Micron Fork Brace

[LC Cnd]

Looking at other form pics and can't ascertain if Micron fork braces were ever anodize black as an option. Does any one know? See alot of polished aluminium ones.

[hondaror]

I have a black one I think. I'll surely dig it up in the near future and be able to verify.

[Hooligan]

One thing I noticed when I added a fork brace to my LC was that the wheel spacers were not the right size. They tended to cause the tips of the fork legs to be pulled inward when the axle was tight. Without the fork brace this didn't seem to cause a problem. With the fork brace it caused the forks to bind up when compressed. The solution was to machine some custom spacers so that everything fit properly.

[LC Cnd]

Compression, hmm. What kind of spacers did you Hooligan-ize to create 'em? Aluminum or steel & at what thickness do you recommend?

[Hooligan]

I spun up some on my lathe out of a chunk of 316 stainless. I want to say they were about .075" thick each to make up approx .150" of space. IIRC I also had to drop a standard washer behind each caliper bolt to space those out properly too. Those were just off the shelf washers as the calipers can set center to a certain degree.

While that all seems a bit finicky, it resulted in completely bind-free fork action, which can't be anything but good.

[LC Cnd]

Agreed - thanks for your insight. Off to find some steel.

[Hooligan]

Loosen up the front axle completely to allow the fork legs to be completely straight to their inner tubes.

Bolt in the fork brace, making sure to allow it to space properly and not pull the fork legs in any direction.

The next bit is easier if the brake callipers are off the disks. Push the front wheel full to one side to allow you to measure the extra space that needs to be filled with the spacers.

Take that measurement, divide by two and make two large diameter spacers.

Insert the spacers and tighten up the axle. I had to trim a bit off the back side of the castle nut to allow it to go on far enough for the retaining pin to be inserted.

Depending on how thick the axle spacers were, you may need to insert a washer behind each caliper mount bolt, but otherwise the caliper should self-centre on the disk.

[Bare]

Simple curiosity only.
Why are you fitting a 'fork brace' to LC forks.
Those braces are anything But a 'brace'.
Spaghetti thin LC forks Visibly bend under braking, with or without the
'brace'
Period mods appearance perhaps?

[Hooligan]

Fork brace doesn't stiffen the forks under straight up braking loads. The brace stops the fork legs from twisting during cornering and trail braking.

[hondaror]

Thus it improves handling.

[silverstrom]

Ride with one and then without one and the reason is obvious.

[Hooligan]

Although it may also be related to having properly spaced out the fork legs, the addition of the brace seems to have greatly smoothed out the action of the forks.

[silverstrom]

One thing I noticed when I added a fork brace to my LC was that the wheel spacers were not the right size. They tended to cause the tips of the fork legs to be pulled inward when the axle was tight. Without the fork brace this didn't seem to cause a problem. With the fork brace it caused the forks to bind up when compressed. The solution was to machine some custom spacers so that everything fit properly.

Or the fork brace was too wide?

[Hooligan]

One thing I noticed when I added a fork brace to my LC was that the wheel spacers were not the right size. They tended to cause the tips of the fork legs to be pulled inward when the axle was tight. Without the fork brace this didn't seem to cause a problem. With the fork brace it caused the forks to bind up when compressed. The solution was to machine some custom spacers so that everything fit properly.

Or the fork brace was too wide?

No because I bolted everything together loose to ensure the brace did not pull the forks in any direction. It only became a problem when I tried to tighten up the front axle.

[hondaror]

^This is common. I've seen it before.