Yamaha WR suspension lowering post of the day

This Yamaha WR lowering question comes from Australia's Karl M.


Question: Hi there,

I sat on a WR250R the other day and it is just way too high. I am a learner, so I'd like to have as much of my feet on the ground as possible. I am really intersted in this link, but I'm unsure if it will lower the bike enough for me. I've seen posts on some forums which state that the link will lower the bike by 1.25'' and that with stock lowering it could be reduced a further inch, which would give 2.25''. However, on your site it says I would gain around 2''. I am 5 foot seven and only weigh about 65kg (143lbs).

Do you think this link will lower the bike enough to make it comfortable for me to learn on?

Also, can you estimate how much foot purchase I might obtain?

One last thing - Is the stock lowering adjusment and the sag adjustment one and the same?

I really don't want to buy a KLX250!


Reply: Sag and the stock adjustment are NOT the same. Sag is dialed in via the lock ring at the top of the shock, and as you know, the stock lowering is done via the shock mount/clevis at the bottom. There is a picture tutorial on our page for the stock lowering: HERE

And as a refresher, here is the website we send everyone to for sag: SAG

The 1.25 inch lowering from the YamaLink is no longer the amount; the very first handful of prototypes were 1.25 but it's now a hair less than an inch. Combined with the stock lowering, the YamaLink will give you a little under 2 inches total. We could've built a lowering link with more, but there are clearance issues and handling issues. We know for a fact the front forks cannot be raised in the clamps more than 18mm (the included install instructions recommend a starting point of 10mm which is what 99% of WR250R/X owners use and prefer) if you want safe and proper handling, so we built the back as low as possible with that in mind.

The bike is indeed tall, and at 5'7" with what I presume to be an inseam of about 29 inches, the bike even in lowered form won't be short like a scooter, ha! If I remember, the Kawi has a 35 inch seat height. The WR250R has a 36.6. So with the YamaLink and stock lowering you'd be almost the same as the Kawi. Just something to think about.