CB125F lowering

[Saul]

Right a serious question for once.   Now you all know how bike obsessed Chloe my youngest daughter is.    Well she is tiny 5’1” and her CB125 has her right on her tip toes in standard form.   
I have just had the seat sculpted by 2” or 50mm but she still struggles to get the balls of her feet down because of the bikes width.  
I have looked at lowering the front forks in the yoke but that’s not easy as the are only pinch bolts in the bottom yoke, so not really an option unless the were a custom top yoke to replace the top one where the forks actually bolt in.  
So I’m thinking some lower rear shocks to bring the seat down although I know the steering geometry will be effected I’m hoping there is still the option of sneaking 25mm to 50mm. 
The standard rear shocks are set to their lowest rebound but Chloe is too light for any suspension sag to help out.  
The standard rear shocks measure 335mm pin to pin whereas they are listed as 345mm by suppliers.   I have found a set of shocks for a YBR125 on EBay that look right with the right pin size and they are listed at 310mm.    They are only £44 a pair so I am thinking this could be the answer. ?  
 Custom seat.  

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/116102078631?_trkparms=amclksrc%3DITM%26aid%3D1110006%26algo%3DHOMESPLICE.SIM%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D259211%26meid%3Dad4105dc1a414b5fb4940b98a213298d%26pid%3D101196%26rk%3D3%26rkt%3D7%26sd%3D144679598671%26itm%3D116102078631%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D0%26pg%3D4429486%26algv%3DSimplAMLv5PairwiseWebWithBBEV2bAndUBSourceDemotionWithUltimatelyBoughtOfCoviewV1&_trksid=p4429486.c101196.m2219&itmprp=cksum%3A116102078631ad4105dc1a414b5fb4940b98a213298d|enc%3AAQAJAAABUKAGZatwWrSFioKhyF05YYps7xtgOI2Vu0BqB4BERv%2FNTfrUNkP50TZAJfREiGj7R%2BA2x2E5zTqSs43jfR6uCcmt8%2B%2BTUdobg9SfOq%2BIqjUBsMC43q52NIb9OO%2By06BpV6mD6PW6%2Fr6C2t7t154ja88MhM1Zguc%2FD%2Foq3nSJJqMB9rEvJxPlsyKcS7H4JJmIFxsBx5mghJPYINK5F%2BUamfJJQBYNcEPrUWDUYlEibh28GZfNIFNLiUbFsR%2FcTntJCM3AvhDxBvlB7f5KUaZ1eKjvOQ%2BA6WUwExB98j9cglqvch9kIEeYW5SajIieHB8CqXs7J0uB0cXznS1UqJxN4xONbiUt4NfMV2Mk9pK15RSZleUgQkh3pRBZOWnU8oYEBVuwHh%2F23dzgLF%2FLva3FmlaAkYn%2BUGbjxrCtBCQxxQ%2BKXinv1qxaxFzW%2F1h%2FtkEujA%3D%3D|ampid%3APL_CLK|clp%3A4429486&itmmeta=01J1J4GNTJNH58YHATE97C0GJE

 

[YamaHead]

Those shocks seem like a perfect fit for the situation....

[Pedro]

Not trying to be funny, but have her sit on it wearing track bottoms or anything like that, slippery and stretchy, and see if it helps, her jeans seem tight.

If I sit on my bike with normal jeans I become quite shorter than when wearing riding jeans or motorcycle pants. A pair of nice riding jeans like Dainese that have a little stretch in that area might help before changing the bike.

Can’t understand how you can’t lower the front too, do the forks not go across the top yoke?

[Buckster]

Shorter fork springs and shave the tubes. Smaller wheels or lower profile tyres? 

[Saul]

14 hours ago, Pedro said:

Not trying to be funny, but have her sit on it wearing track bottoms or anything like that, slippery and stretchy, and see if it helps, her jeans seem tight.

If I sit on my bike with normal jeans I become quite shorter than when wearing riding jeans or motorcycle pants. A pair of nice riding jeans like Dainese that have a little stretch in that area might help before changing the bike.

Can’t understand how you can’t lower the front too, do the forks not go across the top yoke?

I’m not sure how much you know about teenager fashion but everything she has is stretchy and spray on, I do take your point about bike jeans but that’s not the issue in her case.  

Here is a picture of the top yoke, the fork tubes are bolted into it.  So without finding a traditional one with pinch bolts or having it modified or something custom made it’s not really the first option.   

Shorter forks springs and shaving the tubes maybe an option but I’m going to try the shorter shock’s first.   
I do also take the point about smaller wheels but that maybe a sledgehammer to crack a nut and probably not a cost option in this instance.  

[Buckster]

If you lower the shocks but don’t touch the front all it will do is slow down the steering which isn’t a bad thing for a new rider, don’t forget to adjust the headlight aim though.

