Fork brace for trike

darrell moore · #1 (**permalink**) 01-23-2010, 11:01 AM

New to the site. New trike owner. 2007 gw1800 with lehman ii trike. My question concerns the use of a fork brace. I have read somewhere that a fork brace helps a bike, but not to use one on a trike. Seems like a trike being heavier would benefit more than a bike. Please educate me. Thanks.

nana · #2 (**permalink**) 01-23-2010, 11:18 AM

Just want to say welcome to TrikeTalk, Darrell! I know you'll get lots of help with the question. Lots of knowledgeable folks on here!

Lucky · #3 (**permalink**) 01-23-2010, 02:21 PM

Sorry no help with your Question,but I hope you enjoy your new trike and trike talk as much as I do mine.I did not see where you live.Hope the wheather is good enough so you can ride.RIDE SAFE

tmigala · #4 (**permalink**) 01-23-2010, 11:10 PM

Welcome aboard Darrell. Glad you found us. I don't think the issue is not to use of a fork brace but that it will do no good on a trike. A fork brace is designed to keep the fork tubes in line when you are turning/leaning on a bike, for more stable and predictable steering. If the forks are able to flex and twist then the bike wanders in the turn do to the changing geometry. This action is not required on a trike. The twisting is not there because the trike does not lean.

nana · #5 (**permalink**) 01-24-2010, 06:19 AM

I love the questions on here.....I learn so much from all of you wise people!
(I was going to say wise guys, but somehow that didn't work here!

)

darrell moore · #6 (**permalink**) 01-24-2010, 07:30 AM

Thanks tmigala.
I have been educated. As i said earlier, i am a new member. I am also a newly retired new trike owner. My wife and i plan to see a lot of this great country of ours this summer. I have bikes but she will not ride a bike, so i now own a trike so we can ride together.

TrikeTradersLLC · #7 (**permalink**) 02-08-2010, 03:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tmigala

I don't think the issue is not to use of a fork brace but that it will do no good on a trike. A fork brace is designed to keep the fork tubes in line when you are turning/leaning on a bike, for more stable and predictable steering. If the forks are able to flex and twist then the bike wanders in the turn do to the changing geometry. This action is not required on a trike. The twisting is not there because the trike does not lean.

Wondering why so many folks think a fork brace is such a no no on trikes? Do you think the forks are not trying to flex and twist when you force the front end to turn sharply on the trike, something it would never really have to do on a 2 wheeler because you'd be doing that comparably small bit of counter-steer, then leaning it? The resistance you feel when turning a trike at speed is because the geometry and physics of the front end want to keep the bike upright and going straight, the way it was designed for a two wheeler. The front end doesn't know or care that you triked the rear, so it knows no different way to behave. That's why most put in an EZ Steer, to deal with that resistance the front end of the trike has to being turned. Well, that same resistance you feel at the handlebars, that you fight against every time you push & pull to turn your trike....you think the forks don't get those same resistance forces trying to twist and flex them? If anything, I would think a fork brace would be MORE beneficial on a trike than on 2 wheelers, because trikes seem to put more torsional and lateral stresses on the forks...

redneckray · #8 (**permalink**) 02-08-2010, 03:38 PM

On some homebuilt trikes that use an Jap frontend that are extended, they use a brace to keep the tubes from twisting on a trike, because of the extra lenght in the fork tubes, and usually are mounted closer to the front tire and wheel,
Hope this helps.
Ray

Ozarkryder · #9 (**permalink**) 02-08-2010, 06:45 PM

I tend to agree with TrikeTradersLLC. the Blue Trike, a trikeshop VW runabout, had a set of Springer forks. The angle of the forks was pretty extreme, and they were desogned for VW trikes. I had a brace made, and it seemed to make a little difference on older roads where the pavement was buckled or worn. On the GL1500, I put on a Superbrace, and to me there is a marked improvement in the ride through curves. Remember, the forks were designed to take the forces up and down through the steering head, and even when heeled over in a turn, most of the force is in the same plane. When we trike a motorcycle, the forces are lateral in a turn, causing more striction and side deflection, not the thing the forks were designed for.

fitz · #10 (**permalink**) 02-10-2010, 01:19 PM

Fitting a fork brace will make the forks better on a trike and the fork oil seals will last longer to because the brace stops the fork legs twisting and makes them moor ridged. Over here in the UK a lot of folks fit fork braces to there bikes if they fit a sidecar to make the steering lighter. The best type of forks on a trike are leading links if you can get them.

alienhunter · #11 (**permalink**) 02-10-2010, 07:17 PM

i cant see that it will hurt i would say if thats what want go for it