Fork Brace - Best 30 minute suspension mod ever

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Re: Fork Brace>>>>Best 30 minute suspension mod ever.

I rode it from 10 am - 4:30 pm today, noticed it wasn't fidgeting & wandering around the lane like it was. It was keeping the line now . But our Michigan roads are so tore up after that last winter that the ride was only smooth on very little of it. I could body jerk-shift it around to miss the thousands of patches of bad road surface & holes .
I see you are the same age , bike and almost same mileage as I am , (but probably have smoother roads !)
 
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CruSTy

CruSTy

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Re: Fork Brace>>>>Best 30 minute suspension mod ever.

I rode it from 10 am - 4:30 pm today, noticed it wasn't fidgeting & wandering around the lane like it was. It was keeping the line now . But our Michigan roads are so tore up after that last winter that the ride was only smooth on very little of it. I could body jerk-shift it around to miss the thousands of patches of bad road surface & holes .
I see you are the same age , bike and almost same mileage as I am , (but probably have smoother roads !)
I suspect roads all across the country are generally not getting any smoother. Seems like the powers that be are reducing funds for maintaining our infrastructure so they have money to spend on other pet projects. That said in the KC area we have the freeze and thaw cycles that are hard on roads as well. I did seem though that the roads (mostly 2 lane) in northern Arkansas were relatively smooth and enjoyable to ride on. Lots of challenging hills with turns where cresting the hill makes you wonder if there is a road beyond and if it turns or goes straight.
 
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Re: Fork Brace>>>>Best 30 minute suspension mod ever.

Went to WVSTOC last Sept. in Moorefield W.V. About 95% of their roads , everywhere , were perfect , smooth ribbons of pavement , all hilly & curvy . I think I was only on 2 short stretches that were the condition of an average condition " good Michigan road " . I was envious of their roads. And they ride about 20 mph faster on them because they don't have sand , gravel , leaves , cracks , holes , heaves , tar snakes , etc. on most of the curves like here .
They can put people on the moon but can't come up with a reliable road surface for northern states ? Anybody that comes up with reliable pavement would be a world hero !
 
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Re: Fork Brace>>>>Best 30 minute suspension mod ever.

I have been reading this with interest. At first I thought that it might just be interesting reading because of the different view points but it appears that several of you have brought the conversation back to exploring the use of the brace as a real possibility for the 13. KUDOS for that.

I have only installed a brace on a GL1800 for someone who brought his bike to me because he said it road terrible. I took it out and had to agree with him. I checked out the front wheel bearings and they were bad and that was the main reason it was driving so bad. He had already bought the brace for the forks so I added it to the bike and when I took it out I was amazed how much different the bike handled. I road up to my garage and did a series of lock to lock figure 8's in my driveway that I can tell you was not possible before. I suspected the brace had something to do with it and believed that the bearings was the most important piece of the good results. I do believe that the Gold Wing benefits more from the brace than the ST13.
Here is my understanding on how the brace works:
If you were to lock your front wheel in a wheel stand/wheel chock that can't move, and then grab the handle bars you could get some movement/flexing in the forks. In the real world of riding that translates to the wheel being able to flex the forks slightly under the stress of following a rut or entering a corner. In theory the brace will help reduce that flex. There is more to it than that but for me it is a simple visual.
It would be good to have a gathering of riders who wouldn't mind riding each others bikes for a weekend with and without the brace.

Note: If I had changed one thing at a time and road the Wing between changes that I made THEN I may have a better understanding of how well the brace works. I did ride that Wing some years before and had some idea of how it handled before the wheel bearings went away.
 
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Re: Fork Brace>>>>Best 30 minute suspension mod ever.

I'm pretty sure the reason my '91 GoldWing still tracks well after 23 years , despite these Mich. roads it has been on since '95 , is that I inject moly grease into the bearings at every tire change , with one of those NAPA grease injectors -( needle on a zerk grease fitting.)
A lot of sealed bearings wear fast because they only have a minimal amount of grease from the manufacturer/supplier, and you don't know what's in them because you can't see in them. I just assume they need to get packed with good moly grease and so I do it , carefully. The same issue with CV joints on axles , but that is a different forum.
 
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T_C

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Re: Fork Brace>>>>Best 30 minute suspension mod ever.

is that I inject moly grease into the bearings at every tire change , with one of those NAPA grease injectors -( needle on a zerk grease fitting.)
How/when so you clean the old out? Ever?
 
