[pmrmusic26]

Hello,
Just recently went from the 120/60/17 to the 120/170/17 in the front, so a tire that is about 12mm taller. Now, Im looking for input on fork height settings. With the 60's i had it 3mm lower front. I just swap the tires decided to take it alittle lower to see how it feels. So the front is now 14mm lower with the taller tire. The front end feels extremely grippy, BUT very heavy, and little harder to turn. Now i was thinking about raising it up to about 8mm. What I am looking for is Suggested fork settings and input on raising and lowering the front.

My bike is 03 R6.

 

[luke geis]

The 70 series tire is taller and should fall right over. Raising the tubes in th triple clamps will make the steering even heavier. Lowering them will sharpen it up with a sacrifice in front end stability. I imagine that you are used to the 60 series so the difference is noticed in initial input. The taller tire requires a little more grunt to get it moving, then it will FALL into the turn easier from that point on. The shorter tire requires less initial input to initiate the turn but more force to use the last bit of tread. You did the right thing dropping the tubes down. If the bikes steering is still to heavy for you and you still feel that you have plenty of stability try lowering them a little more it takes about 4mm to notice a difference. so drop them 2 mm more from where you had them after putting on the new tire, and see how that feels. Need more do more. once you get to 12mm almost 20 mm from stock, stop. Think about possibly raising the rear of the bike up. You will probably be rubbing radiator with the tire if you drop it that much in the front. You will also probably lose a lot of stability by then as well. I would say drop the front 14-16mm from stock height see how that feels. Watch for clearance issues with the tire and fender. If clearance isn't a problem and stability isn't an issue and the steering is still to heavy start raising the rear. It will take a little getting used to. My bike would tank slap like crazy after lowering the tubes only 8-10 mm. I don't mind the tank slap, but it took some other adjustments on the suspension to help reduce it and get what I wanted. With no steering damper and being as low on the tubes I feel I have a very quick steering yet stable bike.
To make sure things are clear. the tire will only raise the bike a total of 6mm. If the 70 series tire is 12mm taller. so dropping the bike 12mm should be about 6mm less than at stock position with a stock tire. If you were to get the suspension dropped 18mm that would be technically 12mm less than stock. I know that you would have a tank dropping good time with that much drop. And you should have clearance issues by then as well. Give it some time to get used to it. I had a shop install a 60 series on my bike for a bike that needed a 70. I new after the first turn something was wrong. I never had to try so hard to turn a bike after I started to lean it over. I could have stood on top of the bike and it still wouldn't have leaned over anymore. It will take some time. As far as the other settings they really shouldn't change since you are really only adjusting the ride height. 9mm drop from stock should be equal to what you had with the 60 series tire but even then the 70 will still feel different. best of luck to you. I hope this helps.

 

[Nex]

Do you find that bike lifts the back tire under hard braking? I'm struggling with front tire locking up, one hypothesis is that front is too low.