Fork brace

[tomb raider]

Ok who uses them and are they worth the $$$

This is spendy
http://www.onestopmoto.com/SuperBrace_Fork_Stabilizer_p/sbsb-h19-ama2239.htm

[JordanA]

Well, the 1983-1985's came with one, although my first one broke (stress fractures on 3 corners!).  I replaced it and have had no issues.

[coffee_brake]

I think it makes all the difference in the world for cornering and front end feedback.
I put fork braces on every bike I own. The one on my NH is just amazing, since I rode one with, and one without, five minutes apart.

If you ride with any spirit at all and if you like to lean over even moderately, a fork brace will make a difference.

[cmyers]

what kind of difference did you see? quicker turn in, less chatter, what? I have debated adding one of these for a long time and just never could justify, but maybe that is because I dont know what I am missing

[coffee_brake]

The fork brace keeps a lot of flex out of the front end. You don't notice how much the fork legs are flexing until you brace them. You get more solid input at the bars. The steering input you give the bike is delivered to the front tire better because the energy is not lost in fork leg flex.

I would compare it to riding a bike all the time with the front tire very low on air. It would ride so sloppy and you would have to fight it in the turns, and the feel at the bars would be vague, but you wouldn't know the difference if you never rode with a full front tire.
When you finally filled the tire to the right pressure, your handling would just be phenomenally better and you would always keep the right air pressure from then on.

[Custom82Hawk]

true, but air is free, fork braces are not :)

[coffee_brake]

true, but air is free, fork braces are not :)

In that line of thought, then sell the bike and walk. Don't have to buy gasoline that way.


If you care about handling then the fork brace is an effective use of your "farkle" money. If you don't care about handling or you think your bike has no room for improvement in this area, then spend the money on chrome polish or...





...spend it on camping at Deal's Gap with all the Nighthawkers this May!

http://nighthawk-forums.com/index.php/topic,4155.0/highlight,gap.html

[tomb raider]

I wish I could make that trip to play with you all. Hey Coffee, can I try yours. I promiss to send it back this year    Could you post a close up picture or 2, I'm going to see if a buddy can fab one for me.

[coffee_brake]

Yeah, I will get some pics this week. Work is nuts right now, gimme a couple days.

I think my brace is a home-fab job, I've never seen one like it. It works great, though.

[tomb raider]

Thanks...

[LOKi]

Hey that looks like it could be cut out of some 12ga. Stainless. I'll wait to see how it is mounted before cutting one. I might even cut a few extra. 

[tomb raider]

LOKi, you have a plasma or water jet cutting machine ?? You make one like Coffee's and maybe I buy one from you..

[Custom82Hawk]

true, but air is free, fork braces are not :)

In that line of thought, then sell the bike and walk. Don't have to buy gasoline that way.


If you care about handling then the fork brace is an effective use of your "farkle" money. If you don't care about handling or you think your bike has no room for improvement in this area, then spend the money on chrome polish or...

awww come on, t'was just a lil joke :) lol and if somebody spends $145 on chrome polish, that had better be 1 super shiney bike :)

[cmyers]

Loki, I am with Tomb raider, you make one and I would be interested in a purchase. If it is in my budget.

[LOKi]

I can't sell them for profit. Against company policy. But I can give them away. So at most only charging for shipping. And yes we have a laser here at work. 

[cmyers]

Loki, I think that should be in my budget. Especially if you send it one of those US Post boxes advertised as "If it Fits it Ships."

[coffee_brake]

Here is my fork brace (NH has been pulling some heavy rain duty). It has no brand name on it and I have never seen another like it, so I think maybe it is a one-off.

Having ridden another '92 750 (the one I rebuilt) that had no fork brace, I can definately say that the improvement in handling with a brace is substantial. The handling and feel is just...tighter, more solid and sure.

[tomb raider]

Thanks Coffee, interesting how it's cupped over the fender.. You have braided brake line to ?? how's that work ?

[coffee_brake]

The braided lines were a no-brainer for this '92. The rubber hydraulic lines degrade over time and when you pull the lever, the rubber expands rather than exerting the force to the calipers.
The braided line makes the brakes a bit stronger, but more importantly, I get excellent feel at the lever that you just can't get with the old rubber lines. I think any bike over about 5-8 years old should have its hydraulics replaced with braided stainless. Too bad I can't afford them for my Vmax yet...

[tomb raider]

Good points, when we raced ATV's we did the switch and it made a big difference on them. I'll have to look into that to. Hell when I'm done I'll have a $5,000 NH 

[page62]

I just ordered a fork brace for my Shadow 750 C2. It has some serious handling issues, so I'll be sure to let you know how the brace helps me out!
 

[Moedad]

I put one on my '93 Nighthawk. The brake line bracket on the front fender is in the way of mounting the rear half of the brace. You can either loosen the bracket and sort of tweak it out of the way (that's what I did), or take it off altogether. The brace comes with a little plastic clamp to secure the brake line if you decide to take the bracket off. One tip: if you take the fender bolt that holds the bracket all the way off, it's really, really, really, really frustrating trying to get the fork, bracket and fender holes all lined up so you can thread the bolt back in. I toyed with the idea of taking off the bracket, but it didn't want to come out very easily and I didn't want to scratch up my fender trying to wiggle it out, nor did I want to remove any other fender bolts, although I finally did loosen them up and that turned out to be the secret in getting everything lined up again. Should've though of that in the first place. Hindsight is 20-20.



It makes a huge difference as far as your wheel tracking differences (grooves, slight differences in lane edges, lane markers, etc.) in the road surface. Definitely feels more stable. I haven't had a chance to run some real twisties with it yet.

[FocusPlayer]

This is THE mod I want my friend to make on his SilverWing...later I may brake down and do one on the NH750  <G>

[tomb raider]

Moedad, looks good.

 What kind did you run with ?

[Moedad]

Moedad, looks good.

 What kind did you run with ?

Thanks. It's the Superbrace like the one mentioned in the OP. As a side note, I also purchased it from the same place as linked in the OP, OneStopMoto. The guy who runs OSM, Dan Ludwig, is a great guy and very good to deal with. I actually went down to his store to pick up my brace and talked with him a bit, and listened to him deal with customers. He went the extra mile when my stoopid AMEX gift card was being declined and made it happen. He is also who I ordered my Progessive shocks through, and he had the best price. Super quick shipping too. Thumbs up from me!