Another lowering question

I am setting up a 2008 WR250X for my wife she is 5' 4". I am going to lower the bike with the stock adjustment and shave the seat.

My question is has any one tried the Moose lowering link in combination with the Yamalink? Right now I am thinking of buying the Moose lowering knuckle since it seems to provide the most lowering. Would you agree? Should I try both?

SheWolf I read on here that you lowered your bike 6". Can you outline what you have done to accomplish this?

Thanks

I went with the Yamalink, myself. I also did the stock shock mod, raised the forks thru the triples to just about touching the handlebars. Set the rear sag to about 3 threads from the top of the shock. Put in a shorter spring pack in the forks. Shaved the seat 2.5 inches (stock seat). I now have a Seat Concepts seat which is wider by a little bit, more comfy and just as low as the stock seat after I shaved it. I'm 5'4" and can touch with both feet easily (the full ball of the foot with maybe 2-3 inches of gap between my heel and the ground).

SheWolf thanks for the fast response!!

Three questions:

1) any particular reason you picked the yamalink over the moose?

2) "Put in a shorter spring pack in the forks." Can you tell me a little more about this?

3) are you planning or thinking about any other lowering mods?

Thanks!

They really need to make this bike more easily changeable from the factory, it's a small bike (250cc) and so it's the natural choice for chicks who want to ride.

Nothing cooler than a girl on a bike, and my 6 year old daughter is getting her first dirt bike this Christmas... :)

spring-onion wrote:

SheWolf thanks for the fast response!!

No worries! A lot of vertically challenged ppl run when they see how high the seat is on this bike; but it can be lowered and fully enjoyed by all ranges of height.

Three questions:

1) any particular reason you picked the yamalink over the moose?

At the time Yamalink was the only available option.

2) "Put in a shorter spring pack in the forks." Can you tell me a little more about this?

I had the suspension fully overhauled because I wanted it more dialed in to my style of riding. The fact that I had lowered it still left the front end a bit tall and the only way to get it where it felt just right left me with the shorter spring set option. I went with the shorter spring set which dramatically changed the pitch, it holds corners like shit to a woolly dog, and now the bike sits level.

3) are you planning or thinking about any other lowering mods?

The only option I have left to lower it more are the tires. I'm quite happy with the style of tires I run, and realistically if I want to go lower I'd have to go with a full-on street tire. Might as well change it to an X then. yeah....we won't go there. That being said, I'm quite taken with the setup on the bike now. I don't have to worry about low-siding it because I can actually get my feet down on both sides of the bike, AT THE SAME TIME.

Thanks!

You are a wealth of knowledge and saving me a ton of R&D!

"the shorter spring set" where does one get these can you give me a link to look into this or to the ones you bought?

I got them thru the shop that did my suspension overhaul. Rider's Edge Suspension is the one I dealt with. Go Race is another one that does the WR suspension. You should be able to find a set thru any shop that does fork rebuilds.

so I am looking to buy a Moose lowering link or a Yamalink. Which one do you all think is better? The Moose link supposedly give 1.75" and the yamalink gives 1" of lowering.

http://www.denniskirk.com/jsp/common/img_pop.jsp?skuId=583767&imgId=0&_loopback=1

http://www.motorcycleloweringlinks.com/index.php?content=yamaha-lowering-link-wr250xr

thanks

Well, the Yamalink is the only one that has a grease nipple, which is nice cause that area does see a lot of movement. I haven't heard any feedback on anyone who's used the Moose. Go with what you want; personally I love the Yamalink myself.

SheWolf wrote:

Well, the Yamalink is the only one that has a grease nipple, which is nice cause that area does see a lot of movement. I haven't heard any feedback on anyone who's used the Moose. Go with what you want; personally I love the Yamalink myself.

I installed the Yamalink last week and I love it.

I did notice one important thing - before I installed it I put the old bushing inside of it and pumped up the ol hand grease gun with the slick 50 synthetic lube. It filled up the link cavity and blew one of the grease seals clean out of the Yamalink!

I carefully reseated it and pushed it back in and then I reseated both seals to make sure they were in. But it did make me quite aware that the little seals have a good seal against the bushing that putting the grease in can possible cause the grease seals to push out of the Yamalink.

When the Yamalink is installed this might not be obvious, and it seems that they would still be held in by the chassis itself.

Nevertheless, the grease has to go somewhere and the surely will come out slightly. I'll likely just drop the link to re-grease in this way I can make sure that the grease seals didn't move out too far from the Yamalink.

Great product tho and I'm almost flatfooting the bike now. Waaay much more fun.

Rule292 thanks for the heads up. Doesn't seem like there is anyone out there using the Moose 1.75" drop link. Makes me wonder. Yamalink says that the rear shouldn't be dropped more than 2". But I am shocked (get it) no one has tried it.

spring-onion wrote:

Rule292 thanks for the heads up. Doesn't seem like there is anyone out there using the Moose 1.75" drop link. Makes me wonder. Yamalink says that the rear shouldn't be dropped more than 2". But I am shocked (get it) no one has tried it.

Probably because the Yamalink gets the most positive press... and I think I found out why.

