one thing i never hear talked about around here in this debate on USD swap vs. respring and re valve stock setup is about the triple clamps. specifically the lower triple.

Now although the front end on the right is from a VFR not a VTR, the triple clamp is almost identical to that of the superhawk as i posted a superhawks lower triple below. the front end on the left is an RC51.





The difference is VAST in the two triples. the VTR's stock triple for anything other than a trip to the supermarket, is worthless. Not to mention that the OEM RC51 forks were some of the best fitted stock to a production bike at that point in time IMO among other peoples. So your getting rigidity from the larger outside tube diameter not to mention the much beefier lower triple.

So then why not just upgrade the Stock triple? well im not any expert so thats definitely a possibility. but it seems like the stock forks might not hold up so well in a much more rigid clamp around the thinner part of the fork.

Before i did the RC swap i did alot of research regarding the front end and it seemed that if i had the forks valved and sprung for me, maybe a fork brace, new stem bearings, etc... to try and get optimal performance for me specifically, id spend almost as much as a complete swap.