product review - eagle mike's fork brace

[Paul Statham]

Ross Sounds like I need one of those fork braces. What year of bike do you have? Paul Statham 08 KLR 26,300 Kilometers London On. Canada ----- Original Message ---- From: Ross Lindberg To: DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com Sent: Sunday, October 19, 2008 10:41:15 PM Subject: [DSN_KLR650] Product Review - Eagle Mike's Fork Brace Over the almost 12,000 miles I have had my KLR, I have not been all the happy with the handling characteristics of the bike. I have made changes as I could afford them, and each was an improvement, but I still was not as happy as I could be. Progressive fork springs, setting the rear suspension sag, moving the handlebar position and rotating foot pegs all made noticeable differences for the better, but I was getting perturbed by the movement in the forks while riding and braking. As my skill level and comfort with the bike increased, so did my dissatisfaction with the forks. After talking with fellow DSN member Rick Johnson, I decided to give a fork brace a try. Rick swears up and down (without bad language of course) that the fork brace turned his KLR into a new machine, making it far more stable on the gravel roads he prefers to ride on. After a couple of long rides and coupled with my growing dissatisfaction I decided to give one a try. My biggest complaint was the lack of stability in loose gravel and sand, as well as the twist in the forks under braking. The riding season is soon over here in Northern Minnesota, so I had a long list of upgrades and seasonal maintenance to do. I might as well do some experimenting. While talking with Eagle Mike about ordering a doohickey kit, the subject of a fork brace came up. It turns out he makes one, and priced at$109, it wouldn t break my budget, so I ordered one along with the doohickey kit. The package showed up in the mail yesterday while I was out for a 300 mile ride with some friends. I m feeling a bit under the weather today, but I figured I could at least summon the energy to install the brace. I have posted photos under the heading Eagle Mike s fork brace install . Upon unwrapping the brace I was immediately impressed with the obvious quality of the product. Everything is properly deburred with no sharp edges, and includes first-class hardware. All that is needed from you is a 10 mm wrench, a 5mm Allen wrench and 10 minutes or less of your time. Installation is so simple that I won t even bother with giving the play-by-play on the installation. I got my gear on and decided to go for a test ride, even though I wasn t feeling well. After all, a product review is worthless without a test ride. I headed for town with a mix of gravel, pavement, and trail riding planned. The first stretch for me was gravel and the difference in handling was immediately apparent. The gravel road that runs by my home is covered with a lot of sand mixed with a few rocks. The tendency of the front wheel to push in the loose stuff was gone, and I found myself riding in the deeper sections with confidence. Next was the pavement section. I had a 25-30 mph crosswind, and the wobble that I was used to was gone. The forks always seem to be twisting in the wind forcing me to have to put in extra steering inputs to keep the bike on track. No longer. The bike was calm and poised and much more stable than before. I could clearly feel the forks working together instead of fighting each other as before. The next section was an ATV trail on an abandoned railroad grade. It is a fairly smooth trail, with a mix of grass and loose gravel. I could put the bike wherever I wanted on the trail on loose gravel or slick grass and felt in control like I never had before. I was having a blast! Once in town I decided to try out a little trail that we used to call Lover s Lane when I was a kid. It s probably about mile long and is rather treacherous as there is no gravel, only deep blow sand. It wasn t too far into my journey down the lane, that I discovered time had not been kind to lover s lane. The sand has been pushed up into berms and whoops and is rather deep in spots. No matter now! Before the fork brace, I would have been gingerly picking my way through, trying to find the easiest way though. Not today! I m standing on the pegs blasting my way though and I find myself laughing in my helmet. Man, this is fun! Once though the obstacle course I stop by the gas station to fuel up and get a drink. So far I am very pleased with my purchase, but decide more testing is on order. Back we go to Lover s Lane. It is so rough now that no lovers in their right mind would attempt going down here in a regular vehicle.. I back up on the pegs and just pounding the whoops and ripping through the curves. The bike goes wherever I point it and tracks straight even through the spots of deep sand. It is making me feel like a better rider than I actually am. Or on second thought, was I actually this good an never knew it? Perhaps my lack of confidence in the bike was holding me back. Once out of town and back on the ATV trail I have to try real hard to keep my speed in check. Deer are known for popping out of the brush and trees an either side and colliding with unwary riders. I m having so much fun with my bike now I decide to take the minimum maintenance roads home. The first one I pick is really nasty after all our recent rains. Huge potholes full of deep mud greet me and I have a ball blasting through them. I m hitting them hard enough that my new skid plate is hitting the ground occasionally, yet the bike remains stable faithfully following my control inputs. Mud is flying everywhere and this is just plain fun! Once that road plays out, I go looking for my least favorite roads.. One of these roads is graveled with rocks resembling marbles. No problems here either. When I finally arrive home, I m grinning from ear to ear. My verdict after installing Eagle Mike s fork brace is that it was worth every penny I paid and then some. It turned my bike into a completely different machine and made me a better and more confident rider at the same time. I rode my bike harder than I have ever have and the bike always composed and I felt very much in control. I even mangled my license plate for the first time. I realize a fork brace isn t for everyone, but I give it a thumbs up. Ross Lindberg Fertile, MN [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] __________________________________________________________________ Instant Messaging, free SMS, sharing photos and more.... Try the new Yahoo! Canada Messenger at http://ca.beta.messenger.yahoo.com/ [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]