Standard to Special fork swap??

[natemoen]

Is it a straight drop the old out and slid the new in or is there more to it? is there any benefit to either fork setup? When did the air assist option come out?

TIA

[bikerphil]

You'll throw the rake and trail off by just slipping the Special forks in the Standard triple trees. I've tried it and the bike is unstable at higher speeds (above 70 mph). If you also change the triple trees over, the rake/trail will be normal, but you'll have problems mounting your lights and guages. The fender bolt holes will also need re-drilling. Here's a pic of a Standard with Special forks and calipers and the Standard TT's, kinda raked out....



All year Specials had air assist, 80 and up Standards have air assist. If the only reason you want to go to the Special forks is for the air assist, I'd reccomend upgrading your forks to Progressive springs, no air needed and a much better handling ride, JMHO.

[DGXSER]

I thought almost all of the XS11s had air fittings. I am almost certain all the 80-81 models and the 79 special did.

As to the swap, well, yes it is a straight slide the old out, slide the new in. The only part I am not 100% certain on is if the speedo gear fits into the fork the same on both.

As to the effect, it will change the handling characteristics. Here and here are a good definition and description of Rake and Trail and the effect on the bike. Both models of XS11 were set up to be the same through the tripple tree geometry combined with the fork geometry. By putting the Special forks in a Standard set ot trees, you will move the wheel mounting point forward. This decreases the trail and will effect handling. (see Fred, I did pay a little bit of attention.)

And after all that, Phil puts it out there in half the text. And catches the front fender issue to boot.

[fredintoon]

Is it a straight drop the old out and slid the new in or is there more to it? is there any benefit to either fork setup? - - -

Hi Nate,
to expand on what Phil said, you gotta swap the whole darned thing, 'trees, ears, lights, fork tubes, fork sliders, calipers, speedo drive cable and front fender. Good news, the wheel & brake disks are the same.
Combining Standard 'trees and Special fork tubes & sliders is a thing that sidecar operators do to reduce the front wheel's trail to ease the steering.
It's said the Special's forks are a better design but you pay for it by having those Weird Harold brake calipers.

[bikerphil]

Yep DG, we usually end up typing the same thing,

Nate, the only upside I see with the Special forks (JMHO), is they have a superior slider bushing setup compared to the Standard's.

[crazy steve]

Are you talking about the whole fork assembly, or just the tubes/sliders?

You can swap the tubes/sliders between the top tree setups or the complete setup (you can't mix/match tree or slider parts), but the two front ends are completely different, with different brakes, fenders, etc. One big downside to the special forks are the brakes; these are the 'pivoting' calipers, and have been a source of frustration for many. You have left/right parts for both front calipers, and they're different from the rear; the 'standard' brakes use the same rebuild parts at all calipers.

Personally, that alone would keep me from doing a swap for 'special' forks. The special forks were all about looks; as far as handling/fork geometry, they're the same.

'78E original owner

....I'm a slow typer...

[natemoen]

The only reason I am asking is because I might end up being able to get a set of nice shined up good forks only (no tree, speedo gear, or anything else) for about 30 bucks. That is why I am asking. I already have the special lights, and I was just thinking if I have to drop the forks out to change over to the special light setup then I could possibly put in a clean and shiny set of forks as well.

Maybe I will get them anyways and just keep collecting up the parts and wait to do it. we shall see. Thanks for the answers!

[XS1100 Newbie]

I have Special forks in Standard trees, and i don't notice any bad handling up to 100 MPH, but then again, maybe i don't know what good handling is. That mix was the problem why my headlight stay would not work, and it also set my forks back so i was an inch shorter than the stock Special.

[jwhughes3]

I have them on Rising Sun

Rising Sun is a 78 Standard and PO put Special fork setup on it. As far as I know it was a full swap and I dont have any handling issues. In fact I think it handles much better than Great Ranger which is a Special.

John