Clutchslip
XS650 Member
Hey everyone! Look what I did!!
I'm planning on using my XS as a dual-purpose bike with a high mounted front fender, meaning I won't have the low fender to help with bracing. So, I figured I'd be wise to use a bigger diameter forks. I wanted to retain the stock mag front wheel, and retain the stock single disc brake which should perform well on diet and adequately on the street.
After a fair amount of research I settled on 37mm XS1100E forks for their extra 50mm of travel and extra 2" of installed height, and of course the extra 2mm diameter for strength. The parts fische at partzilla says it uses the same axle spacers & bearings and brake caliper & bracket. I found the Maxims used a different 37mm fork with an offset axle & different front brake setup altogether so those were out. The problem I had was that the XS1100E used a much shorter stem, and those that had tried it had to either cut & extend the XS11 stem or press the XS650 stem into the XS11 triple.
Through my research I stumbled on a bike that looked like it had used the stem I needed pressed into a beautiful aluminum tree. It was a real unicorn bike though, a XV920R Seca, which I had never heard of! Think of it as a Seca with a XV920 Virago engine in it. Well I found a XV920R triple in New York on eBay and ordered it, but couldn't find an upper clamp anywhere for that bike, until I located one in Germany which was quite expensive. Well I put on my Big Boy Pants and bought it, and waited 5 weeks for it to arrive. It took almost 7 weeks.
But it's here now! And I'm so happy to say that everything just bolts together!! The fork offset is 5mm less on this setup, so I expect to see a slight increase in trail, but with the added ride height hopefully I'll come out ok. The together pics are from last week when I test fit it all together, and the box of parts is me bringing the forks home from work where I installed the new fork seals today. I'll reassemble it tonight after my daughter goes to bed!
Won't run for a few months yet, got to wire the bike next.
I'm planning on using my XS as a dual-purpose bike with a high mounted front fender, meaning I won't have the low fender to help with bracing. So, I figured I'd be wise to use a bigger diameter forks. I wanted to retain the stock mag front wheel, and retain the stock single disc brake which should perform well on diet and adequately on the street.
After a fair amount of research I settled on 37mm XS1100E forks for their extra 50mm of travel and extra 2" of installed height, and of course the extra 2mm diameter for strength. The parts fische at partzilla says it uses the same axle spacers & bearings and brake caliper & bracket. I found the Maxims used a different 37mm fork with an offset axle & different front brake setup altogether so those were out. The problem I had was that the XS1100E used a much shorter stem, and those that had tried it had to either cut & extend the XS11 stem or press the XS650 stem into the XS11 triple.
Through my research I stumbled on a bike that looked like it had used the stem I needed pressed into a beautiful aluminum tree. It was a real unicorn bike though, a XV920R Seca, which I had never heard of! Think of it as a Seca with a XV920 Virago engine in it. Well I found a XV920R triple in New York on eBay and ordered it, but couldn't find an upper clamp anywhere for that bike, until I located one in Germany which was quite expensive. Well I put on my Big Boy Pants and bought it, and waited 5 weeks for it to arrive. It took almost 7 weeks.
But it's here now! And I'm so happy to say that everything just bolts together!! The fork offset is 5mm less on this setup, so I expect to see a slight increase in trail, but with the added ride height hopefully I'll come out ok. The together pics are from last week when I test fit it all together, and the box of parts is me bringing the forks home from work where I installed the new fork seals today. I'll reassemble it tonight after my daughter goes to bed!
Won't run for a few months yet, got to wire the bike next.
