Fork travel ST1100

Does 5.9 inches sound right? That's what's in the service manual if I'm reading it right, but not sure of units of measure.
I installed a LED light right under my headlight. About three inches between it's mounting bracket and the fender. Will I have exploding plastic if I hit a big bump?

I have the forks for RCB's ST1100 apart right now, just finishing fork seal, bushings, & progressive spring replacement. From full extended to full bottom of the stroke I get 5.5 inches. This is with the springs still out & no oil in them yet. I dont think with them all put together that they would cover the full stroke even when full on the front brakes.

best not to compromise the fork travel area mate if you say u only have 3 inch clearance on a 5.5 inch travel id avoid potholes andlarge bumps under braking as you run a real risk of compromised steering and possible off , relocate the light is what id advise i did somthing like this years ago with a spotlamp and nearly killed myself

I'd relocate that light as well.

You might have someone steady the bike while you bounce the front wheel in the garage...

DeanR said:

Does 5.9 inches sound right? That's what's in the service manual if I'm reading it right, but not sure of units of measure.
I installed a LED light right under my headlight. About three inches between it's mounting bracket and the fender. Will I have exploding plastic if I hit a big bump?

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Place the bike on the centerstand and weight the rear enough for it to rock back on the rear wheel. With the front forks fully extended do you have 5.5 or 5.9 inches (whatever the full travel is) clearance between the fender and the new light?

sofawizard said:

...relocate the light is what id advise i did somthing like this years ago with a spotlamp and nearly killed myself

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+1 on that...

IIRC was there a report on the old STOC email list about such an incident, during which the aux light hitting the fender actually flattened the steel brake line there, over which the caliper couldn't release...

Deanr I have been running lights like this for about 25000 miles with out issue. Not sure how you went about mounting the light you have any pics?

ST1100Y said:

+1 on that...

IIRC was there a report on the old STOC email list about such an incident, during which the aux light hitting the fender actually flattened the steel brake line there, over which the caliper couldn't release...

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That was a fork brace, Martin.

John

I have to agree, I would relocate the light too!

Here's some pictures. Previous Electrical Connections 55 W lights. Those are off for the time being and I mounted the single ADV light off center in place of one of them. Fit fine there but looked goofy. So I centered it and this is where the fender clearance comes into play.

I would maybe flip the mount upside down and have it ride just under the light. I think it would hit the fender in it's current location.

John OoSTerhuis said:

That was a fork brace, Martin.

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So the fork brace got knocked onto the line due the aux lights under the headlight??
I only recall '...braking into a pot hole...', but don't remember the equipment on the bike...

I've gotten myself a little DVR with a (OK, larger) lipstic cam and also first intended to place a holder on the black tirangle under the headlight, but my mech waved hectically to not proceed with that over the risk to smack it into the fender when hitting a pothole or such...
That cam + bracked is like 2" in height, but already that made my mech very nervous...

And... as I just researched in my picture archives, he is right!!

Enclosed a pic (crappy cell cam) from my brake training during a motorcycle safety course... full dec from ~80kph/50mph, no pillion, no luggage...

...methinks you'd barely get a finger in there...

No aux lights involved, Martin. The aftermarket Superbrace fork brace mounts on top of the fender between the tops of the fork sliders. At full compression (pothole, fork bottoming) the top surface of the Superbrace crushed the front brake hose routing clamp on the bottom of the triple tree which collapsed the OEM rubber hose. When the front brake was applied after the pothole, fluid could be forced past the crush point, but not return when the brake lever was released.

John

John OoSTerhuis said:

The aftermarket Superbrace fork brace mounts on top of the fender between the tops of the fork sliders. At full compression (pothole, fork bottoming) the top surface of the Superbrace crushed the front brake hose routing clamp on the bottom of the triple tree which collapsed the OEM rubber hose.

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Yep, now it comes back to me John...
The reason I never installed a fork brace on my mounts (there is one in the fender anyway and I check its bolts regulary...)

So if already a fork brace can get impacted there, what will aux lights do...

Seems that the only safe place to consider is below the rearviews.

Trekker Dave said:

Hey.... put it on your trailer and use a ratchet strap to crank it down.... carefully. That should show you if that is an interference or not.

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Where would be the best place to attach the rachet strap? I've given up on the idea of lowering the forks internally and would like to see if I can raise the forks any more than 3/4 inch. An extra 1/4 inch would help.

jspringator said:

Where would be the best place to attach the rachet strap? I've given up on the idea of lowering the forks internally and would like to see if I can raise the forks any more than 3/4 inch. An extra 1/4 inch would help.

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If you look at the clean/dirty pattern on your forks it should be fairly obvious how much travel the bike is using normally. You can measure that from the top of the wiper to the end of the clean zone. Then measure up from the high point on the fender between the legs and you should be able to work out how much clearance from hard parts you currently have, as long as that is greater than the fork travel then you should be golden.

Thanks!

You can use a TR around the fork tube and hit the brakes hard or a speed bump at speed. Then measure from the top of the fork leg to the new position of the TR. That should give you maximum fork travel and fender position.

TR? What is that?

Ty-Rap.