Fork brace

[morini_tom]

Anyone with experience of fitting a fork brace to their 350, specifically the Tarozzi brace?

I bought a new tarozzi brace (the correct one listed for my bike) to hopefully help with some fork flexing I was experiencing.

In the meantime, I found a new old stock pair of forks (thanks Paul!) which I’ve fitted and they have cured the wobbly front (a good lesson there- if it doesn’t feel right it probably isn’t, and a sticky plaster isn’t the fix.

Anyhow, since I have the tarozzi brace I thought I may as well fit it, but I have some concerns over the fitment-

I know it’s supposed to be tight on the fork legs, but the ID of the clamps is almost 1mm smaller than the OD of the forks. And given that the sliders are thin at the top and it essentially clamps around the area where the fork seals are, I don’t want to risk distorting the sliders (particularly as they are brand new!)

Also, because the brace moves the dust seal from the slider to the brace, the brace does need to clamp up to itself rather than leave a gap between the halves, else it’ll let water and muck in.

So I’m gauging opinion from those who have fitted these before-

1) is it worth reaming out the brace to give a snug but not excessively tight fit

2) have you noticed any other issues- deformation of the top of the slider, fork seal issues, etc

3) is it worth bothering at all

[George 350]

Hi Tom,
I must say in all the years I've had my Morini, I can truly say I've never felt that it needed one, even with a seriously uprated front brake. The front spindle is both huge when compared to contemporary oriental bikes as are the spindle to fork leg joints too. This makes for a surprisingly solid front end on a mere 350/500.
As you say, the slider tops are so thin it would seriously run the risk of fork damage should there be a small amount of flex if it were fitted.

If they were that great, all the oem's would have fitted them as standard, and even on race bikes where it might have made a difference, very few bothered.
Says it all for me.
Regards,
George

[BumbleBee]

Fork flex, you said it yourself; "If its there its because there is wear in the sliders or the fork legs and a brace isn't the answer".

I agree that fitting one is likely to cause problems for the slider tops.