Can I drop the fork yolks by 5mm on my 1200s Multi? There's two reasons for why I am asking, first the M9 RR Sportec pushed up the rear a little,now I have a low seat thanks to Gavin from the forum . Also the front seems very tankslapy , I thought a bit more weight would maybe sort this out . I see on here some people have dropped it even more, I absolutely love the bike , it's I wish I could mm ake it handle a bit better for the way i ride . This forum has been very kind and helpful and any advice would be greatly appreciated. T I A..
Sorry, can't resist but would expect that your question was about a Scrambler. Sorry for thread drift.
If your front end is 'tankslappy' I'd say you don't want to drop the front end at all as this decrease rake a bit, so would make things worse. Better to lower the rear if that's where your troubles (taller tyre?) started...
I dropped the front on my 1200s DVT. There was no problem with it, it just quickened up the turn. I’m sure it’ll be the same on your earlier model 1200. Maybe it’ll result in less stability at speed but not much unless you drop the yokes a lot. The front end will be greatly affected by your tyres. Personally I’m a great fan of the Metzeler M7’s and M9’s. However the cross section is quite triangular or Toblerone shaped. On sports bikes with weight on the front I found them great tyres. On upright bikes there is less weight on the front wheel and under acceleration the front was skittish, it waggled slightly. I tried fitting a steering damper but only when I moved away from the Metzeler to a more rounded cross section Dunlop tyre was I able to cure the problem. Then the bike flowed from side to side in flip flop bends and the skittish front end was gone. It was and still is a joy. My personal recommendation is a Metzeler M7 or M9 rear with a Dunlop Sportsmart IV or Dunlop Sportsmart TT on the front. If you don’t like the sound of mixing brands try the Dunlops on both ends. They transformed the front end on my Multistrada and my Monster. The other thing you should absolutely sort out is the static sag on the suspension. When you correct that for your weight the bike will handle like a dream and that model Multi does handle well. Hope it helps.
