4XV - 5PW fork clamps.........

Hi my first post! I have a 99' 4XV and a friend has offered me the old fork clamps/steerer tube from his 5PW 01'. The question is.....will this increase stability/improve handling of my old bike?? I know you can buy Harris etc Tripple Clamps that improve the handling will this do the same or am i just reducing the wheelbase but not increasing stability? I have no idea-- please help! Sorry if i,m covering old ground here. Thanks Rob. P.S. the R1SLUT is not linked in any way to my sexual orentation, My bikes registration number is R1 5LUT.

I don't think you will be reducing the wheelbase at all.. and if somehow you are I wouldn't do that because they are already setup to perfection. I dont think there is any difference between the two bikes in that area anyways. The 99 and 01's are practically identical. An aftermarket tripple clamp is from say Harris is stronger and lighter then stock which will reduce flexing and improving handling but the improvement is so small its not really worth anything unless your in the top 2% at your trackdays. Summarizing: I dont believe replacing the front of a 99 with a 01 will do anything.

The offsets are different. 5pw is for the 02-03 R1. So your wheelbase will increase as trail increases. This has been discussed before so try a search. Note that the 02-03 was considered one of the best handling bikes you can get. I think the triples had a big factor in that. So the swap would be good but make sure you get good measurements on bike height as fork tube lengths may be different.

Many thanks for the replies I'll fit them this weekend!!

02-03... news 2 me... whoops

Finally got round to fitting them today.............. Before i started i measured from ground to bar end (whilst on padock stand) just out of interest. After fitting the bar end was 5mm lower. Anyway the bike now looks like i've gone in the back of someone! There was room to get 2 fingers between tyre and bellypan, now only one. The gap between the levers and the back of the fairing is also noticibly larger. only had a chance for 2 mins up the road but first impressions are that it turns slower (at 40mph with stone cold tyres) and seems long wheel base if you get what i mean?? If you smack on bar at 80mph with steering damper at lowest setting) it just shakes for a second, i wouldn't of even tried that with the old yokes! But a already wheelie prone bike is now savage! 45t rear sprocket and genuine 149rwhp means the short wheelbase wonder now comes up under power in 3rd, and i dont mean shutting it down and yanking or clutching it..........What this means now is i can add some more rear ride height with out worring about the cronic instability. and maybe change back to standard gearing or fit a drag race swinging arm to keep it on two wheels! I'll have to wait for the rain to stop to try it in anger, but it all seems good so far.............................................................................................

cool, keep on refining

Id like to know what a small change like that in wheelbase would change our lil 99's Keep us up to date :)

Fine and warm in the UK today and managed 150ish miles before my wife noticed i was gone and started ringing me! Well... I should have made this change last year, the instability when changing direction aggresively has vanished, any instability over bumps/broken tarmac etc also gone. I used to tense up when crossing cats eyes (lane markings) at speed as a few times the result has been more than just a little bar wiggle. Rode a very quick road a few times today and ended up turning my steering damper 'off' Normally it is set at 9 clicks from min. More positive counter steering is required to change direction, i'm gonna raise the rear a few mm's to help with this. To think i was only looking into this because the original top yoke had been scratched by the previous owners bunch of keys! Out on sunday with some fast boys down the notorious Alton to Basingstoke road... like a mini TT course, should blow all those GSXR's away with ease!!! Cheers Rob.