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happy-trails fork brace, added suggestion

Posted: Thu Jul 13, 2000 11:50 pm
by wileyE_@excite.com
Can I suggest that whenever adding a fork brace you support the front of the bike and pull the fork springs out, make sure the forks stroke though their travel with no additional stiction. Check with the brace off and then put it on and compare the difference. You may need to loosen the triple clamps and/or axle to get things to work smoothly. Sometimes you never can get it right? I know this from (past) years of riding/racing bikes that absolutly had to have braces, installed my share of them. If the happy Trails guys did not include this in the instructions they should. Thanks for the product report, I may get one myself although I am considering thicker wall upper tubes out of my box of old Maico parts. cheers All I installed a Happy-trails fork brace today. The braking test explained
> above showed greater than an order of magnitude improvement!! The
two or
> three inches of twist at the handle bar end during the hard
braking, is now
> less than a quarter of an inch. The bike feels completely
different [to
> me], and I am eager to get it out on a good ride. I want to feel
how the
> high speed cornering is, and how the bike handles in various off-
road
> conditions. > > > > Kudos to Happy-trails for an essential [to me] upgrade. > > > Steve Anderson

happy-trails fork brace, added suggestion

Posted: Thu Jul 13, 2000 11:53 pm
by wileyE_@excite.com
Can I suggest that whenever adding a fork brace you support the front of the bike and pull the fork springs out, make sure the forks stroke though their travel with no additional stiction. Check with the brace off and then put it on and compare the difference. You may need to loosen the triple clamps and/or axle to get things to work smoothly. Sometimes you never can get it right? I know this from (past) years of riding/racing bikes that absolutly had to have braces, installed my share of them. If the happy Trails guys did not include this in the instructions they should. Thanks for the product report, I may get one myself although I am considering thicker wall upper tubes out of my box of old Maico parts. cheers All I installed a Happy-trails fork brace today. The braking test explained
> above showed greater than an order of magnitude improvement!! The
two or
> three inches of twist at the handle bar end during the hard
braking, is now
> less than a quarter of an inch. The bike feels completely
different [to
> me], and I am eager to get it out on a good ride. I want to feel
how the
> high speed cornering is, and how the bike handles in various off-
road
> conditions. > > > > Kudos to Happy-trails for an essential [to me] upgrade. > > > Steve Anderson

[dsn_klr650] (nklr) protect roadless forests monday! + swel

Posted: Fri Jul 14, 2000 9:32 pm
by ephilride@aol.com
jazranch@... writes: >>
Ditto! Last day for comments is July 17, 2000. Speak now or don't complain when you have no place to ride. Knot

happy-trails fork brace, added suggestion

Posted: Fri Jul 14, 2000 9:34 pm
by Steve Anderson
--- In DSN_klr650@egroups.com, Mark wrote:
> At 4:42 AM +0000 7/14/2000, wileyE_@e... wrote: > >fork brace ... > > I may > >get one myself although I am considering thicker wall upper tubes out > of my box of old Maico parts. > > Tengai upper tubes have thicker walls by about 1mm. > Mark > B2 > A2 (with Tengai front end)
I initially wondered if there were some beefier fork tubes I cold put in the beast. Was thinking of asking the list, but every response I got about the brace said it would take care of the problems I perceived. It has. If after a lot of riding in extreme conditions I think it still needs some help, I might try Tengai forks; I should have thought of that. I think I'll keep my eyes out for some at this point. Do they just drop in? I'm gonna take a guess and suggest that depending on what you pay for the forks, there might be better bang for the buck with the brace. Steve (steering tight) Anderson

happy-trails fork brace, added suggestion

Posted: Fri Jul 14, 2000 9:47 pm
by Mark
At 2:34 AM +0000 7/15/2000, Steve Anderson wrote:
> I might try Tengai forks; I should >have thought of that. I think I'll keep my eyes out for some at this >point. Do they just drop in? I'm gonna take a guess and suggest >that depending on what you pay for the forks, there might be better >bang for the buck with the brace.
Yes they just drop in, but you must also use the Tengai caliper and rotor if you are doing a simple exchange. Otherwise, you'll have to assemble the Tengai upper tubes with the standard KLR lowers. My setup was basically free. When I bought my '88 for the low price of $500, it came with a 75% complete Tengai for use as a parts bike. Mark B2 A2