm is longer in the last third of travel it puts extra leverage on the shock and make that part of the stroke a little more prone to bottoming. So turning in the high speed a 1/4 turn, or increasng the low speed compression and or rebound in a few clicks may be necessary to compensate. Lowering links made by other companies are 5 or more millimeters longer than stock and they reduce seat height by an inch or more. The problem with those is that they amplify the above conditions screwing up the rear suspension considerably. I'd only recommend these for beginners or for trail riding or dualsport. Hope this helps.

here's a link to our YZF link: https://www.ride-engineering.com/products.php?d=1&p=l&pn=YZ-LKA44-BA&t=
4csHATER
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4csHATER 2/13/2018 10:13am
2/13/2018 10:13am
i ran the factory connection link on my 250f it had 22mm clamps and it was amazing. the bike pictured below. i had a whole winter of testing on this bike though. and strict development of clicker changes after the factory connection revalve respring free pistons and works spring perch and bottoming resistance had been changed.



4csHATER
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4csHATER 2/13/2018 10:15am
2/13/2018 10:15am
bar position is rear holes with clamps offset to middle of tripple clamp on bike pictured above.... rc bar bend with 1/4 inch cut from each side of bar so around 6.35mm
fourfourone
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fourfourone 2/13/2018 11:19am
2/13/2018 11:19am
i have the bars in the front holes but the mounts turned closer to me. seems to put the bars right in the middle of the triples and line up perfect with the fork tubes. i had it the same way as you but felt a bit cramped
4csHATER
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4csHATER 2/13/2018 11:28am
2/13/2018 11:28am
fourfourone wrote:
i have the bars in the front holes but the mounts turned closer to me. seems to put the bars right in the middle of the...
i have the bars in the front holes but the mounts turned closer to me. seems to put the bars right in the middle of the triples and line up perfect with the fork tubes. i had it the same way as you but felt a bit cramped
this bike is designed to be ridden agressive very damn agressive and if your up to forward on it (which it sounds like you are duew to your last post) then the bike will handle like absolute junk... on this bike you have to be straight agressive as hell in order to get it to handle correctly... i even roll my bars back 2mm to get me further back and cramped more lol
phatfi20
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phatfi20 2/14/2018 6:44am
2/14/2018 6:44am
mx131 wrote:
I have 2016 YZ450f and I hated the way it turned and handled stock. For me it took P.C. link, 22 triple clamps from a 2014...
I have 2016 YZ450f and I hated the way it turned and handled stock. For me it took P.C. link, 22 triple clamps from a 2014 and DRD engine relocation kit, each piece helped a bit but all of them together turned it into a pretty damn good weapon... good luck with yours...
I have a 2015 but with stock clamp offset. How do you like the 22mm clamps?

Also more so I'm curious about the engine relocation kit. If you put that on without making any other changes...How do you feel it changed the stability vs turning characteristics of the bike? Were there any downsides in straight line stability from doing it?
phatfi20
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phatfi20 2/14/2018 12:34pm
2/14/2018 12:34pm
Bruce372 wrote:
Lowering the rear of the bike will make it turn worse.
Paw Paw 271 wrote:
x2

Paw Paw
Whats your opinion on bringing the forks up in the clamps at the same time, lowering the whole bike together?
mx131
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mx131 2/14/2018 4:10pm
2/14/2018 4:10pm
I personally think that the 22 triple clamps along with the pro circuit link made the biggest difference with the turning characteristics, in addition to that i have correct spring rates for my weight, forks are 5 mm up in clamps and i am running 103mm sag, the suspension valving is stock... It drops into rutted turns way better then it did before upgrades but still seemed to push some on flat corners. The engine relocation kit seems to help with the front end bite on flat sweeping type turns... To my surprise none of these changes have effected the stability of the bike at all that i can tell. Hope that helps some, everybody is different but I really struggled to adapt to this bike before making these changes now its as comfortable as an old tennis shoe..
slipdog
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slipdog 2/14/2018 4:18pm
2/14/2018 4:18pm
phatfi20 wrote:
Whats your opinion on bringing the forks up in the clamps at the same time, lowering the whole bike together?
You might want to go back and read the post from the gentleman at Ride Engineering.
m21racing
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m21racing 2/14/2018 5:19pm
2/14/2018 5:19pm
Get the tuning right, and bike is fantastic. You can get very good results on the factory platform with some valving mods.

