Moto Man

Noob friendly EZ bolt on

Truckinduc

Hotbrakes

Sounds like you need to check your rotors for warping/bends. I discovered my left rotor was bent, I'd like to think it was from heat at the track, but the likely culprit was a rushed tire change that may have pushed on it while breaking the bead. If the rotors are straight it could be uneven wear on the tire, wheel or head bearings gone bad, or something as simple as some oil on the rotor (leaky fork seals will do this).

I'm interested as well. Any plans for painting/powdercoating some black? For a fee of course...

Truckinduc

powdercoat is included in the price. Same gloss red, blue, yellow and matte black as the cct's.

Also can be clearcoated over the bare aluminum.

Thinking of also polishing a few for a little extra.

Stevebis1

Shot over to the Superbrace website. What are "fork protectors"?

Erik S.

If you look at the Superbrace, you'll see 2 screw holes on both sides. Now imagine those "Fork Protectors" standing up and screwed into the holes.

They are to protect the finish on the forks themselves, so that they don't get hit with rocks or objects that mar them, and then the seal would seal correctly.

Truckinduc

Im thinking of having my fork brace use the stock fork protectors.

Unlike superbrace where you have to buy theres separate.

nath981

i don't want to get into a pissing contest here. If the brace provides a positive noticeable diff relative to quick transitions, it will be worthwhile just for that. However, according to your opinion, my shuddering issue will remain, so I still need to resolve the shuddering problem. I guess I'll buy some ebc's and see what that does.

thanks Nathan

cliby

i was reading this thread and though I read both interpretations of why a brace is supposed to work, I'm still not understanding how it works. I guess it basically functions by splitting the distance from lower triple to axle and thus reducing length of tube susceptible to twisting? But once leaned over how much flex is needed/desired and does it actually hurt in that setting?

nath981

[QUOTE=Hotbrakes;209146]Sounds like you need to check your rotors for warping/bends. I discovered my left rotor was bent, I'd like to think it was from heat at the track, but the likely culprit was a rushed tire change that may have pushed on it while breaking the bead. If the rotors are straight it could be uneven wear on the tire, wheel or head bearings gone bad, or something as simple as some oil on the rotor (leaky fork seals will do this).

thanks for all the ideas. I have checked all but the bearings which I recently repacked. hopefully this is the culprit.

thanks, nathan

bigpat123

sign me up im interested.

superdutyd

There is a graphic on the superbrace website that shows what purpose it serves. I work in a manufacturing facility so i was thinking about making my own, but it seems kind of gimicky. Although these fork brace things are factory items on quite afew bikes, mainly touring bikes i believe.

Truckinduc

The reason I like them is It makes steering input ALOT more sensitive - precise.

Not the reason that is animated on their website. Yes it wil make them more rigid in every aspect.

Again, stand in front of your bike with your legs clamping the front wheel. Try to turn the handlebars. You will feel alot of play, side to side motion.

The brace cuts down on alot of that, making the bike much more precise and giving the rider ALOT more feedback.

superdutyd

I like your design, looks better than the superbrace design. You might want to sell a version without the cutouts for people who don't care about looks, maybe like a standard and a ultralight version. I'd rather have the extra material for strength. I assume the first one will be for yourself and your bike will be the test mule. I gotta says it's impressive to see someone say they are going to do something, then they actually do it. Looks like this could turn into a nice business before long, especially if you are targeting other bike models.

trinc

the little animation file they have posted does make it seem that way ( gimicky ). we had a group buy a while back so i decided to try it...
what i really liked was the improved feel of the front tire. pushing hard the front always felt a little vague and the bike would wallow on an imperfect surface. the bike still doesn't rail like an SS bike but with the brace it tracks WAY better & the improved feel also builds your confidence. well worth the hundred clams imo.

tim

motojoe

I would like to see it with a brushed or polished look and the fork protectors on.

kwad9

If you succed to keep the stock fork protectors and the desing of your mockup, I will be VERY interested ! maybe one of your fork brace will go to France

VTRDenmark

I'm interested too - Let's get one to Denmark as well

mikstr

I had a SRC fork brace on my VTR (before switching over to a 900RR front end) and it definitely helps the front end. Post-brace, the front feels much more solid and more responsive, a great add-on.

