Fork Brace - Do they really improve handling that much

Ira1 · Full Member Joined: Aug 17, 2006 Posts: 16

Hi Guys,

I have had a few of my friends tell me that I should get a fork brace for my 71 xs6501b because they say they have heard the steering in my year of bike is sloppy. Can anyone shed some light on this for me? I haven't had my bike that long and I haven't had it on the road yet. I am used to riding a 79 honda hawk. Would the steering between the two bikes be similar?

Thank you in advance

Ira Confused

chapmanmd

I cant speak for anyone else, but I do have one of Omar's fork braces on my street tracker. Do I need it? Probably not. I ran one on my dirt trackers, but really havent ridden an XS on the street hard enough to necessarily need one. I just think they look good on street trackers with no front fender.

Just my $.02 worth. Your mileage may vary

KYLEPRESTON

Well from the limited knowledge I have I will give it a go.
The handling issues for your xs1 are a few. First there are 30 year ball and race setup in your head ( not to mention 30 year old grease) unless you have changed out the ball bearings or switched to tapered roller bearings, your head unit will tend to be sloppy. The rear swing arm has plastic bushings which most likely are britle and should be upgraded with bronze. IF like my 73tx650 you have a steering damper you are ahead of the game, with a little change of the friction plates if you can or at least check them for wear. If you don't have a steering damper maybe you should look into one if you want tight steering. Mikes XS sells the damper and fork mount you will need to setup your own mount to the frame. You should probably get rid of the fish oil that dwells in your front forks and upgrade to a newer oil for a little better damping, The down side to your year is it is near impossible to locate upgraded fork springs for 34mm forks. Also, if need be look into fork seals if you are leaking. Check the true of your front spokes they do tend to flex more than a cast wheel, over time they can get wonky. I don't know if the change over to stainless spokes is mearly for cosmetic reasons or if it actually have better tinsle strength to last longer.
As for the ride from your 79 honda hawk, I have ridden several bikes from suzuki 75 gs850, 78 honda cb to recently my 82 yamaha virago. The ride will be different. not to say it is better or worse, everyones riding style and ability dictate how well you adapt to the bike. You can read reports about the bike, evryone has there opinion. The truth is that Technology advances and there is 8 years difference. On the up side they are both japanese. If you were going from a european bike to japanese I would think it should be a little more dramatic a change.

I hope this rambling of a crazy person helped.

cheers Kyle

Ira1 · Full Member Joined: Aug 17, 2006 Posts: 16

Thanks for the reply Kyle,

I did some checking with my uncle (he is a mechanic and the previous owner of the bike) and he says that he has replaced the ball bearings to a tapered roller bearings and changed the greese on the ball and race setup. The rear swing arm bushings have been replaced with bronze ones.
The bike does have a steering damper and the forks where rebuilt last year. Thanks for all of your great suggesions. I am going to check the spokes tonight.

Thanks again

Ira

5twins · Full Member Joined: Aug 05, 2006 Posts: 1616

Ira1 · Full Member Joined: Aug 17, 2006 Posts: 16

Is it hard to respoke a wheel? Is it something I should be able to do on my own?

5twins · Full Member Joined: Aug 05, 2006 Posts: 1616

royfisk

5twins who has stainless spokes for $75.00. I would be interested. Cad is allright but stainless always looks good and last forever if they are kept tight.

5twins · Full Member Joined: Aug 05, 2006 Posts: 1616

Coose · Full Member Joined: Jul 20, 2006 Posts: 12

It's an XS-1, simple as that! I hillclimb (in the UK on tarmac) my XS-2 and you can see the forks flexing and twisting. It's just how they are!

There was a quote from the test rider (someone famous - can't remember his name though) who developed the XS650 from the XS-2. He was said to have asked Yamaha to build some bumps into their billiard table-like test track as it was not like the real world. Once they did that he could see just how frightening the original XS was!

Obviously my XS-2 is one of the wobbly ones too, but I have to say that I find it quite entertaining!

Barrett

Well, a fork brace does help. Will you notice it? Depends on how aggressive you ride, how often or close attention to pay to tire pressures. If you like the look, go for it.
If you have a service manual and are slightly mechanical, you can probably respoke a wheel, if you are not mechanical...I would advise you to take it to a shop.(Or, in your case, ask your uncle to go over it with you). As for your friends, let them worry about thier bikes and steering head. Some guys put schrader valves in the caps of the forks to pressurize the forks(bubbles cannot form in liquid that is under pressure)

royfisk

Hey; does anyone make a brace for the xs-1 and 1 a Iknow they do the newer style, I dont know if everyone is aware that the xs-1's fender mounting bolts go parralel with the forks where the xs-2's and newer go perpendicular to the tubes.

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Yamaha xs650