Bit the bullet after deliberating if this is worth the money, I shall find out soon. :good2:
I think you'll like it. It is, (as the English say?), a nice bit of kit. :nyam2:
And it makes for a handy tie-down point on the ferries!
(http://fjowners.com/gallery/6/697_10_10_13_10_39_32_1.jpeg)
Cap'n Ron. . .
"nice bit of kit" alternatively. "It's the dogs bollocks"
Mine's still working after a these years. Should have come as a standard part before the bikes left the factory.
Andy
then we would have intact mudguards!
How involved are putting these on? I have been wanting to put stiffer fork springs in. Figured if I have to rip into the front end I would do that at the same time.
Quote from: Vsekvsek on November 12, 2013, 11:36:02 PM
How involved are putting these on? I have been wanting to put stiffer fork springs in. Figured if I have to rip into the front end I would do that at the same time.
It's a direct bolt on. Four allen head bolts attach the back half to the front half and you're off to the races.
Quote from: ELIMINATOR on October 30, 2013, 05:23:43 PM
deliberating if this is worth the money
I will look forward to your report on the fork brace.
I recently reviewed comments regarding a fork brace on a FJ owners Facebook (thanks for the link aviationfred) Group. They are mixed, but gravitate towards the positive end.
Always wondered about the claims of fork's flexure causing cracks and broken mounting tabs in/on the fender. And that possibly they could be more attributed to plastic aging, and improper (over) torque of the mounting fasteners, or improper assembly of washers and brake hose brackets instead.
And I also wondered if the fork brace applications were better suited to their original, earllier applications of spindly 35 - 38mm diameter forks.
I do know that stiffer springs in the front, are worth their expense.
Yours are on their way to you, and again, I look forward to your report on them.
Marty
If you are not sure if the RPM fork brace helps, all you have to do is look at your OEM fork brace. Remove the 4 fasteners and look at the size and shape of the holes. I don't think the holes being out of round or larger than they need to be can be attributed to the metal getting old. The FJ forks are flexing when they are bumping down the road. That is why Yamaha put that metal plate on the forks and called it a fork brace. They just did not design it well enough to be really effective.
Quote from: FJ1100mjk on November 13, 2013, 07:48:10 AM
Quote from: ELIMINATOR on October 30, 2013, 05:23:43 PM
deliberating if this is worth the money
... And that possibly they could be more attributed to plastic aging, and improper (over) torque of the mounting fasteners, or improper assembly of washers and brake hose brackets instead...
Marty
That's what I used to think - Until I replaced my front fender with a brand new OEM from Yamaha (Granted it may have been NOS) and it too cracked where it mounts within a few years. I was careful while tightening the screws and I don't use the brake hose brackets with the SS lines. I believe my fender would be intact had a fork brace been installed.
Quote from: FJmonkey on November 13, 2013, 09:25:56 AM
all you have to do is look at your OEM fork brace.
Monkey:
Not sure what you mean by OEM fork "brace". I don't see a brace in the exploded view for the fork assembly (1987), where logically, a fork brace should reside...
http://www.boats.net/parts/search/Yamaha/Motorcycle/1987/FJ1200T/FRONT%20FORK/parts.html (http://www.boats.net/parts/search/Yamaha/Motorcycle/1987/FJ1200T/FRONT%20FORK/parts.html)
I do see a BRACKET, FENDER Item #2 in the fenders' (1987) exploded views...
http://www.boats.net/parts/search/Yamaha/Motorcycle/1987/FJ1200T/FENDER/parts.html (http://www.boats.net/parts/search/Yamaha/Motorcycle/1987/FJ1200T/FENDER/parts.html)
Is this what you are referring to?
Marty
Quote from: FJ1100mjk on November 13, 2013, 09:54:10 AM
I do see a BRACKET, FENDER Item #2 in the fenders' (1987) exploded views...
http://www.boats.net/parts/search/Yamaha/Motorcycle/1987/FJ1200T/FENDER/parts.html (http://www.boats.net/parts/search/Yamaha/Motorcycle/1987/FJ1200T/FENDER/parts.html)
Is this what you are referring to?
Marty
Yes, I have seen it labeled as fork brace but that is the part I mentioned. I wonder what the factory manual calls it?
Marty,
You are correct, Mark is reffering to the #2 bracket that you identified. If you look at the forces being applied to the front suspension you can see that, when cornering, there is going to be a bending force that will try and move the forks independantly. (Pushing one up and pulling the other down) This is what breaks the fender tabs and what the heavier RPM fork brace prevents. (If you think about the size of the axle bolt up front and the distance from the axis of action, it's easy to see how these forces will create some flex there.)
Not all bikes experiance enough flexing for it to be a problem. Case in point, the Honda Magnas of days gone by, simply replace the stock fender bracket with a 1/4" aluminum plate. It uses the stock mounting
points and is sufficient to tighten up things at the level they are typically ridden to. The FJ's on the other had are capable of much greater cornering performance...
If you have removed the stock brake hose brackets, you *must* put some washers under your fender tabs to compensate or you will crack your tabs.
Yes, the FJ's spindly (by today's standards) 41mm fork tubes flex, the brace helps.
