CB1300 USD Front End - Help Wanted

[Brookesy]

Guys, i need help.
No, not psychological (just now anyway) - real help.
A weekend ride showed up a few deficiencies with the CB13 "S" suspenders. Anyone for a high-speed wallow? There's one going cheap.

OK, so the Ohlins shocks are on order.

Next... the front end.
I want to put Ohlins USD forks on the fat bitch.
Can anyone tell me what's involved and what to watch out for / what i need to get it done.

My plan is to get the gear together i need eg. forks, triple clamps etc. and try to get the job done with minimum downtime.

Thanks
Brookesy

[Gix11]

So what's on order? Just the forks or the triple clamps/tree as well? Are the forks CB specific or wil you be changing the calipers and disks as well?

[Brookesy]

Hi Gix,
I've only ordered the rear shocks so far.

Here's the deal...
Ohlins make a set of replacement forks for the CB1300.
43mm conventional forks - no problem really only USD forks would be cooler. Fork length is 800mm overall, so compared to most USD forks they're long. Looks like (from what i can gather, most are in the vicinity of 730mm long.)

So, if i go for USD forks, i'm not sure whether i can get forks long enough so i don't lose ground clearance.

I know i'll be up for triple clamps etc. but i'd like to use the brake calipers, discs, wheel etc. from the CB13

I don't really know enough about the whole deal yet, so any advice (even if it's "forget it - too much trouble") would be helpful

So,
Is it possible to retain the existing wheel, discs, calipers etc and still change over to USD forks?

Also,
From what i can gather, the CB1300 forks are similar (very close) to the early Fireblade (except maybe length) which were conventional forks.

[Gix11]

Usually, the easiest way in the long run is to replace the complete front end rather than mix and match parts, although that can be done also. You'll need someone familiar with Honda parts and especially the CB to help you out on that one. If you were to do a complete front end swap, i.e. wheel, calipers, mudguard, triples etc etc you could probably just get away with a stem change but again, the height of the stem and forks etc needs to be taken into account or else it could radical change the ride height/ground clearance. Find out what sports bike from Honda were released the same year as yours and see how much they differ as the factory usually likes to keep things as uniform as possible to save on development etc. Honda guys should step in here. Damo might have some advice.

[Slingblade]

Early blades have 45mm conventional forks. The cb has 43mm. I would recommend talking to someone like ben from extreme as he can make you custom clamps in any configuration you need. He can also sort out a way to use your standard brake and wheel setup as well. I reckon if you can afford to lay out the BIG $$$ for ohlins forks that you should upgrade to some nice radial brakes at the same time as i am guessing you could order the forks with lower radial caliper mounts. Then look for some second hand cbr1000 radial calipers and master cylinder(keep it honda!). Then you would have top shelf suspension and brakes.

If it were me i would look for a straight 2nd hand cbr1000rr front end and get ben to knock you up some clamps to suit. Then you have usd forks, radial brakes and awesome rotors. Get them set up for your weight and riding style, and your done.

Ohlins are cool as shit, but on a bike with a conventional steel frame, the Ohlins might be wasted. Just my 2c. Good luck with it.

[Brookesy]

Thanks Fellas,
Good comments.

Sounds like you guys think the same.
Ohlins = Cool! 100%
The best i could hope for (and i don't know how far the budget will stretch yet) is Ohlins USD to suit CBR1000 (then i can use a CBR front guard), radial brakes etc. I'm not sure if it's better to use a CBR front wheel too. Logically, it should be similar to the CB13, but who knows?

The CB13 forks are 800mm long and most USD front ends seem to be around 730mm or so and I don't want to lose the ground clearance or fuck up the handling, so it means finding longer fork legs. So, if i get a complete front end i still need to do something with the fork leg length.

I didn't know the early Blades were 45mm, thanks Boris. Ohlins have a radial brake conversion set to go with some of their forks as an option. I will try to keep it Honda too - why put shit on a good bike hey?

I'll try to find out a bit more and then talk to Ben. If i'm going to do this i want it right. No use spending the $$$ and not be happy with it.

[Slingblade]

The length is not a big deal . Alot of usd front end conversions use offset triple trees to compensate for the shorter forks. The front wheel off a cbr1000rr is a three spoke wheel and your cb is six. You may be lucky and your cb wheel may have identical rotor mounts to the cbr, i have no idea.

Anything is possible if you have the dough.

[Slingblade]

http://www.streetfighters.com.au/forum/upload/25807109131156.jpg

It can be done. This is a cb Honda entered in the Suzuka 8 hour.