Doing some mods and maint. to the Bird this weekend and I'm again thinking of installing my SuperBrace.

1) anybody who's installed them successfully have any handling comments or experiences?

2) anybody who was concerned about brake line clearance (as I am) have any install experience or creative solutions to offer?


I'm hesitant for 2 reasons:
1) i'm cheap and don't have a backup pair of guards to replace the ones i'll be hacking off

2) i don't like the idea of slamming the brace into my brake lines on big bumps, of which I seem to hit frequently on crappy LA fwys.

Thoughts?

When I installed the SuperBrace I still had the stock suspension and a very worn front tire. It felt like it frimedup the front end, but there were too many other variables to give you a definite yes or no. With the stock fork spings and my fat ass, panic/hard braking could cause the SuperBrace to hit the horn.
I've since installed the RaceTech springs and Penske shock that I bought from Don and spooned on a set of Pilot Roads. The 'Bird REALLY handles and rides GREAT! But I really can't say which individual component gave what improvement. I can say that I'm vary happy with the ride/handling now. I plan on taking a decent ride tomorrow to to get a better feel for the ride and to scrub the tires in.

not to get too personal, but what weight are you and your front springs?

i'm 220 and have a combined 1.05 set of Race Tech springs up front. Oh yeh, what weight fork oil are you running as well?

tia

Similar dude... right now I flutuate between 210 and 220... It's the 1.0 kg/mm springs and I still have the stock/OEM fork oil and valving. AFAIK, the front end doesn't dive nearly as bad as it did with the stock springs. I have a permenantly attached tie wrap on the leftt fork leg so I can check it out whenever I want/need to. I do plan ofn having the fork valving done a some point (hell, I already have the valving kit), but will pobalby happen after I get moved to Boise.

good words! i'm going to do it.

News from anybody esle?

Ping :wink:

I have put around 3k mls. with mine and like the results. New front tire and forks revalved with new springs by DK long before the super brace was installed so those mods did not effect my opinion. I think the handling is more precise with the brace.

I installed one and had to send it back to Superbace because of stiction I encountrered. I received the second one they sent, installed it, and the forks still had increased stiction. So it went back too. My forks have been reworked, tubes polished etc.....so they operate like a knife through butter. Ever wonder why you never really see fork braces on the race bikes which have RWU fork (ex.-Ten Kate CBR600RR) ? Sure, some are using thicker tubes with the same O.D. ( an old race tachnique), but generally you don't really need the brace. If it was really needed you would see them as standard, IMO.
Howie

well taken. But race bikes see track, they don't see rain grooved freeways, potholes, uneven pavement, and wet versions of all surfaces mentioned.

Installed my brace last night, per Warchild recs in previous post, all clearances A-ok.

Rode a good 100+ mile freeway plus twisties, and noticed a significant difference on uneven pavement and rain grooved freeway.

Now bear in mind, my bikes old in dog years being an '02 with 43,000 miles on it, last oil change to stock weight oil at 42,000 and 1.05 springs up front, I'm still betting the improvement shows on her more because she's old and worn vs a set of forks that only have 10k on them and might be a little older years wise.

A mod I would recommend, especially at the list's discounted price, and especially if you are a true ST'r vs just a weekend warrior at the track.

Haven't installed mine yet. Hope to get to it tonight.