Has anyone installed one of these on their K100. I want to stiffen up my forks on my 85 K100 and noticed this brace for sale.Its a great idea but I see a problem...brace has round opening but the forks are not perfectly round,they have a protruding seam that goes from top to bottom on the inner and outer part of the forks.

Any help would be appr.

Any pics, frogy?
Make sure its the correct model. The forks changed around 86. I'm sure some sage can give you the serial number that they changed with.
I had a tubular brace fitted to my 89 LT and I did notice the difference. It used longer mudguard fixing bolts to attach to the forks.

Sorry but I do not use any type of pic holding web site so I am unable to show pics.

no need mate...just "copy" and paste into forum...certainly what I do...

Here is item http://www.ebay.com/itm/85-1985-BMW-K100-K-100-AFTER-MARKET-FORK-BRACE-/121075846662?pt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&hash=item1c30aece06

price is not ridiculous but the postage is.....$75 for item and $51.89 for postage....shame really as I would buy it, if you guys were not ...of course..

My guess is that it clamps where the rubber caps are now and the caps sit on the brace itself.
I'm sure someone has a better idea though.

imagine below guard??

Comberjohn wrote:My guess is that it clamps where the rubber caps are now and the caps sit on the brace itself.
I'm sure someone has a better idea though.

You might just have the idea Comberjohn.I did notice the recessed area on the brace,that might be where the boot attaches too.

I have the teleflex brace on 2 of my 1985RSs. It does make a difference. On some of the later models the factory made a brace. I guess they also saw the need. I have an extra one but it will need some thread repair. One of the screws was miss threaded so a heli coil or tap to a larder size will be needed.

Rjtrucker wrote:I have the teleflex brace on 2 of my 1985RSs. It does make a difference. On some of the later models the factory made a brace. I guess they also saw the need. I have an extra one but it will need some thread repair. One of the screws was miss threaded so a heli coil or tap to a larder size will be needed.

Thank you for the offer,but I just bought one on Ebay.

I have heard it does make an improvement,and with your comments Im glad I found one.

BMW Research tested the Telefix fork brace in the 1980's after seeing them turn up on customer bikes. They rejected the design and redesigned the lower fork legs to take a bolt on fork brace like you see on later K100RSs and K75Ss. Here is why.

That style of fork brace clamps to the weakest part of the fork leg. The aluminum around the seal is the thinnest part of the lower leg. If you tighten the fork brace sufficiently to keep the legs aligned the way Telefix advertises, you end up distorting the aluminum leg and, even worse, you distort the fork seal, accelerating wear and creating more seal bind that occurs normally. You end up greatly reducing seal life and fork compliance with this style of brace. It does not require much clamping force to distort the fork seal. If you do not tighten the clamp on the fork brace so much that you damage the seal, it has no effect on stability.

My friend from BMW Research hates them. I used to use one on my K-RS but every time I left it at his shop for some work, I would find it disassembled in my tank bag. When I would ask him why, he would reply in his thick Bavarian Arnold Schwarzenegger accent "take that sh!t off" while shaking his head at me.

The BMW fork brace Klompy shows in the illustration in his post above is an effective fork brace with no drawbacks. I eventually bought some used lower legs for that style of brace, media blasted the black powder coat off them and installed them on the stock fork tubes with the correct cast brace. [i]Much[/i] better. Not expensive either. Used parts emporiums are your friend.

Just passing along some hard earned German wisdom.

I have come across the same thing with Kawasaki fork braces that were used in 80s they made the seal leak and when removed the seal often stopped leaking but not always.

There was a Telefix on my K100RT when I got it.
I don't know if it was wrongly fitted but it made the forks bind, usually when compressed. Come up to a junction on the brakes & the forks would stay compressed then boing back up 20-30 yds further up the road. Most unsettling.
Took it off & threw it in a box.