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phatfi20
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phatfi20 2/14/2018 5:46pm
2/14/2018 5:46pm
slipdog wrote:
You might want to go back and read the post from the gentleman at Ride Engineering.
I asked him because to me, it sounds like he disagrees with the ride engineering opinion that lowering links help turning and do balance the bike.
mx317
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mx317 2/15/2018 7:13am
2/15/2018 7:13am
If anyone wants a Ride Engineering link (or other Ride product) call them up and say "Mike Taylor referred me" and you will get 20% off.
4One7
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4One7 2/21/2018 6:56am
2/21/2018 6:56am
phatfi20 wrote:
I have a 2015 but with stock clamp offset. How do you like the 22mm clamps? Also more so I'm curious about the engine relocation kit...
I have a 2015 but with stock clamp offset. How do you like the 22mm clamps?

Also more so I'm curious about the engine relocation kit. If you put that on without making any other changes...How do you feel it changed the stability vs turning characteristics of the bike? Were there any downsides in straight line stability from doing it?
The 2015's come with 22mm clamps stock. I know some people with 14's and 15's were switching out to a 20mm set. I have a 2016, 25mm clamp offset stock, and use the JGR adjustable link. I run it in the 2mm longer position I believe. I have yet to install the engine relocation mounts but did upgrade to the 2017 upper engine hangers. So far I have tried stock, 2mm, and 3mm on the link and settled with the 2mm setting. I run the forks 5-6mm up in the stock 25mm clamps, 103-105mm of sag. It took some time to get the bike set up for my taste but I certainly feel comfortable with it now. The engine mounts are suppose to increase front end pressure (aiding front end bite or traction). I have yet to install the engine mounts to see how I feel about them but will try them out when I have the time to change them out and see how I like them.
rideng
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rideng 2/21/2018 9:18am
2/21/2018 9:18am
that set up sounds like it will work well on softer, sandy conditions on high speed tracks. I think the 22s are better on tigher tracks. not sure where you live but hear in so cal, your set up is probably ok for Glen Helen and Comp Edge or Sunrise. At tracks like milestone and perris, the 22s would improve cornering. We even make a 23.5 to compromise between your 25s and the 22s for more aggressive handling in the soft dirt.

https://www.ride-engineering.com/products.php?d=1&p=bm&pn=YZ-TB623-00&t…
fourfourone
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fourfourone 10/8/2018 12:23pm
10/8/2018 12:23pm
bumping this old thread. Ended up with a 144 link. I rode the bike after setting the sag to around 104. Forks are 4mm up. Bike felt way more planted but I did notice the rear end becoming a bit jumpy in the chop before a corner. And the bike felt like it had a bit more pop when going off a jump. Should I just try and up the rear rebound a little bit? Bike felt good but it was a super muddy day so it was hard to get an accurate feel for the bike.

Due to changing the where the shock sits in the stroke should I adjust high or low speed compression to compensate? Should I be concerned running the stock spring rates being that I weight 190 lbs?
mx131
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mx131 10/10/2018 6:58am
10/10/2018 6:58am Edited Date/Time 10/10/2018 7:00am
On my bike I went out or softer 1/2 turn on hi speed shock compression to 2 turns out and slowed down or turned in shock rebound to 8 to 9 clicks out. This I think I read somewhere is do to stiffening of the initial stroke due to the link. I run lo speed comp at 10 out. Can’t really answer spring rate question, I would think stock would be good at 190 but would suggest you ask a suspension shop to be sure. I called and talked to Race Tech they were way helpful, even though I didn’t buy there gold valves I did but there springs. Hope this helps some good luck...

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