Royal Enfield Interceptor 650 - YSS Fork Upgrade Kit (Part 1) - Disassembly

This video is about my Royal Enfield Interceptor 650. In this video I am preparing to install the YSS Fork Upgrade Kit. This is part one of the install. In this video I will show you how to remove the front forks on the Interceptor 650. This is the first step to installing the YSS Fork Upgrade Kit. The kit adds an adjustable preload to the front suspension. The adjuster sticks out the top of the forks. So, if the handlebars on your Interceptor 650 are in the stock location, you will need to do one of two things before you can install this kit. You can raise the bars, or you can move them forward or backward. I used the S&S handlebar adjusters to move the bars on my Interceptor 650. They let you keep the bars at the stock height, but you can move them forward or backward in increments up to 1 inch. The YSS Fork Upgrade Kit is a great way to upgrade the front suspension on your Interceptor 650. I recently installed YSS coilovers to upgrade the rear suspension on my Interceptor 650. The YSS coilovers are fully adjustable. There is a threaded preload adjustment, a turn style rebound adjustment on the bottom, and a compression adjustment at top by the reservoir. The YSS shocks are made very well and they look great on my Interceptor 650. I can’t wait to see how the bike handles after upgrading the front and rear suspension. This video is also part of my Royal Enfield Interceptor 650 scrambler build. The bike should start to look more like a scrambler over the next few months. It’s going to take a while but eventually this bike will be a completely modified Royal Enfield Interceptor 650.

[@chrismurphy4724]

Great video, nice pace and well explained. Just a wee tip for you, I always find it easier to loosen the fork cap whilst the fork tube is held by the top triple clamp, and the same for tightening. That way you do not have to try to hold the fork tube with the fork off the bike. Hope this helps in future.

[@davewarren1336]

You took the words out of my mouth👍

[@frederickwoods5943]

Hey, it's your bud from Virginia. Saw this at about 2 am and will watch it in the morning. Briefly, I didn't do any of the drilling with the YSS front fork kit that is widely advised/discussed on Facebook. In my opinion the emulators do a fantastic job and if a rider wants different "rates" of compression and rebound; change the weight of the fork oil. Very satisfied with the kit in my 2020 INT650 and thanks again for another excellent video.

[@my-enfield612]

@Frederick Woods Hey bud, sorry for the late reply. Yeah, I won't be doing any drilling either. Can change the oil or the air gap. What measurement was your air gap or did you just put 430 ml per leg like the service manual says.

[@frederickwoods5943]

@@my-enfield612 I have "kitted" a 2012 Bonneville SE and then my 2020 INT650, on both of them I did as you mentioned; just adjusted the amount of fork oil as instructed. It made a difference on both and while we are on the topic, many people just put pre-load adjusters (only) or add a shim at the top; leaving all stock components below. Total waste of time and money. The YSS front fork kit is the single-most important and best all-around improvement to the Enfield 650s that I know of, it totally changed the bike's personality. Looking forward to Part 2 of your dissertation.

[@51jjm]

@@frederickwoods5943 I agree 100% with you. My GT 650 is my first motorcycle, so not a lot of experience, but I was amazed how much better the bike "feels" with this YSS front shock upgrade. Frederick: what about changing the stock tires on the bike? I'm hearing this is a must-do upgrade too? Do you have any advice on this topic? I keep hearing about Bridgestone 46's for our bikes. Thanks for any comment to my question.

[@frederickwoods5943]

@@51jjm in almost 30,000 miles on my INT650 I have run the stock size front and rear but switched to 110/90 on the front (helps to correct the odometer/speedometer) and a BT-45 140/70 on the back. It lasted 12,500 miles; two of the stock Pirelli Phantom SportComp lasted a total of 14,000 (7K-ish each). I am currently running a BT-46 150/70 on the rear. Because diameter increases with cross-sectional width, the 140 "gears up" by 2 percent and most 150's have a 4+ percent effect which puts 5th gear almost as high as 6th was with the stock 130/70. The 110/90 and 140/70 is the best combination. I have three 150/70's on rims: the BT-46, a Pirelli Phantom SportComp (radial, huge and same weight as the bias-ply 140/70) and a Continental Conti-Go that was part of the tire re-call. I have many years of tire-changing experience, most were tube-type when I began at a tire shop in April of 1969 so always do my own mounting and balancing. There are better tires than Bridgestone but not a necessity for the 47hp Enfield 650s on the street. Hope this answers some questions.