Little_Horse

I would be interested as well, I like the way it looks too. Way to go truc. I think the cutouts should stay.

RCVTR

Sorry Nate if I got a bit pissy.

I think your brake problem is unrelated. I think the first things I'd try for that are just what Hotbrakes said, followed by a return to factory brake pads.

I don't believe the animation on the Superbrace site. Compressing the forks should not cause a lot of deflection of the stanchions. Maybe on a dirt bike. What it does on a street bike is prevent a scissoring action of the stanchions.

Where I really noticed the difference was in the twisties, where you are transitioning from one corner to the next. The only way I can describe it is a more precise, planted feel from the front end. It just felt more sharp. And the difference was quite dramatic.

Truck, I hope you are planning to use precision manufacturing methods i.e. a mill and boring equipment. The holes need to be precise and accurately spaced to prevent binding of the fork action.

Truckinduc

water jet. Precise tolerances, maybe even the zero tolerance machine.

lrrs195

I had the same shuddering problem after I did the gixxer 1k caliper and mc swap. I bought mikstr`s SRC brace and that solved my shuddering problem plus made the front end feel more solid. The brakes,forkbrace,Greg`s fork mods,and a Penske shock have transformed my hawk from a mushy,flexing, sometimes scary handling bike to a very planted and confidence inspiring bike.

RCVTR

I would highly recommend roughing the bores on the water jet and finishing with a boring head. For all of the other contouring, a water jet is the ticket. The will be other 2nd op machining to be done on a mill, as well (clamp bolt holes, etc.).

Moto Man

+1

I like the solid look myself anyhow.

superdutyd

I would tend to agree. I believe the waterjet will also give you a taper effect on the edges. Although, I believe during installation you would loosen the axle pinch bolts so the tubes can move when you clamp down the fork brace, so that should compensate for any misalignment, I think.

swordfish

I'll take one. let me know when they are ready.

nath981

[QUOTE=RCVTR;209266]Sorry Nate if I got a bit pissy.

I think your brake problem is unrelated. I think the first things I'd try for that are just what Hotbrakes said, followed by a return to factory brake pads.

I don't believe the animation on the Superbrace site. Compressing the forks should not cause a lot of deflection of the stanchions. Maybe on a dirt bike. What it does on a street bike is prevent a scissoring action of the stanchions.

Where I really noticed the difference was in the twisties, where you are transitioning from one corner to the next. The only way I can describe it is a more precise, planted feel from the front end. It just felt more sharp. And the difference was quite dramatic.
QUOTE]



no problemos RC! I think I threw the original brakes away?? but i think I'll pull the pads and take a look, maybe sand them a bit, and check the triple clamp bearings, and see what we find. If the forkbrace does what you say, it'll be an amazing upgrade.

Tweety

Actually in terms of flex sideways in the fork, you really don't want any at all... If the fork flexes the two legs become uneven in length and binds at the fork seal...

Same thing happens when they flex in a twisting motion, it affects the free movement of the inner vs outer fork tube... And again the same when they "bulge" out at the sides...

Plus the obvious... If the wheel isn't following the handlebars 100% it feels damned funny...

I believe the reason they are usually stock on newer ish bikes with conventional forks is that the USD forks doesn't have the same weakness... Here the triples and outer tube forms a rigid frame and the weaker inner tube moves very slightly with the wheel and axle...

On a conventional fork the rigid frame is made up of the weaker inner tube, and then the more rigid outer tube is only aligned by the wheel axle, end result is that all possible bending takes place at the seam, as the lower leg in itself wont flex... And that is what causes the problem... not the flex in itself...

I'm no expert... but that's how I understood all this from my research before doing my front swap... Anyone more knowledgeable please step in and correct me if necessary... I just though it would be a good idea to collect all the explanation in one go...

Tweety

[quote=nath981;209302]Actually there is one more thing that might be a good idea to try... I had the shuddering problem... and after trying all to no avail I found it was a spot on my rotors where my hot pads had changed the surface after being really hot and cooling down rapidly...

That was solved by going over the surface of those rotors with a very fine sandpaper... All of the surface... So since then when I come across that problem my first attempt before doing the whole warped disc thingie is to go over the surface on the discs and pads and scrub it real good... and it actually solves a surprising amount of those problems...