Raising front fork tubes in triple clamp.

In the Motorcycle Consumer News review of the NT700V, they commented on the ponderous steering characteristics of the front end. They commented that "online forum member's" suggestion of raising the front fork tubes 9mm in the triple clamps "seems reasonable." I can't find this suggestion anywhere online. Has anybody experimented with fork height in relation to steering response?

From memory the higher the forks are through the triple tree clamp the quicker the bike "falls" into a corner.

Personally I find the NT behaves very well, even during a track day. It is NOT a sports bike so the handling will never respond like a sport bike BUT I don't want it to either :rolleyes1:

seagrass said:

From memory the higher the forks are through the triple tree clamp the quicker the bike "falls" into a corner.

Personally I find the NT behaves very well, even during a track day. It is NOT a sports bike so the handling will never respond lie, a sport bike BUT I don't want it to either :rolleyes1:

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Agreed. The NT is built for comfort under MOST conditions. If I wanted Sports Bike handling I would ride one (in fact I do. My other bike IS a Sports Bike).

Macka

My other bike is a Suzuki Savage that I converted into a Cafe' bike. In stock form the bike is a Cruiser, and it has a very lazy steering with the forks at a shallow angle for cool looks. When converting it to a Cafe' I lowered the front forks in the clamps 1.5 inches, and raised the rear by installing shocks that were 2.5" longer. The bike now steers very nicely in comparison to the way it used to steer (lazy and it felt like the front wheel "tipped over" when initiating a turn. These changes made the fork angle more vertical, and it reduces the trail as a result.....and all this makes for a quicker steering - but it still isn't Sport Bike quick.

You can drop your front forks on the NT700 pretty easily - and it you don't like the way it rides....it is just as easy to switch back.

9mm is only about 1/3rd of an inch....I can't imagine that this will make any noticeable difference on the NT700.

I agree, 9mm isn't much. And I wonder why they said 9mm instead of an even 10mm or even 1/2" (a little over 12mm)?

The downside to lowering the front end is slightly less ground clearance and possibility of instability. Again, 9 (or 10) mm probably won't hurt anything, but, an inch or more might.

Before anyone panics, if you lower the forks AND lower the back end the effect is much less. That's why the bike can be lowered so much without seeing many ill effects.

Turbo DV8 said:

ponderous steering characteristics?

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Holly crap, I would never refer to the NT's steering as Ponderous Agree with seagrass, if you want a sport bike, buy a sport bike. The NT is an extremely good handling "Sport Touring" motorcycle right the way it is. This made the ole' term, "If it ain't broke - don't fix it, come to mind. :wink:

The article in MCN actually referred to the steering as being on the 'lazy" side due to the rake and trail.

Don't raise the front end, just get some nice ape hangers and that will take care of any handling issues. Of course your have to wear sleeveless, and flipflops when your ride too.