For anyone interested in a bit of practical knowledge I can truthfully say that these things make a LOT of difference in the handling of the stock forks on the XR650L in loose gravel washes and square edge. Still a bit plush and floaty feeling but the bite and directional control are leaps and bounds better than stock. The difference is like riding a bike as opposed to a Sofa on shopping cart wheels and I don't care that Tedesco got a whip with one the stock bike sucks up front for average joes.
I spent a week on mine in good ole Bend area in the triple digits and learned to hate the washed out wandery feel up front almost as much as the CV carb but when you're base lining a new bike it's best to take it one major change at a time so it was oil cooler and 606s for last year and just today I got to Diamond Mill with the brace on.
On slab it exaggerates the twitchy "dirt bike" feel to the extent of a bit of almost flickability at 60-65 as compared to stock which actually "seemed" better damped over rougher paved stuff typical of Oregon's north coast.
On the other hand I finally enjoyed riding the BRP off-road down windys over deep loose stuff. I'm pretty sure when I check my tracks I'm going to average 10mph faster than last Summer over the same stretch. Good enough to actually feel confident in second going downhill over 1 1/2 inch gravel six plus inches deep through the corners on the 15/45 road geared pig. Ruts from our quad riding pals are still not fun but are at least negotiable with the new found authority up front and I can heartily recommend the purchase of a fork brace in general and an RSW fork brace in particular.
P.S. The aforementioned RSW stuff can be found on a well-known online auction site. Mr. Wallace also sells triples to mount CRF forks on the L model so if you happen to find a set of X model CRF forks/wheel for cheap......
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Subject: RSW Fork Brace for XR650L 
3/13/2014, 1:23 am
