After getting no real answers on my fork noise question, I am considering to install a fork brace. This would tie one slider to the other and reduce wheel wobble as well as stabilize. That is the theory anyway.

Since I see lots of these at the the bike nite here in New Orleans, they are not rare.

Has anyone out there used a fork brace? On a Sportster? If so, what kind of benefits have you seen?

Thanks

 

I used one on a wide glide. Didn't notice any differance at all. Complete waste of time and money.

 

Maybe try taking your front fender off and see if the noise gets worse. If it does, you probably need new bushings. I doubt that you really need an aftermarket fork brace on a stock front end.

 

Wouldn't the bushings leak if they were bad?

 

I had a 92 Sportster about the color of yours for nearly 15 years and I installed a fork brace. I thought it tightened up the steering a bit. Compared to the 06 Street Bob I have now, the Sportster felt like it was on rails in the corners but I do not know how much of that was due to the brace. I am thinking of a brace on the Bob. Good luck.

 

If they were worn bad enough, I guess you would eventually wear out the fork seals (at the top of the sliders). I had a little play in my upper bushings that I didn't even know was there until I had the bike up on a jack with the front fender and wheel off. Without the weight of the wheel and the fender to tie the lower legs together, it was easy to feel the movement.
You've got a noise in your forks that you really should further investigate. It's not a hard job to pull the forks apart and check for something loose, worn or broken. The only "special" tool you will need is to install the seals.
One other thing. When you have the weight off of that front end, it's a good time to check your neck bearings.

 

I had the front wheel, brake and fender off when I replaced the damper rings. I didn't notice any play, although I wasn't really looking for it. The sliders did rotate quite freely. Is that normal?

These forks have only 8,700 miles on them, yet they sat unused for 7 years.

Were your forks rattling at 3,000 rpm or so when you had the play? Remember the engine mounts are rigid on the 91.

The springs would love to jump out sideways if they could. You can be certain the spring lies up against the tube wall. The noise gets worse when the forks are more extended, ie less tension on the springs. It sounds very much like the main springs or dampers slapping the tube walls.

It takes about 120 pounds of force to push one of these springs into the tube while putting the cap back on.

I rode over some nasty railroad tracks at about 15 mph the other day, and watched the forks. They worked perfectly using the full travel with no abnormal noise. Hit a small bump a 45 and got a clack and rattle.

 

Rotation is ok. Once you remove the wheel and fender, there's nothing to keep them from turning.
Mine is also rigid engine mounts ('95) and I had no noise at all from the forks although the bushing wear wasn't real bad.

Has anything in that front end been changed from stock?

 

As far as I can tell, the forks are stock. One thing I noticed when I had the dampers out was that there were at least 4 holes about 5/8 in the damper stem. I thought there were only two smaller holes in the stock damper stem. but I really don't know for certain. One accepted procedure for softening the fork shock is to drill more or larger holes in the damper stem. I don't get hard fork shock, just a loud clunk instead. If it were not for the noise, the forks function very well.

Addition:

I just received the 2006 XL 1200 Springs and Dampers I got for peanuts on ebay. The 1200 springs are progressive type, and the damper is even cruder and far lighter than my 91 883 damper - having only one ring. All dimensions are identical. There are two small holes in the 06 damper stems, and four large holes in the 91 883 damper stems. The 883 was obviously modified, and is meant for MUCH heavier fork oil than standard. Therein lies the demon clacking with the lighter fork oil. Still, which setup should I go with I wonder?