[@51jjm]

@@frederickwoods5943 Thanks so very much Frederick! Really really appreciate your detailed reply/advice. I'm gonna read your advice a couple more times, lol, so I can understand a bit better and then will probably have another question, or two about tires for our bikes. Like I wrote before, I have the GT 650 and I'm an older rider (61). Won't ride it too aggressive ( speed wise mostly I take it pretty easy, no rain riding, etc), but would like to get the safest, best handling, and of course "best looking" tires that go with our retro bikes. Thanks again for taking the time to respond so thoroughly to my first question. Cheers from John down in Greece!

[@davewarren1336]

Superb clear instructions 👍

[@frankherrera5826]

I was looking at the YSS set up on my INt650 as well but decided to play around with different grade fork oils on the stock set up and happy to say that 20 weight fork oil made a huge difference for the better and will hold off my purchase on the YSS for now till i get more long term miles on my front end.

[@richardwhittle2302]

As the other comments found this video very good - an excellent guide so far 👍

[@my-enfield612]

@Richard Whittle Thanks for the comment. I'm glad you find the video useful. I'll be done with next video soon. Thanks for watching

[@peteb2304]

Extremely nice quality demonstration. I'm working along with you, getting ready to go to Part 2! I'm differing a little by working on only one fork tube at a time, in order to preserve some orientation to the bike.

[@peteb2304]

UnmountIng one leg at a time turned out to be totally unnecessary.

[@my-enfield612]

@Pete B Thanks for the comment. I almost did it that way too. I though it would save time but it actually takes more time. As long as you get the measurement from the top of the fork to the yoke right when reinstalling, there's no need to do one side at a time. Just remove them both. Thanks again for the comment and thanks for watching.

[@kennethheldreich6604]

Brilliant and informative, your videos are very easy to follow, great job 🙂🇬🇧🏍👍

[@my-enfield612]

@Kenneth Heldreich Thanks for the comment. I'm glad you like the videos. I can't thank you enough. Thanks for watching

[@gavinjobson]

Great informative video, makes me confident to do this myself, looking forward to the whole job, cheers.

[@my-enfield612]

@gavinjobson Thanks for the comment. I'm glad you like the video. I'll have the next video out in a few days. My schedule is crazy right now. Thanks again for the comment and thanks for watching.

[@ijaxon6675]

I committed a rather zealous act of removing one of the two bolts from the lower triple completely before the other. The top bolt broke. Generally you stagger tightening the bolts to put them on. lIttle on one and then the other. I'd guess the extra torque applied to the single bolt from the lower triple clamp caused it to break. I'd recommend this staggering method to take loosen them too. Do not completely loosen one bolt. Note he didn't either, but he didn't mention it. The chances of the bolt breaking go up substantially. The OEM ones are not the best quality bolts. I'd recommend replacing those bolts with a grade 8 M8 1.25x30mm bolt. They are generally carbon black.

[@redtobertshateshandles]

Did the same thing. Definitely heat the bolt up with a torch first. They've overloaded the top bolt with strong thread locker which was totally unessesary. Here's where the cheap price comes back to bite you.

[@51jjm]

I just had this done by my mechanic (shame on me! lol) and I am very happy about the much better feel and handling the bike has now as compared to the stock set-up. I am curious what you will think once you ride with the upgrade. I have a GT 650. I am also patiently waiting for you to walk us thru the adjustments/set-up...I am a novice when it comes to suspension and dialing it in. Thanks again for your videos. I am learning a lot from you. Cheers from John in Greece!

[@my-enfield612]

@JJM51 Thanks for the comment. I'm glad to hear the handling is better on your bike with the upgrade kit. I hope to have a video out in a few days showing the setup and I'll give my thoughts on the upgrade overall. Thanks again for the comment and thanks for watching.

[@theradiantchild]

My flat head just slips when I try to push down and out to get the signal connections disconnected. Any suggestions?

[@theradiantchild]

Do you like the headlight? Which one is it?

[@andrejskulecz1300]

How much oil you get inside per one fork. Thnx

[@my-enfield612]

@Andrej Skulecz Thanks for the comment. The service manual says 430ml per leg. That's what I used. Thanks for watching.