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Re: Fork Brace>>>>Best 30 minute suspension mod ever.

You can't get it out with out removing the seal which you may never get back in again properly , especially if they are bonded to the outer race, the idea is to make sure bearing is chock full of grease so wear doesn't happen because of low amount of grease - when that happens you have junk bearings , too late ! It's not like the wheel bearings in the old days where you remove the balls and races, soak the grease out and you can re-pack the whole deal with completely all new grease. But back then you didn't have the moly , synthetic grease that is so much better now. You just have to make sure the grease is actuallly there , and you'll get the full life of a hardened steel bearing.
 
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ST Gui

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Re: Fork Brace>>>>Best 30 minute suspension mod ever.

In another thread regarding wobble and weave there was a video that mentioned the fork tubes moving up and down separately. :22yikes: I didn't zoom in to confirm that. These were older bikes so this might not be a problem at all with newer ones. A fork brace would help tie that up though.

Over the years I've turned the handlebars of my bikes back and forth quickly and felt the forks getting torqued. Even if the ST's forks were tighter than a snare drum the rubber mounted handlebars would probably make them feel a little loose.
 
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Re: Fork Brace>>>>Best 30 minute suspension mod ever.

In another thread regarding wobble and weave there was a video that mentioned the fork tubes moving up and down separately. :22yikes: I didn't zoom in to confirm that. These were older bikes so this might not be a problem at all with newer ones. A fork brace would help tie that up though.

Over the years I've turned the handlebars of my bikes back and forth quickly and felt the forks getting torqued. Even if the ST's forks were tighter than a snare drum the rubber mounted handlebars would probably make them feel a little loose.
Do you have a link to that thread? It would be interesting to see that video. The rubber mounted bars don't seem to affect the issue I was having since the brace was the only mod I installed at the time and it fixed the problem. I liked my ST before but absolutely love it now. Getting better with each mod I install. Delkevics made it sound better and Sonic springs going in soon to reduce the front end dive.
 

omniron

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Re: Fork Brace>>>>Best 30 minute suspension mod ever.

I experienced the same thing. The ST responds well to this farkle. It took the handling of my ST1300 to a new level. It was much more confident in the corners.
 

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CruSTy

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Outbackwack

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Re: Fork Brace>>>>Best 30 minute suspension mod ever.

My 2008 ST1300A has what I'd call a light front end. It has always wallowed going into bumpy turns and is less than confidence inspiring on anything other than smooth roads. I'd say it follows bumps more than absorbs them if anything and is hard to keep on track big time in bumpy turns. I've always wondered if something wasn't right inside those forks and whether a rebuild with Sonic would help. My calculation came out to 1.2's (185# rider plus 730# bike plus tank bag). That doesn't take into account the extra 40# of crap inside the bags I'm always hauling around (tools, etc.) too. I've often though whether a fork brace would help or whether there's something else going on.
 
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Re: Fork Brace>>>>Best 30 minute suspension mod ever.

So after installing it did you loosen the rt. side axle pinch bolts, compress the front end several times, and re tighten?
 
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Re: Fork Brace>>>>Best 30 minute suspension mod ever.

As I recall I loosened the left side (sitting on the bike facing forward) pinch bolts before I torqued the Fork Brace down then re-torqued the pinch bolts. The instructions don't mention doing that but the brace seemed a little snug and did not fall into place (i didn't want to force it) until i loosened the pinch bolts. I'm still pleased as can be with the installation and improved handling.
So after installing it did you loosen the rt. side axle pinch bolts, compress the front end several times, and re tighten?
 
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Re: Fork Brace>>>>Best 30 minute suspension mod ever.

Very nice looking farkle. Looks like it would be just as effective as the MCL version.
If i have this correct, the original MCL was basically a copy of the SB, but eventually MCL changed to a 3-piece design.
 
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Re: Fork Brace>>>>Best 30 minute suspension mod ever.

As I recall I loosened the left side (sitting on the bike facing forward) pinch bolts before I torqued the Fork Brace down then re-torqued the pinch bolts. The instructions don't mention doing that but the brace seemed a little snug and did not fall into place (i didn't want to force it) until i loosened the pinch bolts. I'm still pleased as can be with the installation and improved handling.
That's my problem with fork braces. The fork brace needs to be adjustable. IT needs to adjust to the forks not the other way. You now have stiction due to the force of pulling or pushing between the forks.
 
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