Front Forks

[Specter]

Just wondering whether or not changing the forks length will drastically affect performance negatively, the forks on the bike are around 800 mm and just looking at forks like http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150432567789&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT#ht_500wt_711 or http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130363638134&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT#ht_1511wt_794

the first being 640 mm or something and the second 450 mm, there may be an obvious answer but still trying to learn...

anyway thanks

[davio]

the answer is yes, but with those measurements it sounds like ur only talking about the lowers
what u need to worry about is the overall length,axle to top.
;a shorter length will drop the front and make the steering head angle steeper ,not really a good idea (read tankslappers)
longer is ok but will upset the balance and raise the front
u can drop the forks thru the triples to fix that tho
theres more to it ,ur prob best off posting ur make and model here and one of these nutters will already have done all the hard shit and tell u what u need

[Specter]

its a 1994 vfr 750 and the longer forks are on the bike already so i guess shorter ones are out of the question...

[Redmohawk]

It's not a cut and dryed thing lowering the front by changing the fork length will change you steering head geomertry , this can be counteracted with several different techniques first thing you need to know is the geomertry standard so you have a base line to work from. If your lowering the fork length to drop bike height look at dropping the rear as well to counteract the front, but you need to measure the front first and see how much you need to drop the rear to compensate (the hights front to rear can be different depending on what else you do)

http://www.asfphotos.com/upload/1275146019.jpg


If you google steering geom heaps will come up on the subject .

[robmac]

quote:Originally posted by Specter

its a 1994 vfr 750 and the longer forks are on the bike already so i guess shorter ones are out of the question...
Having shorter forks on a VFR would speed up the steering nicely but unfortunately ground clearance would become a problem as they never had much to begin with. Whats the overall length of the standard forks?

[Hillsy]

quote:Originally posted by Specter

its a 1994 vfr 750 and the longer forks are on the bike already so i guess shorter ones are out of the question...


BTW - you aren't thinking of using those forks you listed are you? They're for pit bikes....