[Catteeclan]

In the top of the forks is a spacer you could remove or get something shorter which will drop the front. Item No 3

[Saul]

4 minutes ago, Catteeclan said:

In the top of the forks is a spacer you could remove or get something shorter which will drop the front. Item No 3

Wow thanks for that research, could well be the answer if the shocks alone don't do it.  It's not a massive amount needed I reckon 25mm to 35mm could be the answer for Chloe.  

[Catteeclan]

1 minute ago, Saul said:

Wow thanks for that research, could well be the answer if the shocks alone don't do it.  It's not a massive amount needed I reckon 25mm to 35mm could be the answer for Chloe.  

I don't know how long that spacer is from experience so best have one out for a look, get a couple made up 25mm shorter.
I've seen people put sockets on top to get a little higher too.

[Buckster]

1 hour ago, Catteeclan said:

I don't know how long that spacer is from experience so best have one out for a look, get a couple made up 25mm shorter.
I've seen people put sockets on top to get a little higher too.

The problem is that the fork stanchion could then over extend and completely unload the spring on bumps, that puts you in bad territory.

[Buckster]

In fact I would say part 3 is a preload spacer, reducing the length of that would have the effect of softening the front end which might be desirable or not.

[JustaPor]

Wouldn't it be better (cheaper and easier) to teach her some techniques for short riders ? 

 

[Catteeclan]

3 hours ago, Buckster said:

In fact I would say part 3 is a preload spacer, reducing the length of that would have the effect of softening the front end which might be desirable or not.

Kin eck Buck it's not a track bike.

[Six30]

Grom .. sorted

 

[Buckster]

16 minutes ago, Catteeclan said:

Kin eck Buck it's not a track bike.

What are you on about? Most conventional forks use preload spacers.

[Saul]

4 hours ago, JustaPor said:

Wouldn't it be better (cheaper and easier) to teach her some techniques for short riders ? 

 

In the process of doing that but confidence needs to be built, and I think lowering the bike is a viable way to help my daughter out.   

[Saul]

4 hours ago, Six30 said:

Grom .. sorted

 

Don’t be silly, don’t you  think I haven’t already tried that, and a Dax and a Monkey. She has her heart set on a red CB125F.  

[JustaPor]

19 minutes ago, Saul said:

In the process of doing that but confidence needs to be built, and I think lowering the bike is a viable way to help my daughter out.   

I understand that, as a parent, you want the best for your daughter.
After seeing this topic I researched a bit and the most common opinion is to not lower your bike.

The solution for the lack of confidence is : Practice, practice, practice.
As motojitsu says : 

 

[Saul]

1 minute ago, JustaPor said:

I understand that, as a parent, you want the best for your daughter.
After seeing this topic I researched a bit and the most common opinion is to not lower your bike.

The solution for the lack of confidence is : Practice, practice, practice.
As motojitsu says : 

 

Easy to say not so easy to do in practice where I live and wasn't really the question I asked. 

The seat was part of customising the bike to her, I am going with lower shocks to get the balls of her feet into play, which can be reversed when she has built her confidence through practice.    I may do the forks but we shall see.  At the end of the day you can find videos to back every opinion but I know my daughter and will do what I think is best for her.    

[Catteeclan]

5 hours ago, Buckster said:

What are you on about? Most conventional forks use preload spacers.

Yes they do. My point is to let her feel comfortable getting a full foot down when things go wrong. Dropping the forks through would be much better after lowering the rear but the upper clamp doesn't allow that and I doubt she'll feel the difference removing some preload. Not yet anyway.

[Buckster]

12 hours ago, Catteeclan said:

Yes they do. My point is to let her feel comfortable getting a full foot down when things go wrong. Dropping the forks through would be much better after lowering the rear but the upper clamp doesn't allow that and I doubt she'll feel the difference removing some preload. Not yet anyway.

Well I said it might be desirable, you don’t read well do you? It may be that currently the forks are too stiff, reducing preload would soften them and allow a little more sag. On the other hand you don’t want them too soft as you are not doing anything to the rebound springs and there is only rudimentary damping so there could be an issue with oscillation being introduced. Personally I would buy a second set of forks and shorten them but I can do that.

[Catteeclan]

4 hours ago, Buckster said:

Well I said it might be desirable, you don’t read well do you? 

No I don't.

[Pedro]

Nothing worse than soggy lasagna!

[Buckster]

1 hour ago, Marcel le Moose Fondler said:

Just make sure you don't take away to much preload from the rear....I remember some years ago when messing on my dr 650 ..trying to make ride smoother....I took to much preload off...and that thing would wobble like a wet lasagna...scary has fuck...

That's because you are fat.

[Pedro]

@Saul, consider this: if you lower spring compression on the forks, you might be eating soggy lasagna forever. I don’t know if it’s worth it!