Quote from: Pat Conlon on November 13, 2013, 11:14:26 AM
If you have removed the stock brake hose brackets, you *must* put some washers under your fender tabs to compensate or you will crack your tabs.
Yes, the FJ's spindly (by today's standards) 41mm fork tubes flex, the brace helps.
So the brackets go between the front and rear sections of the fender? This doesn't show that. http://www.boats.net/parts/search/Yamaha/Motorcycle/1987/FJ1200T/FENDER/parts.html (http://www.boats.net/parts/search/Yamaha/Motorcycle/1987/FJ1200T/FENDER/parts.html)
What am I missing?
The brake line brackets go next to the fork, behind the fender tabs. If you don't re-use them (or an equivalent washer stack as Pat mentions) your fender will crack, fork brace or not.
Quote from: FJ_Hooligan on November 13, 2013, 12:11:26 PM
The brake line brackets go next to the fork, behind the fender tabs. If you don't re-use them (or an equivalent washer stack as Pat mentions) your fender will crack, fork brace or not.
Thanks! I hate creating my own problems. :dash1:
"...the brace helps..."
Hell has frozen over! The midget & preacher agree on something...! Hallelujah...!
Actually, there is a video from the Colorado Rally that shows the forks working overtime - spindly or not, the Fork Brace ties the front all together allowing for better & SAFER handling. A good investment from my point of view.
Gotta go - keep smiling & ride safe.
Midget Mike.
Brace fitted. Felt subtly better, but that might just be my imagination
Trev, load up your bike with your touring gear and find a twisty road.
I noticed the difference in the side to side transitions.
And yes, my diminutive friend, we agree on much more than we disagree, for sure. :good:
I felt like adding the Superbrace to my fork made a big difference, as well.
Someone wanted to debate the point with me awhile back, but I think that the Renntecs make a similar improvement to the frame.
Between the two, IMO, the bike feels a great deal more solid.
I don't have an aftermarket brace yet but in my FJ reconstruction I have to repair my front fender and the stock brace is loose at present. If you hold the front wheel with your knees and wiggle the handlebars the amount of flex is extreme. My stock brace is in good condition and the holes are not elongated but its not that much material to counter the forces involved. A brace is on my list along with the Rentec's before spring. For normal riding the stock brace is probably OK at best, if in good condition but there is room for improvement not to mention the damage it can do to your front fender tabs from flexing or twisting. Flexing can't be good for the fork bushings either over a period of time.
On the subject of flex. The rear subframes are also weak and flimsy. Mine was out of alignment and I thought I was going to just replace the sub frame but my son came over with a 6 foot pull bar that rested against the rear tire with a notch for a chain up about 4 feet on the bar. Hooked the chain to the sub frame and I swear a 10 year kid could over pull it... 2 minutes and it was good as new. Not much you can do about it. It was just an observation. I have heard some say "they felt the frame flexing". Now I wonder if what they really felt was the sub frame moving.
Back to the fork brace, I use to wonder myself if they really were that much better than the stock fork brace but from what little have seen from a garage engineering stand point I believe they are. They are on the infamous "list".....
George
I like my RPM brace and I'm not going to give it back.
I was an early adopter and it's done exactly what it should for years.
Andy
Regardless of the brace's loading schemes, an aftermarket fork brace would offer enhanced rigidity due to its higher section modulus, which is greatly influenced by its thickness. Without owning one, I'm guessing that the aftermarket brace's thickness is 13mm, whereas the fender bracket I'm guessing, is around 3mm.
Not sure if the design intent of the, as it is called in the fender's parts list a bracket, is being misinterpreted as fork brace though. I've seen it listed as a "brace" on Ebay, so that's gospel. It surely offers enhanced rigidity, due to it being in its position, and tied, albeit loosely, to each slider. Certainly more rigidity to the fork assembly than if it was omitted. However, seeing how it is assembled: itself having clearance holes (as opposed to the aftermarket's brace that is securely clamped), secured with lightly torqued fasteners, and that the bracket's bearing surfaces are interfacing with painted plastic, which is a piss poor interface if there ever was one for the loads that the bracket sees, I can't see it offering much for rigidity in comparison to an aftermarket brace.
I don't have one if front of me at the moment, but from what I can recall from the design of the fender's mounting tabs, is that they have a sharp corner where they rest on the bosses of the slider. I'm guessing that that the inside radius for them is the minimum for an injection molded piece, and it would have been better from a stress concentration perspective to have given a larger radius to the tab's design. The current sharp corner does little to prevent cracking with flexing. Be it from front end flexure, or the omission of brake hose brackets and washers.
For me, for the time being, I'll keep running without an aftermarket brace. For fender cracks as and if they develop, I will use my plastic repair kit http://www.plastex.net/ (http://www.plastex.net/) to keep them in check. And if I miss my exit line in a corner by three inches because my forks flexed a sixteenth of an inch, well then I'll just have to deal with it. Something I've dealt with for a while now.
Probably missing something, so have at it.
Rubber side down!
After having encountered a set of bends in daylight for the first time since fitting the fork brace, that for the previous four nights were taken in the pitch black of night. There seems to be a better improvement than I at first thought, I felt more comfortable and went a bit faster than I normally would, I still however would be left behind by myself if I were riding my BMW 1150GS.
Added a link to this discussion on the FJowners.wikidot.com/forks page.