Fork Brace... Wow!

[grabberblue]

I will post picture as soon as I can.

[Tracker]

I had a 79 GS750E and I put a brace on that looked exactly like that one. It made an impressive difference on that machine too.

[81xsproject]

to me it looks like the ones sold on mikesxs.com for the 650.
JC

[jetmechmarty]

Mike's brace

I may be making a bold assumption here, but I'm pretty sure my XS650 Special and my XS1100 Special have the exact same front fender. That being the case, it stands to reason that the 650 fork brace is applicable to the XS1100 Special. See it here:

https://www.mikesxs.net/mikesxs-susp...ategory_id=6.2

There was some discussion on this topic at one of the 650 boards. Some folks feel the loop style fork brace is superior in performance to the style engineered by TKAT. Bear in mind that some of these 650 folks are building sport bikes.

Use of the loop style fork brace does not allow the use of the stock brake hose clamps. At least, this may be a fork brace alternative.

[grabberblue]

Here is the picture I promised

This is the brace I have on my '80

[grabberblue]

Here is the picture I promised

This is the brace I have on my '80

[grabberblue]

Why are my posts being doubled?

What did I screw up?

I could not delet them.

Sorry!

[Geezer]

Re: Here is the picture I promised

Originally posted by grabberblue
This is the brace I have on my '80

I have one like that on my 80 Mongrel. They're no longer made and I had to wait and watch eBay to get it.

Geezer

[Do Lee]

man it's great

Found the first thread for Tkat's fork brace to say "man it's great"
but everyone who has one already knows that. My bike handles so
much better than I expected.
Hats off to ya Tkat .

Now I have to just wait for a non ride-able weekend to fit my S.O.F.A. from T.C.
and I know it too will work perfectly.

[Jerry]

Tkat fork brace for XJ

Tkat does make a fork brace for the XJ; I have one. While the XJ does have a fork brace designed into the front fender, adding the Tkat unit will make a noticeable improvement, as the fender brace is not all that substantial.

The XJ brace is a bit different than the Standard or Special, having more of a rise to clear the fender. You need to get the XJ version; the others will not fit although the cross-piece is, I believe, the same as the Special. Price is the same as the other fork braces.

Adding the fork brace and SS brake lines will improve the handling and stopping power of any XS or XJ; these are two highly recommended upgrades.

[xs650mike]

Re: Mike's brace

Originally posted by jetmechmarty
[B]I may be making a bold assumption here, but I'm pretty sure my XS650 Special and my XS1100 Special have the exact same front fender.

Well since I also own both bikes I can tell you that the fenders are not the same, the yoke is much deeper on the XS650 fender. One can re-drill the mounting holes on the 650 fender and make it fit an 1100 but not the other way around. I'm running an XS750 Special fender on my XS1100SF and it is identical. It's still possible that a Mikes XS fork brace will fit the 1100. I'll take some measurements and report back. I like the look of the tkat brace better though, the Mikes brace looks kind of Mickey Mouse. I had a Telefix brace on my XJ750RH and it made a whale of a difference. BTW the Mikes XS brace is a repro of the old CC Products brace from back in the '70s.

[skids]

Not that it means anything for sure, but that fork and the way the fender and caliper is mounted to it, looks more like an xs11 standard, rather than a special. I tried to mount a special fender to a standard fork...no way Jose!

[xs650mike]

Does look like a standard fender.

[xs650mike]

Now that we've straightened out the handling in front I wonder if something could be done for the back besides pggs chain drive conversion. What shocks are being used with success?