Ride Engineering YZ450F Lowering Link Review - Dirt Rider Magazine

I like a bike that turns on the front wheel the way the latest-generation YZ450F handles. And lowering the back of a bike is not usually the first path I choose in adjusting the ride height of my bike. But one thing I have learned is that if I want improved stability without losing much in the turning, there is a smart way to do it--use a lowering link. That way, I can run my shock preload stiffer and keep the bike turning where I want it, but the bike rides a little lower in the back making it more stable overall.

The Ride Engineering link is bolt-on ready, assembled with bearings and seals, and it takes all of about 10 minutes to swap links. This drops the back of the YZ-F about 10mm, and we didn't even readjust the sag. Our sag was still 100mm (Ride Engineering recommends 102-110, which we tried but found was too low even with the stock link, for us), but the back of the bike became a little lower. On the track you could easily feel the difference, mostly in that the front end was staying straight a lot easier on the choppy straights. It felt like the bike was hooking up just a little better and nothing much happened to the turning; for sure it didn't get lazy, like if we had dropped the sag down to achieve the same feeling. This also keeps the bike planted-feeling and not wallowy. Our pickiest riders did feel it took just a little more effort in the bar to start the turn. The change is subtle but effective. It was like a suspension revalve in a lot of ways, but we really like the stock setup of the YZ-F to begin with. The Star Racing and Motoconcepts Yamaha race teams run this link and so can you for $224.59. - Jimmy Lewis