KTM triple clamps

they all fit ok

regards

Taffy

come again? in fitment? or ride?

here's the original thread that i did at the time: index finger here

regards

Taffy

chamber66 said:

ride mainly do they all have the same amount of rake,
have read your thread, which is why i am thinking of this mod

Click to expand...

Rake is the same, offset (distance from centre of stem to centre of fork leg) is different.

I f you use the fixed offset KTM clamps you should be able to swap stems and use the original bearings. If you use the adjustable KTM clamps you will need to make up a spacer to fit under the top clamp and do some swapping of bearings.

up to and including '03 they steering head angle was 25d i believe and it's now 23.5 degrees. i don't think that that is right but someone may know. there is a picture in chapter one of the doc of the difference.

the trail changes with each set. the 14s become MORE stable, they jave mre trail, but make it harder to turn the bike at corners. below a certain speed, like 5mph and you go from lock to lock the bike is easier. the reason for this is the lifting mass/weight.

if you remember a guy on a harley at a stop, when he went from lock to lock he actually had to raise the bike up to steer ahead and then it dropped to the other lock.

with the 14s there is less lifting so at 5 mph it's lighter and easier. the main disadvantage of the 14s is that to drop the bike into a corner you have to throw it down instead of falling in.

i'm sure you understand that when you turn into a corner, you fall off centre and steer ahead until you drop low enough and start to press on the bars to start the arc around the corner. well with the 14s the wheel doesn't move as far offline as you turn, it means you needed to fall further over and of course that takes time.

when in the corner the wheel is under you more and with more weight on it giving you better grip.

oddly enough, if you leave the sussies, you'll get more weight on the front, this results in more dip, this helps it steer sharper! however now....too much dip and nod and on acceleration - more yaw - means you're unstable.

i described it on ktalk the other day as thus:

take an imaginary line from the steering stem down to the ground. it would go through the front wheel and strike the ground well infront of it. imagine a wiper blade pivoting on that point infront of the bike with the arm and blade back toward you. the 22s mean that the wheel would be at the top of the rubber away from the pivot. so when i turn the steering, the wheel arcs out further. with the 14s the wheel is at the bottom of the rubber: the bottom of the blade and therefore nearest the pivot. it doesn't travel as far off the centreline when you turn the steering the same amount.

sounds like MMs and it is but it gets exagurated by the dip in the forks so the difference will be over an inch and that's a lot.

phew! i'm knackered!

regards

Taffy

then why didn't you say that before you started ya berk!

offset threads on k-talk



this diagram shows why most folks are confused about why reducing offset brings stability .note how inclining the forks reverses what happens when changing the axle offset as compared with the vertical diagram .when reducing the axle offset in relation to the steering head axis in the inclined diagram the contact patch is moved further behind the steering head axis bringing more stability and better turning traction .it also requires a bit more effort to turn the bars .this is evidence of the increased stability .increasing the offset will lighten steering effort and make it a bit quicker but if its too extreme the front becomes a bit twitchy and in many cases will tend to push straight in the turns .

i should mention that if a bike were built in the vertical scale shown it would be unridable .it would have a leading contact patch and would be incredibly unstable .it does illustrate what most folks see in thier minds eye though and would actually steer quicker as you brought the offset in .....till you fell on your head

look at the yokes in this one half way down. this is all you need to know about offset if you don't want to go too deep into it

and another

regards

Taffy

it'll make it better up to 5mph around 45 gallon drums, it'll make it more stable in a straight line. it seemed to make it the same flicking in second gear type stuff but because it was so, so stable i was able to let 13mm of fork show through the top, this made the steering steeper, the bike lower and now it did flick left and right better with no lose of stability in a straight line and it gave better cornering grip.

you're missing the point that i had to raise the forks - otherwise you're right.

regards

Taffy