Fork Brace

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Jaoteay

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I bought the UFO Fork brace and started to install it...

I looked at the shop manual and it said remove the 4 bolts on top... and then the 4 bolts underneath (that secure it to the fender).


I spent hours on this.. I could not get the the 4 underside bolts off without removing the tire... But you can't get the tire completely off without removing the fork brace/fender..

Anyone does this easily..


I tried several sizes of ratchets (long and skinny), straight ratchets, and my bendable ones.

I tried my Gearwrech ratcheting wrenches with flex heads..


Nothing worked well and it was a huge pain.. (Even with my wheel half off(. Is there anyway to do this easily - especially with the wheel still on??

Even though I'm done.. I hope others may have an easier time.

JoeyO
 
I bought the UFO Fork brace and started to install it...

I looked at the shop manual and it said remove the 4 bolts on top... and then the 4 bolts underneath (that secure it to the fender).


I spent hours on this.. I could not get the the 4 underside bolts off without removing the tire... But you can't get the tire completely off without removing the fork brace/fender..

Anyone does this easily..


I tried several sizes of ratchets (long and skinny), straight ratchets, and my bendable ones.

I tried my Gearwrech ratcheting wrenches with flex heads..


Nothing worked well and it was a huge pain.. (Even with my wheel half off(. Is there anyway to do this easily - especially with the wheel still on??

Even though I'm done.. I hope others may have an easier time.

JoeyO

Nope! Wheel off! That's the only sane way to do it.

Chris
 
I bought the UFO Fork brace and started to install it...

I looked at the shop manual and it said remove the 4 bolts on top... and then the 4 bolts underneath (that secure it to the fender).


I spent hours on this.. I could not get the the 4 underside bolts off without removing the tire... But you can't get the tire completely off without removing the fork brace/fender..

Anyone does this easily..


I tried several sizes of ratchets (long and skinny), straight ratchets, and my bendable ones.

I tried my Gearwrech ratcheting wrenches with flex heads..


Nothing worked well and it was a huge pain.. (Even with my wheel half off(. Is there anyway to do this easily - especially with the wheel still on??

Even though I'm done.. I hope others may have an easier time.

JoeyO

That part doesn't sound right. I can remove my front tire without doing anything to the brace. What is your tire getting caught up on when you try to remove it?
 
Sounds like he didn't use a floor jack and raise the front end up to get the tire out. If you leave it level it will hit the fender and you can't get it all the way out. You have to raise the front a couple of inches and viola it will roll right out of the way.
 
Sounds like he didn't use a floor jack and raise the front end up to get the tire out. If you leave it level it will hit the fender and you can't get it all the way out. You have to raise the front a couple of inches and viola it will roll right out of the way.

maybe he's not pulling the calipers?:confused2:
 
Depends on the year. Fender will come off backwards with brace still bolted to it for 85-92 years. 93 and up will have to at least lower the wheel down (calipers don't have to come off but it's a lot easier to let them hang out of the way to put the wheel back up.)

Sean
 
I wasn't able to turn the Calipers because the fork brace was still there (not attached, but not able to turn much).


I have an '06, and I raised the front wheel a little, but not more than an inch or two because I was a little worried about jacking up the bike.

I have the Sears Motorcycle/ATV jack, and I didn't know if it was good to jack it up on the pipes (as that's where the bars that raise it sit)

Anyone else use this? Or anyone know if that's an ok to raise it there? It was still on it's centerstand too, but using this jack raised it up a little.

JO
 
I wouldn't jack it up under the pipes at all. While sitting on the center stand I had my wife sit on the back seat until I got the front tire off, then put a 5 gal. bucket under the forks. The bucket is about the right hieght.
 
I've jacked them up by the headers for years with no problems. Barring that we have also jacked it up on the front part of the pan if the bike has a centerstand still. We have also used jack stands under the engine gaurds if you have them on the bike.

You'll need to remove or lower the front wheel on your 06. Unbolt both front calipers (two bolts) and let them hang (they aren't heavy enough to hurt the hoses). Then you can remove the front wheel (you do have it jacked up don't you). You can make it a little easier by unhooking the speedo drive cable (I normally don't but it's not hard either way).

Sean
 
My current jack has adjustable attachments that allow me to jack up using the frame. On a previous one, I made a wooden support on a base with blocks that matched up to the frame. Had to make a different one for each bike though.
 
I've jacked off my pipe lots of time... hold on what are we talking about! :biglaugh::ummm:

LOL... any ways, I don't have a center stand so I've used those bike lifts on the pipes quite often and have not had any problems.
 
actually, the only problem I had when jacking on the pipes was when we had one running on it. I fugured out what the burning rubber smell was too late - DOH!

Sean
 
Jacking on the stock pipes probably ok..I did it many times.

On my aftermarket system I wouldn't do it, but might still be ok.....
 
I've done it with the Mark's headers, no damage at all. Lately, I've jacked it up using crank sump and then put jack stands under the crash bars.
 
Kerker is what ate my rubber off the jack. Works with about all the exhausts (using the ATV type jack).

Sean
 
I have the Sears Motorcycle/ATV jack, and I didn't know if it was good to jack it up on the pipes (as that's where the bars that raise it sit)

Anyone else use this? Or anyone know if that's an ok to raise it there? It was still on it's centerstand too, but using this jack raised it up a little.

JO


I have the same jack and use it all the time. No problems at all.
 
I use a jack on each frame slider in the front, and one jack on the frame tabs in back. It's solid as a rock; as long as the jacks aren't leaking down.
 

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