That's a good way to put it Southwend. Look at it this way...it can't hurt.
I had the same thing occur on Eric's CB. The front tire pressure, while looking fine, was low.
^^^what he said^^^
After servicing the bike, the only loose nut I could find was the one attached to the handlebars (me), but my front tire did need air and that did help substantially. It's always the simple stuff.
Nobody's talked about riding styles yet - if you're a nutter and stress the bike a lot as you're scraping your exhaust then maybe there's more off a case for a brace, but if you're a sunday driver and never get above 4000 revs then perhaps there's no point?
Personally when I'm nailing it I do feel a flexing in the frame which I don't remember being on the old Blackbird, but I don't know if a brace is going to do much to help that.
I'm a fan of fork braces. They seem to be more noticeable on longer travel bikes like my V-strom. I put one on my 06 and it made a big difference in handling and it improved the front tire wear. It had a tendency for the front tire to start cupping. When I bought my CB with 3000 miles, the front tire still looked fine, so it may have been more of a bike specific issue. Nevertheless, I felt an appreciable difference in steering precision on the CB after I installed the Agras fork brace. I'll add my name to the list of those who say it seems to help and certainly doesn't cost all that much.
I'm running a COERCE fork brace. Definitely pulled a little wobble out of the bike in the 90-100 range. Then again I'm a big guy and I corner hard.
My new-to-me '14 DLX came with a SuperBrace already installed on it. I left it on. The way I ride this bike, I probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference.
(05-19-2015, 12:15 PM)The ferret_imp Wrote: [ -> ]That's a good way to put it Southwend. Look at it this way...it can't hurt.
There is one way it can possibly hurt: scratching your fork tubes. I have had fork braces leave indentations from tightening onto the fork lowers when they were removed. If this happens I can tell you it will really tick you off!!
That $150 part can potentially do some expensive damage.
So how long do CB1100 front tire hold up on bikes with fork braces? I was surprised to learn that some guys replaced their front tires at 6,000 miles while the rear tires lasted a whole lot longer. It has been my experience the rear tires always wore out first.