Just out of curiosity, and jgnoring the engineering issues, has anyone any knowledge/experience of running an SS with Superbike yokes (and forks I guess, but that's not my immediate interest)? As the SBK yokes have 36mm offset (if I'm right), compared to the SS's 30, would the associated reduction in trail improve steering response?
As to whether the forks and yokes can be made to fit, I don't have a clue......... .......but if you mean a reduction in trail will reduce the wheelbase length, yes it will speed up the steering......... ........however depending how much the reduction is, it could make the bike very unstable at low speed or even midrange speed..........it only takes a tiny bit to alter things quite a lot........(even changing the front tyre from the 750ss OEM 60 profile to the 900ss OEM 70 profile on mine slowed the steering quite a lot) .........some of it could be overcome by dropping the forks through the yokes, thus raising the front of the bike, but how much is an unknown...........(In my case I had to drop the front end of the bike).
what is wrong with an ss's handling? i loved mine..(97 900) granted it didnt drop in like a 250 but it did so fast enough and was stable as fuck at speed.. mind you i aint no racer
Offset is the distance between the centre of the stem, and a line between the centres of the fork stanchions - more offset equals less trail.
I increased the offset by 4mm on my 907 when I put usd forks on it. Also dropped the yokes down the legs for sharper rake. Improved the handling, quickened the steering, still v stable. Superbike yokes will have 35mm stem. SS have 26mm so it gets a bit complicated swapping yokes. I had a SS top yoke bored out to 53mm no problem, used ie yoke cos its a bit thicker around leg holes.
Thanks 900 - very helpful info. My (idle) thought was that maybe SBK yokes would help by (a) being stronger and (b) speeding up the steering by a noticeable reduction in trail ( I've already dropped the forks through the yokes, but the change in geometry is very small). Engineering issues aren't too difficult - boring bottom yoke from 53 to 54 (want to keep my SS forks, as they've been reworked by Maxton), maybe shim the top yoke (53 to 50 - should be OK, as shimming is offered when fitting Ohlins). As the SBK stem unscrews, making a new one is no problem. Remaining issues are mounting ignition switch (billet yoke would likely allow drilling mounting holes), and sorting revised steering stops. My initial question was to try and ascertain if this had been done before, and if so, how successfully - wouldn't want to do the work then encounter massive instability! Your experience seems to indicate it might be a goer, although your overall reduction in trail would be less than my idea (less increase in offset and steeper rake). Need to think further!
