As some of you may already know, I have been messing around with new triple clamp designs for the R1100S (I know it seems like forever...) to cure what I feel is a flexy front end. This trait is usually only noticable when the bike is ridden hard and especially evident when trying to make rapid transitions from turn to turn. Many of you may not have even noticed this and are perfectly satisfied with the performance of the front suspension as it is. I am not, and will be making new upper and lower clamps for at least myself but wanted to get an idea if there is any interest in having more sets available when I get some hard price quotes. Obviously having just one set made will be extraordinarily expensive so it would be nice to be able to have at least five sets to get the price down. If there are any good machinists out there experienced with Solidworks and CAM, and would like to give me a quote, let me know too.
I started out my quest by designing a larger, two (two on each side) pinch bolt design upper clamp that was looking really nice. The only problem with it was that I had to lower the under the clamp bar position by about 1/4". I have had my handlebars in the 1/4" lower position for several rides now and it suits me very nicely. I also had Jeff Williams try this bar position out on his bike and he found it to be less than ideal. So, in the interest of being compatible to larger range of riders, I decided to design a single pinch bolt version that retains the stock bar height, under or on top of the triple clamp. The new clamp will still prove to be more rigid than the stock clamp and offer a new look to the bike as well. I retained the stock roundel too. This pic is just a graphic representation of the part and not the actual assembly.
In the interest to gain an even less flexy front end than the new upper clamp would offer alone, I took a look at the lower clamp as well. It turns out that the lower clamp is by far the weaker of the two stock clamps and is likely the source of most of the flex I have been experiencing. The main cross member on the stock lower clamp is very thin at less than .600" thick over all. This is due in most part to the front fender mount and steering damper mount which severly limits the available thickness of the clamp.
A closer observation of the layout of the lower clamp assembly led me to see that I could gain some thickness and a great deal more strength by utilizing the space above the stock clamp as well. This additional structure will still allow clearance for the telelever arm and ball joint. In fact, when viewed from the front as assembled on the bike it will have a similar look to the new lower clamp setup on the R1200S. One of the best features of the R1200S that I noticed after test riding it was the signifantly more stable front telelever set up. I would be extremely satisfied if I could achieve at or near the improveved feel of the front end on the R1200S with these new clamps for the R1100S. I am expecting a big improvement in stiffening up the fork leg assembly on the R1100S with this new lower clamp alone. The new upper clamp will add some additional strength and more bling especially. At the very least, the new lower clamp could be used while still retaining the stock upper clamp, since I have retained all the stock geometry in both clamps. My goal was not to change any rake or trail handling traits of the bike, but rather to just radically reduce any flexing in the fron end when pushing the handling limits of the bike. Let me know if any of you are interested in these clamps. My purpose is not necessarily to make a profit on this but rather to be able to get the cost down so that these clamps can be an affordable upgrade to all of us. If I can get my own set cheaper by having multiple sets made, I'll be a happy guy indeed. Let me know if any of you have an interest in this, thanks.
