Superbrace

[outrace]

I did a search for Superbraces on the board. I saw that lots of you have put yours on, or were about to put yours on, but I have a question:

Do they work? Do they improve handling? Do they prevent wobble and weave?

Or do they just make you feel more confident because you have a new farkle that's supposed to make the bike more stable?

I have no problem with the FJRs front end.... It's the rear that's driving me crazy. I always run with the bags and a Givi topcase, and now that the stock "springholder" has 16.5k miles on it, compression damping is non-existent.

99% of all my weave in corners comes from the tail bobbing up and down. I have a Works Performance shock on order to solve that problem.

Back in the day, I used superbraces on stuff with spindly little fork legs and improvement was marginal at best. Now that we have a real front end on the FJR, and I can't imagine the brace doing much.

So I'm asking you guys honestly, was the farkle worth the sheckels? Did it really DO anything?

 

[GunMD]

Well, crap...I thought it did. That is, until you introduced the idea that it could all be in my head.

 

[avigar]

If you don't think you need it, you won't miss it. I've had it on mine and have noticed an improvement on the handling. But then, that 's just me.

 

[Overfly]

I got the Motorcycle Larry Brace, a bit thicker and better material, but observations should be the same as the Superbrace. Yeah, it could be in my head, but I feel like the front end is stuck to the ground in the turns now. My guess is any brace won't come into effect until you put the front fork into a real "torque" situation. I remember a picture of an FJR wreck on the other website that showed an unbraced fork being quite twisted. I'm not saying the brace would have prevented the crash, as don't know exactly what happened, but clearly the brace would have kept the front fork from twisting like it did. Just my take on it. B)

 

[afterburn]

The brace just addresses the basic single fault in a traditional fork design: it can flex and will flex because it only has 2 points where it is supported, and both are far away from the point where extreme loads of stress are put on it.

 

[tripletango]

Most of the wobble seems to occur on heavy braking from very high speed. I have found that on emergency deceleration that judicious application in conjunction with front brake of the rear brake seems to lessen this problem.

Perhaps a brace will help with this situation?

 

[Yambone]

I was a real skeptical FJR novice and went without the SuperB for the first 20K miles. I've now had it off and on a couple of times--once due to the recall for the ABS model--and can tell the difference. I missed it immensely on a recent long trip.

It simply provides more predictability and confidence while cornering. Well worth it, IMO. Not sure what the exchange rate is for sheckels, tho, so YMMV... :lol:

 

[SilveradoSlick]

It's not a huge improvement, since the FJR's forks are fairly stout already. I've had bikes with spindly forks that really needed a brace and this isn't one of them. But the FJR is still more stable and precise with the brace than without.

 

[HIGHLANDER]

I found that it improved the handling leaned over in the twisties, when the road surface was uneven, bumpy and rippled in the corners. It tracks straighter through the apex without the small wiggles it had when it was leaned over before the brace. Rock solid now, but if your a " cruiser " type I don't think you'd feel the positive effect of adding the brace.

 

[leebunyard]

I bought a Superbrace for my '04 non-abs FJR during the Group Buy months ago and finally got around to putting it on over the weekend. A piece of cake, easy to do. I did the install at my son's place in Sacramento and rode the bike back home via some twisty mountain roads so I could check it out. As others have said, the front end on the OEM FJR is already quite stable and the addition of the Superbrace is not immediately noticeable but when I got into some really tight stuff, I could tell the difference. Hard to describe but the front end is just tighter, less wiggle/squirm, I was taking turns that I'm very familiar with probably around 5 mph faster than before and feeling very confident in the handling. For a $119 investment, I'm glad I did it.

Lee in the Mountains of Northern California B)

 

[8Ball]

My original Z4 still had some miles left in it, but was cupped so bad I had to replace. The Z6 just started to cup when I installed the SuperBrace. The cupping has not increased. Can't really quantify a handling improvement, but the anti-cupping factor makes it worth it for me.

 

[snowmonkey]

Back in the day, I used superbraces on stuff with spindly little fork legs and improvement was marginal at best. Now that we have a real front end on the FJR, and I can't imagine the brace doing much.
So I'm asking you guys honestly, was the farkle worth the sheckels? Did it really DO anything?

The FJR frontend may be a bit more real than those spindly little fork legs, but they still flex. Besides it's the aluminum triple clamps that you are reinforcing more then the fork tube.

I have Motorcycle Larrys brace and yes, I can definitly feel the difference. Go ahead and spend the $100, you won't regret it.