Stock is/are nothin' but springs, springs...mind you.

JRi's and Ohlins are nice but they don't make anything for the front end as of yet. They keep saying they are, but haven't seen anything yet, and with that in mind, who can really afford $700-800 for the rears and about the same for the front when it is that they do actually come out, whenever that is.

Besides that, this thread was about a fork brace.

Generally one wants to put a fork brace on because the front end is sloppy.
A fork brace corrects this and gives it more of a "sports car" feel, which is responsive-ness.

Monotubes address the "diving" that you get from your stock springs when you stop quicker than the "springs" can react.

 

I've used fork braces on other bikes, however there are problems with touring Harleys. One is that there is no straight-forward way to install one, across the sliders. The slider covers could be cut around, or left off, to get around that, but IMHO the improvement would not be worthwhile.

However the worst design feature of the forks is the top tree and the way the tops of the fork tubes are supported. There is so much scope for fork twisting, due to the lack of decent support at the top tree, that fitting a fork brace would be a waste of time! A brace cannot overcome the lack of torsional stiffness at the top tree.

Which is why we got around to discussing the CCE top tree kit, as it addresses that problem. My own view is that once installed the improved control of the front wheel and steering will be good enough to put aside any need for a brace.

 

I spoke with Rick at CCE and asked about a fork brace since he has a bunch on his site and he said the same thing grbrown said. The are hard to fit and don't do much good. Perhaps the front fender is just strong enough to cover the lower end of the forks. If one was to be installed, something would have to be done about the cow bells as well as machining the lowers to accept the brace as the lower fork tubes are not perfectly round.