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GL1100 Fork Brace

4110 Views 2 Replies 2 Participants Last post by  Davebave
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I am currently working on a 1981 GL1100 standard and am wondering if you all think I will really find a fork brace necessary on this model. I put one on my GL1000 and it fixed the front end wobble on cornering. Of course the GL1200 has a stock brace, so I am guessingI will have the same experience with the GL1100.
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That's an interesting question. The fork brace cure seems to have a pretty even pro and con rating by users as near as I can tell. On several forums besides this one there's a lot of discussion of the device. Most tend to agree loose steering head bearings are the main cause of the wobble at low speed, but again there are many who have re-torqued their steering head bearings and still have the wobble. Tire type, tire pressure, tire balance,steering bearing torque, fork springs, fork oil, worn fork bushings, misaligned frame,and loose triple tree clamps all have been mentioned as a cause. Since there is such a variety of opinion on the subject and it doesn't seem to settle down on a single answer I don't think anyone has a complete handle on the problem. Probably a brace won't do you much good. Make sure the head bearings are properly torqued and go from there.

:waving::waving::15red::waving::waving:
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Thanks exavid. My 1977 GL1000 would wobble when making tight turns. There was no doubt it was from the rotational force on the forks. A fork brace fixed the problem immediately. I had the same issue on my old 1978Suzuki GS750. As the 81 GL1100 looks to have larger forks and a little shorter, I thought maybe it would be less of an issue. On the other hand, the tire is wider, increasing friction with the ground. There sure seem to be a lot of em for sale, but I haven't even ridden this bike yet, so who knows. Hopefully, I won't have any of the other issues you discussed. I did have a 81 GL1100 Interstate for a Summer years ago and I do not recall a similar wobble, but I have become much more tuned to my rides since then.

Thanks,

D
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