For those of you who are "vertically challenged" riders like me, who happen to own a pair of legs as long as the roaming gnome. Climbing onto your bike can be a feat of excellence that requires a running start and a step ladder. Coming to a stop is always a treat… for those watching. There is the Yamalink from ML2. The Yamalink is a replacement relay arm that provides a different pivot point and leverage ratio to lower the seat height of your bike by 1.75 inches.

The product finish is immaculate, machined from billet aluminum and anodized blue. Not only does it work well it looks really trick. It comes with bearings installed, making installation on the bike a breeze. Two zerk fittings make re-greasing the bearings a snap. Installation is easy and takes about 5 minutes, we recommend you have a friend help you.

Once installed you have to reset the sag. The increased leverage makes the rear squat with the original setting and your tire will be hitting the fender with minimal effort. We had to tighten the preload spring about an inch and a half to get it right. You also have to raise the fork tubes in the triple clamp. ML2 recommend starting at 6mm which worked fine on our YZ450F. ML2 also suggests you go in 1/8th turn on the high speed compression and one click in on the rebound. Once we had the bike set up properly we took it to the track for a ride.

The difference was instantly noticeable. Rrear shock settings on the 450 were stock on high speed compression, 10 clicks out on compression, and 8 out on rebound. With these settings the rear felt loose and soft. After a couple laps and scrapes on the inside of the rear fender, we turned the compression adjuster in 3 clicks. This made an improvement but we still felt the rear was a little soft so we dialed in 3 more clicks and found that worked well. With the rear feeling more the way we wanted, turned our attention to the front a more balanced feel. Four clicks softer on compression and the bike came together.

The Yamalink does take a while to set up and get used to. Besides making the rear feel really soft, the different geometry of the link makes the rear react a fraction of a second slower and it does take several laps to start feeling normal. In the end the link works very well, the rear feels amazing, it tracks well and the "ricochet" rear wheel is gone, you can go wide open in places where you want to just "coast" to absorb the bumps and cornering is a dream. For all of you out there with short legs, the addition of better traction and lower seat height will make the money spent feel like a distant memory.

Retail: $225.00 get your at www.yamalink.com