I ordered directly from Motorcycle Lowering Links (the maker of the Yamalink) and I'm glad I did. I ordered a blue one even the web site said they wer out of stock for a few days.

The owner (Dan) was great to work with. He emailed me right back when I ordered it and told me that the blue ones were being anodized and would be ready by Thursday.

He was spot on, it shipped on time and delivered very shortly even out here to the right coast. Great customer service (as was ordering the Sandman's case saver kit).

Ok Seat Concepts low foam and seat cover on order
Yamalink on order
Front forks and rear shock going to Go Race in for revalving, spring mods/ lowering

So I am going to go rip it up a little before I put it up on the lift and shrink it.


Thanks for all of your help especially shewolf!

No worries hon. I'm sure you'll love the feel of that thing once it's all dialed in to your style of riding. That seat's gonna make your ride feel like butter compared to that 2x4 that comes stock.

well I'm confused.


i just got myself a 2008 WRR, already has a Mountain Motor Sports lowering knuckle on it (supposed to lower it 1.5 inches), has had the stock lowering done (I can tell by looking at the jam nut), AND I have the seat concepts lower seat (which I don't think actually got me any lower because it is also much wider, even in the narrow part where the legs go down). I am still *barely* able to touch with the tops of my toes. I have to slide my booty over to one side at stop lights. I really need it lower. I am considering adding a Yamalink to it, but I don't know how that will affect the geometry given I've already got a MMS knuckle on there.

Anyone have any ideas? I need to get it another inch or two lower.

You didn't mention changing the forks/front end. I'll bet that with all the rear end lowering you did, the front end is sitting high and kicked out. If so, the steering will be slow as well. As a minimum, you should lower the triple clamps on the forks, but better would be a fork-shortening from Go Race or other.

http://durelleracing.com/store/index.php?main_page=index

Call Dave Durelle as this is what he does,he can mod the insides of the fork and shock 2+ inches and will still work for you. Mama is beyond short so everyting takes a trip to Dave. I have a YZ450 short track bike that is about 7in lower than stock.We dropped her ktm 2in for about 400$ with new springs for her weight. Her dr125se now has a 28in seat height down from 32,Works had to build us a rear shock for this bike as the stocker was a welded unit.Dave did the front forks. The wr250r/x can be modded inside front and rear,I have talked to him about the bike before and he has done them in the past.

Dave is the best at lowering bikes and understands that it still needs to work right after,this is one call you should make.

yeah, the front is lowered too. I haven't taken a tape measure to it, but i'm guessing the forks are through the triple clamps about 1/2"? I will try pushing them through more, until they just about touch the bars... not sure that's gonna get me the extra 2" i need but i'll try anything. I also don't want to upset the frame geometry too much.

i also need to check the sag.

and no, i have not changed the springs in the front forks. that's sounding like it might be pretty expensive and i'm trying to avoid high $$$ mods. I've already put a bunch into it. If it turns out that I *have* to spend the money on the springs I'll do it, but I'd prefer to try less expensive options first.

I have both an r and an x. I was using a yamalink on the r until recently when I came by a Moose link. The Moose link does lower the bike more. So now the Yamalink will go on the X. The forks on the R have been slide almost as far as I dare. The X was as low as the R with no mods to the X. I am looking to go to a 18 or a 19 inch front in the near future. By the way I found that using both the yamalink and the Moose link togather lowered the back more then I could lower the front without reworking the forks. I use both bikes about 50/50 for roads and trails. Berwyn

After reading though everything on here and trying a bunch of stuff I have come to the conclusion that taking your bike to a shop that has a suspension expert is the best route. I had the rear re valved and the front springs changed and revalved plus the yamalink. I have the seat concepts seat but dont us it. the seat height on my bike (really my wifes) is about 31.5". My wife is around 5' 4" and she can stand flat footed. For me its like riding a XR100 around I love it you can whip it around like its a toy.

All of the suspension work was less than $400 from a qualified shop. I found a guy that build supper cross bikes. He said it was easy it was sort of opposite of what he normally builds so he actually enjoyed doing the job.

My next step is to take it to a local suspension expert. I'm scheduled to drop it off in the morning. I could tinker with it and get it lower myself, but I know nothing about frame geometry and I want it done right. I plan on keeping this bike for a looonnngg time and I want us to be very good friends. I don't need to flatfoot, but I need the ball of my foot down so I have reverse gear. Also, a lower bike is much easier for me to pick up when I drop it. You know, not that I ever wreck or anything... but i WERE to...

im 5"5 and i shaved the seat about 1.5"(shaving the seat made it alot softer and more comfy too, my friends wrr with stock seat is like 3x harder then my shaved seat!) and did the stock lowering thingy i keep reading about it took me like 3 hours to figure out how to do it and it only lowered it like half an inch maybe less... i adjsuted the sag to the softest possible setting which for my weight it is the correct setting anyway, and i can reach tip toes with both feat and ball of 1 foot easy and to be honest thats all you need to ride a dirt bike just the ball of 1 foot. =) i have no yama link or anyhting its all stock links etc.