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Anyone use a fork brace?

5K views 20 replies 14 participants last post by  Oldguy 
#1 ·
#4 ·
"a waste of money" is pretty subjective. If your bike wobbles around while turning etc,or you like the look of a chunk of billet spanning your forks,then it could be of benefit. The factory brace is a curved chunk of 1/4" steel,bolted on to 4 solid lugs and covered by a nicely painted fender.You can`t get a much stronger combo than that. The "other" braces I`ve looked at just pinch the tops of the lower fork legs together. I`ll guess they don`t pull the legs together,by design. If you don`t run a fender,like me,it could help with flexing,if there was any,which I`ll guess,again, is minimal to non existent. The fork legs are strong,the tubes are strong,there is only 6" of exposed fork tube that is not clamped inside two or more pieces of steel or aluminum over its length. I don`t have a brace of any kind. My tubes are slid up an inch inside the trees,so only 5" of tube is exposed to "flex".Try bending a garage sale garden shovel with only 6" of the handle between your hands. Thats just cheap old wood,not modern metal manufacture. Its really up to you weather you need a brace,but I think your bike is plenty satisfied with its hidden stiffy.
 
#6 ·
Yeah, I don't suffer any issues with the forks, just wanted to hear if anyone used 'em and the benefit if any.

I went out and looked at the stock brace on mine and it's actually a 1/8" thick steel plate bolted in four places, two on each fork.

It appears that maybe this is one aftermarket part that they use a lot of hyperbole to sell.:D
 
#10 ·
Your forks are a lot flexier than you think. A brace keeps the fork legs parallel and the bike will steer more precisely. The stock brace does look pretty beefy , but if you remove it one of those after market braces would be a good idea. When you install an aftermarket brace you leave it a little loose and bounce the forks through their travel , then you tighten them . That way they don't bind.
 
#11 ·
Unless properly machined and installed I have seen more wear and issues using a fork brace then leaving it stock. They tend to wear out fork bushings if not installed correctly as they bow the fork tubes and side load the bushings. Most that say (Not all) that they feel it tightened up the front end are feeling the stiction that is caused by the incorrect install of the brace. Not that a KLR650 is on this forum but I just did a set of forks for one and he was running a brace and I had never seen such badly worn bushings from a set of forks and yes the fork tubes were straight as well as the triple tree.

Terry
 
#12 ·
Hmmm... seems impossible for me to post any opinions on this board without seeming totally self-serving, but has that ever stopped me before? :grin2:

The stock fender brace is better than nothing, but --- IMHO --- not nearly as strong as a proper billet brace. As for proper, I've settled on Norman Hyde & Superbrace.

You see, the loop style stock fender mount, strong as it it, is weakest with lateral (side) loading. Or in other words, as the tire/wheel twists in such a way that the top moves left and the bottom moves right (under hard left hand cornering in this example), so does the stock brace because it's "rolling" the sheet metal. A proper brace will triangulate the two lower fork legs so they move as one piece.

I agree with duc96cr in that the stock Triumph fork tubes are very flimsy. To specifically address these issues, I use custom made thicker-wall DOM 41mm fork tubes.

/M
 
#16 ·
........You see, the loop style stock fender mount, strong as it it, is weakest with lateral (side) loading. Or in other words, as the tire/wheel twists in such a way that the top moves left and the bottom moves right (under hard left hand cornering in this example), so does the stock brace because it's "rolling" the sheet metal. A proper brace will triangulate the two lower fork legs so they move as one piece......../M
Hi Retro R,

Sorry, but I don't think this is a sheet metal item, but is in fact a casting. It is a very precise piece of design, with very little free play at any point, it is certainly not, nor do I believe it was designed as, a simple mount for the front mudguard.

Having bought another bracket brand new to convert into a 'brace' I was surprised to see that the two had identical flaws in exactly the same places which would point to a castings.

Boy R.......
 
#13 ·
Flexy [ yes it's a word ] forks are a thing of the 70's. Modern bikes all have large enough diameter tubes to eliminate flex under all but extreme conditions. Can't hurt but not necessary any more. - just my 2 cents.
 
#14 ·
Flexy [ yes it's a word ] forks are a thing of the 70's.
Ever ridden a Harley? My friend's current model Dyna's flexy forks terrified me when we swapped bikes briefly. The stock forks on our bikes are better but they are far from being sport bike solid. If you just like to putter around this won't matter.

Compared to the difference good tires and modest suspension upgrades make on our bikes, a fork brace is a minor improvement that costs almost $300, so bang for the buck ratio is not great. However I wonder how many people who say the bike is fine stock and fork braces are a complete waste of money have actually ridden this bike back to back before and after installing an aftermarket brace.

I have a Superbrace and I like the added stability in top gear sweepers.
 
#15 ·
The only Harley have ever ridden was a 1983 XR1000. Fork flex was the least of it's problems.

So I stand corrected. I guess in my mind I was only thinking of modern decent engineered bikes. Like I stated, "it can't hurt". Stronger is always better.
 
#19 ·
My experience may differ from others. Bought an expensive Super Brace about 5 years ago. Other than a fork seal leak a few weeks after installation, it made no difference and I sold it for half price on our Parts Forum. It did look good, but I was glad to get rid of it. A Hyde steering damper made a huge positive difference, however, and is still on my bike.
 
#20 ·
My experience may differ from others..... A Hyde steering damper made a huge positive difference...........
That's very interesting; was this over all speeds? I have just added a steering damper and found it changed/improved the front of my bike in quite a big way and I'm not referring to top end speed, it just generally felt better all round, as you say more positive.
 
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