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Re: [St] Fork Stabiliser?



As the group has well pointed out, fork braces have their place.  Most modern bikes do have some sort of brace, usually hidden under the front fender.  Given the advancement of suspension technology whereby some of today's stock forks would have been other-worldly 20 years ago, it is likely that adding one to a modern sport bike would just be adding a bit of bling...

Hey Brian, I too owned an '81 RD350LC for about 10 years.  I have fond memories of it and it's willingness to wheelie.  Probably could have used a fork brace on that one...

An RZ500....  tasty!

Pete
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Brian Pitman 
  To: ST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
  Sent: Tuesday, August 05, 2008 7:54 AM
  Subject: Re: [St] Fork Stabiliser?


  Hi everyone,

  I can certainly respond to Pete's comment.
  Many moons ago, I owned a lovely red '82 Yamaha XJ650 Seca (YICS - Canadian model only). Apart from having the best ergonomics of any motorcycle I have ever ridden (Isn't selective memory a wonderful thang?!?!), it had a rather flaccid fork so one summer I added stiffer fork springs, heavier fork oil and a really nice fork brace. 

  Because I did all the updates at once I cannot speak to the instrumentality of each mod, however, I am certain that the fork brace made a HUGE difference in improving the stability of the front suspension for even "just" the street.

  Being that front forks have been around for several decades (unfortunately, says the guy who owns a GTS1000 which has a front swingarm courtesy of American engineer James Parker) and have been highly refined so that most (but not all) new front forks do not exhibit the same level of incompetence as older motorcycle designs.

  Having read all the other comments posted, I generally agree with the nuggets of wisdom offered. Yes, USD forks are "upside down" to improve the rigidity (what a great word on a motorcycle list...) of the fork stanchions and to reduce the unsprung weight.

  Lastly, someone asked what the difference is between a fork brace and a steering damper. In addition to modding the Seca,I also road raced an '80 Yamaha RD350LC (another Cdn-only motorcycle; the original "liquid cooled" Yamaha two-stroke which predated the RZ350; I subsequently graduated directly to an RZ500 (yep, another bike imported into Canada only...)) which also had flexi-forks. It also had a fairly steep rake and would occasionally shake the handlebars which was rather distracting at 90 mph diving down the back straight at the local Nova Scotia racetrack (Shubenacadie). The steering damper eliminates these oscillations and keeps the front end from going into a tank slapper. 

  So, a fork brace and a steering damper can be complimentary, but do two distinctly different tasks.

  Cheers,

  Brian



  ----- Original Message ----

  I'm quite sure they only work with traditional forks and not the upside down forks.

  --Joel


  > I've never ridden a bike with and without the brace for comparison but my guess is that
  > the results are not very noticeable unless you're on the track.
  >
  > Pete
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