RC51 Front End Swap
 

Model year installed on 2002 VTR1000f

Fork legs SP-2 RC51
Lower triple clamp CBR954rr
Upper triple clamp CBR954rr
Superbike drag bar & risers (Thanks to Superbling's inspiration)
Steering stem bearings CBR954rr
Brake calipers SP-2 RC51
Brake rotors SP-1 RC51
Braided steel brake lines
Brake master cylinder stock for now
Front wheel SP-2 RC51 5 spokes
Front fender CBR954rr - red matches close enough

Installers Narrative
Steering stops from the CBR954rr lower triple have to be trimmed and if done right you can get steering locked.

Drilled the top triple to add Superbike bars on a drill press and came out nice...

The gull winged top top triple allow clipons above the triple, but I went with Superbars for now and have 2 lines showing on fork tubes above the triple and MCs both fit but tight.

Radiators needed to be repositioned to allow space for beefyer forks...installed 7mm spacers on front brackets to push rads out from frame and turned top conecting rad hose till it gave room for lower triple. You will get some hose pinch, but nothing that would cause problems even at steering lock...

I repositioned the horn on the steering stem and used the 954 horn cuz it's louder and sounds like a VW bus:)

1st impressions:
WOW:eek:
This is not the same bike! It wants to go fast all the time and the bumpy curves on my regular commute don't have bumps anymore:) There's so much more braking power I'll use 1 finger from now on and the forks have more adjustment (compression, Rebound, pre-load) then I'll ever need:p

This confirms my belief that there is enough room on the top of the gull wing triple to mount the TAG handlebar clamps, which really simplifies the bar mounting problem using that top triple. It won't satisfy the fussy guys who insist on using clip-ons, however. I'm not too sure about the drag bars, though. Is there any bend at all to that bar?
Now I see you have added another picture and there is a slight bend to the bar. I cut my superbike bend bar to the width of the stock clip-ons.

Yes, it has a slight bend, bot not much...I just drilled the two circles out that are already on the back of the triple:)

i want to drill my 954 triple and do the motocross bar thing. i see a problem if i did it your way though. how can a scotts damper fit into that picture?

also you said the gull wings allow for clip ons above the triple. thats if i slide my forks up right? don't they clamp onto the fork? so wouldn't the forks need to come up a bit in the clamps (and steepen the angle)?

Zerocool, easy there big guy:)

1st off you should consider why you currently have a steering damper and why you may not need it with superbike bars...

2nd depending on which fork tubes you are using and how you setup your rear shock there should be lots of extra fork tube to run up above the 954rr gull wing top triple...

The RC51 tubes are plenty long enough to run 954rr clip-on Heli bars above the triple cuz I've done it;)

Good luck bro!
RC

please elaborate on why i wont need the damper anymore.

You ever had head shake while pushing a wheelbarrow?

LOL:)

With the leverage of superbike bars you'll control head shake like you bought and paid for it;)
RC

i dont quite get the wheelbarrow analogy. they dont go fast enough to be an example of headshake. but i understand the leverage and angle of attack will be different. i have however experienced headshake on mx bikes. just checkin out my options and learning what i want to know. now that you mention it I hardly see any fighters with a stabilizer.

The wider the bars, the less likely to get headshake... and if you do it's a lot easier to control it... all because of leverage...

hmm. does anybody use the old base for their steering damper as mounting for dirty clamps? probably not. just asking

Geez, if I could do this swap I would.

Just do it:)

It's totally worth it and your bike will handle at a whole new level! However, if I were doing it again I'd use 954rr parts cuz they are more plentiful and thus cheaper;)

Good luck bro,
RC

Nice work... and nice bike :) :)

Thanks, one of these days I'll get around to updating my pics...RC

Nice job :) Those forks and calipers look especially sweet, he he

Vellly nice...

Somebody pass me a beer to wash down this dust:)

Kelevra, are you doing a swap?
RC

You say that you used sp1 rotors...why is that? What is the difference between those and the sp2 rotors?

sp1 and sp2 rotors are the same.....

+1, it's been a while since I bought them but as I recall the reason I got them is cuz they were cheap & straight used 320mm rotors...RC

Aside: hi Rick,

nice to see you on teh site. How is that Porsche project of your moving along. Last time I checked you had done a masterful job on that baby.....

It's getting very close! I'm waiting on a part to come in from the UK then I should be able to fire it up later this month:D

awesome, post some vids when you`re done!

Will do!

Hey FL02, what do you think you spent on the new forks (did you get it in peices?) and where did you get it?

I did a similar swap on one of my bikes & it wound up being $7-800ish. (cbr1000rr). But I spent all winter gathering.

I sold him the forks (had bought them with an eye to using them but eventually decided to go the CBR900RR route as it allowed me to retain the PVM magnesium front wheel I already owned and had mounted on the bike)....

I did a quick recall and the parts came to around $875.00 total. Bought most of the RC stuff off Speedzilla Forum and like Mickey said he started the ball rolling by selling me the fork legs and calipers:cool:

So from what i understand, theres a bracket for the calipers on the rc51 forks and the reason is the big 320 rotors? Also, any (f4i,954,1000nonradial900) calipers would fit that bracket and also the 320 discs? Im thinking of doing the rc51 fork swap and use the 954 triples bcz of the gullwing shape. So what wheel options do i have other than the rc51? Sorry for all the questions, i just wanna get answers without the endless replies to the thread

I think for my daily streetfighter I will go with the gsxr forks due to their being plentiful and much cheaper. I think it can be done for nearly half the price.

Not that my superbike hawk with the cbr1000 forks doesnt handle sweet.