Fork Brace

[Pete]

I just bolted a fork brace on my 2008 XL883 today. I was not really expecting all that much out of it; maybe a little more stability on the I-40 tar snakes. Was I ever off base.

The bike tracks like it is on rails, both on straight road and tight turns. Before the fork brace was installed I could tell that there was some play or lateral deflection in the front forks during high-speed object avoidance maneuvers. On tight turns there was some wobble if you pushed it really hard. Now with the fork brace the bike tracks exactly where I point it.

You can feel that the front end is much tighter and this is especially noticeable at speeds over 45 mph. Steering is much more precise, road wander on rough roads is non-existent too. A curvy section to 182 that I ride has a lot of large patches with raised edges. In the past these shoddy repairs made the bike very twitchy on turns. Today it was almost as if they weren't there.

Most of the afternoon was spent running on the edge of some pretty big thunderstorms. While I was able to dodge the rain, the high winds were unavoidable. No fork brace can stop the impact of wind gusts from hitting you on your bike, it however did make the bike considerably more controllable.

I would never have thought that a small and simple modification to my Sportster would make it such a better handling machine.

[Nathang]

That's very interesting, I have never been able to decide if I think fork brace really does anything. I have never had one so I don't have any real reason to have an opinion, except that if the forks are wobbling around, how come it doesn't tweak the hell out of the front fender? Has anybody ever seen stress fractures in a front fender, like you'd expect from long term tweaking?

[Eleft36]

Yep,
It does make a stability change.

My FXSTC has the Screamin' Eagle brace.

Al

[gsilander]

^^^^^
Eleft36, All those wires?? Is that an elaborate security system you've wired up to your bike? I like the look of it! Wouldn't wanna sit on that without an invitation!

[EZE RIDER]

I think the beefiness of the forks has alot to do with it. The vrod has massive diameter forks. 49MM if I remember correctly. I had a Super brace on mine and the most improvement for me was on a bumpy curve. It did appear to help a bit but not as much as swapping out the front springs and adding thicker fork oil did.

I often wondered about the fender acting as a super brace as well. I would say the skinnier the forks the more improvement you will see.

[Eleft36]

Originally Posted by gsilander

^^^^^
Eleft36, All those wires?? Is that an elaborate security system you've wired up to your bike? I like the look of it! Wouldn't wanna sit on that without an invitation!

Not a security system, gsilander, it's a battery tender.

Al

[Dave63]

The two things I miss from racing the most, even on my street bikes is a fork brace and a steering damper.

The issue with a fork brace for me, is I have 39mm lower legs in wideglide conversion trees. No standard fork brace will work. I'll need to buy a 39mm brace and widen it......

[gsilander]

Originally Posted by Eleft36

Not a security system, gsilander, it's a battery tender.

Al

[Blackdog 15]

Originally Posted by Dave63

The two things I miss from racing the most, even on my street bikes is a fork brace and a steering damper.

The issue with a fork brace for me, is I have 39mm lower legs in wideglide conversion trees. No standard fork brace will work. I'll need to buy a 39mm brace and widen it......

Too bad you don't have the 41mm tubes, I think they are availible for that..

[Dave63]

Originally Posted by Blackdog 15

Too bad you don't have the 41mm tubes, I think they are availible for that..

Agreed, but it would require replacement of my trees as well....

I just passed up a whole front end from a early model FLH.

I'm probably going to hold out and buy a springer for it anyway.