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Fork Brace question

The brace should 'just fit' between the forks... If there is a gap, it needs to be shimmed. You don't want the forks pulled in toward each other. Nor do you want them forced outwards, if it is too snug, you'll have to remove some material. Or send it back and get one that fits.
 
IMO, because of machining tolerances of the forks, i would think all fork braces have to be shimmed. Mine took .012" to get it perfect. if you don't shim, you'll cause stiction and wear the seals and bushings. If the brace is incorrectly machined and pushes the forks out, same deal, it'll waste stuff. In that case, the brace is defective. I think it's unrealistic to expect a brace to just "fit" HTH, Steve
 
Recall reading about the upper fork leg boss diameter changing from the 94-98 to the 99 model having a larger boss dia.
I had terrible stiction problems on my current '01 since buying used in 2002.
PO had a Craig Nedrow (Bay Macine Works)  three piece fork brace on it.
After finally doing something about the problem after far to long replaced the fork bushings and installed cartirdge emulators and did not help a bit. Changed oil, thinner oil, more bleed holes in the emulator wafer, went from emulator stiff/medium/light springs ...no help.
Later removed the fork brace and noticed immediate partial relief from stiction.
The fork brace fit more than tight, it had to be forcefully installed between the fork legs. (not installed now)
Replaced the lower bushings again with only 20k miles after the brace removal. They were worn thru the coating (annodize or ?)
Now the forks work well tho the ride is not plush over the small bumps/rippples.
Still a huge improvement.
Point making sure you have the correct brace for the year. DOH!  :mad:  :-[
 
Steve in Sunny Fla said:
I think it's unrealistic to expect a brace to just "fit" HTH, Steve
Click to expand...

I did not mean it should be expected to fit correctly right out of the box, I meant after tweaking it should 'just fit', ie not tight, not loose. Sorry if that was not clear. Shimming a fork brace is not hard, but if the fork brace is too tight, I think it would be difficult for the average bike owner to open it up a bit.
 
I removed the brace and measured how much the front fork compressed when I sat on the bike.  I then put the brace on and shimmed it so it still had the same sag on the fork as before after it was all tightened down.  It took several trys.
 
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