RC51 vs CBR954 front end - compatible?

mdtoney · 02-24-2006, 9:02 PM

I have a question and I also posted it for the Fireblade guys.

I'm working on a project bike right now. I have a Honda 919 that I want to put a USD fork on. I recently bought a complete 954 front end, and was just told that the 954 front end will work, but the legs are 1.5 inches shorter than the 919 (or the RC51).

One option might be to sell the 954 setup and get a complete RC51 front end... but I want to have a 3-spoke wheel, to keep with the looks of the 919. Are the rotors, calipers, axel, spacers, bearings etc. interchangable?

Another option would be to keep the 954 front end and just get a custom set of clamps made with a 1.5 inch drop.

Does anyone have any experience with these parts? I want to go with the best option.

Thanks for your help,
-Mike

jdmbike · 03-13-2006, 8:10 PM

Mike, the RC51 front end is a better bet. It is around an inch longer than the 954. I have seen a project 919 with an RC51 front end.

mdtoney · 03-14-2006, 11:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jdmbike

Mike, the RC51 front end is a better bet. It is around an inch longer than the 954. I have seen a project 919 with an RC51 front end.

Thanks, I agree. I've since decided to sell the 954 front end and get RC51 parts. Do you know of anyone looking for a complete 954 front end???

-Mike

voodooridr · 03-25-2006, 7:17 PM

The RC51 forks are the way to go, as you found out the 954 forks are 1.5 inches too short.
If you want to keep the three spoke wheels all you need to do is install RC51 wheel bearings, spacers and seals into your 954 wheel.
I also found out the hard way that the 954 forks are too short, now I have a set of 954 forks I need to sell too.

Hope that helps
Dan

mdtoney · 03-25-2006, 8:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by voodooridr

The RC51 forks are the way to go, as you found out the 954 forks are 1.5 inches too short.
If you want to keep the three spoke wheels all you need to do is install RC51 wheel bearings, spacers and seals into your 954 wheel.
I also found out the hard way that the 954 forks are too short, now I have a set of 954 forks I need to sell too.

Hope that helps
Dan

That's exactly what I ended up doing - I just got RC51 forks, axel, wheel bearings and spacers and am using the 954 front wheel. I'll eventually get a billet upper clamp with risers and a mx-style bar, and get everything installed... someday.
Will I need RC51 calipers? I already have 919 calipers and 954 calipers - I'm not sure if there's any difference between them.
I really like the smaller front fenders on the '06 599 and '06 CBR1000RR - does anyone know if either fender will fit the RC51 forks? or how far the holes are off if they're not a direct fit?
Thanks,
-Mike

Custom900 · 03-25-2006, 8:34 PM

In regard to the questions at hand:

What is involved in changing out the front-end? Can I just remove one front-end from the head and bolt another in it's place? I guess the question I really need an answer to is whether or not any front-end will fit properly into other heads?

voodooridr · 03-26-2006, 10:26 AM

Neither front end bolts on without modifications, check out this thread over at Project919
http://www.project919.com/modules.ph...iewtopic&t=100

You can use the 919 calipers, I'm going to be using RC51 calipers, if you switch calipers be sure to check to make sure the donor bike has the same diameter master cylinder (probably doesn't) mixing caliper bore sizes and master cylinder diameters is a recipe for frustration.
Post up what you find out about the front fender, I agree the RC51 fender is a little big for a naked motorcycle.

Dan

mdtoney · 03-26-2006, 11:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Custom900

In regard to the questions at hand:

What is involved in changing out the front-end? Can I just remove one front-end from the head and bolt another in it's place? I guess the question I really need an answer to is whether or not any front-end will fit properly into other heads?

I would imagine that you could put almost any front end on your bike, but you'll need to do a good amount of homework first. Your best bet would be to not mix and match parts from different bikes if at all possible and to go with a complete set up so that the wheel/bearings/spacers/axel are all compatible with the fork/rotors/calipers you're using. If all of those parts work together smoothly, your main concerns will be if the fork legs are the same length (to keep similar geometry), and that the stem will fit your frame (same diameter and length), and if the stem bearings that work with your front end will work with your frame. And brake lines designed for a sport bike with clip-ons swapped onto a bike with risers and a taller bar will be too short.

As posted above I'm putting a USD fork on a 919. I originally went with a complete CBR954 setup, which is almost a 100% direct bolt-on - but, the fork legs are noticably shorter than the 919 legs. Some people are ok with the quicker steering and some are not - I didn't want to chance it.
The second option was to use a complete RC51 front end, which is also close to a 100% direct bolt-on, but I wanted to keep the look of the 3-spoke wheel design, so I needed to put RC51 wheel bearings, spacers and rotors onto the 954 wheel (the 919 wheel won't work) to make it work with the RC legs. Also the steering stems are different on the SP1 and SP2 RC51 triple clamps - the SP2 stem diameter is reportedly too big for the 919 frame - and I've heard that neither the 954 or RC51 stems are exactly the correct length for the 919 frame - I think they're 1/4" too short. I'm going to have a billet triple clamp made to fit the RC51 forks, but I'm going to have to send him my 919 clamps so he can measure everything and make sure that the stem dimensions stay the same as the 919.
You can see that keeping with all Honda parts makes the project a bit easier than if I wanted to do something crazy like try and bolt an R1 fork with a GSX-R wheel onto a V-Max, but it's still not 100% exact.
I'm still gathering parts and will hopefully start assembling things in the next couple months. When I get everything working smoothly I'll post a parts list and some pics.
-Mike

voodooridr · 03-26-2006, 12:09 PM

Before you go to all the trouble of having a set of triples milled check out Style & Performance, http://www.styleandperformance.it/ they make a set of triples for the 919 that use all the stock parts i.e. stem bearings, gauges, head lamp, ignition switch. They can be had with 30mm or 60mm handlebar risers in 22mm or 28mm fatbar diameters.
They're triples are set up for Ohlins forks but RC51 forks will work (214mm fork spacing, 50mm fork top clamp diameter and 54mm lower clamp diameter)
They also have adjustable offset via bushings.

http://www.styleandperformance.it/st...Hor900nera.jpg

Dan

mdtoney · 03-26-2006, 2:29 PM

Thanks for the info Voodooridr!! Any idea what the price is on the Style & Performance product? I've been talking with Bill from Full Throttle Inc. and he said it would be $350 for the upper clamp and $250 for the lower. I've heard that some billet clamps sell for more than $1200!!
The nice thing about the Style & Performance setup is that the ignition and gauges bolt right on. I'm not sure if the Full Throttle Inc. clamp can accomodate the gauges. I'll send off an e-mail and see what the prices are.
Thanks again,
-Mike

voodooridr · 03-26-2006, 5:04 PM

If I remember correctly the S&P triples are $800 but they do include a new stem and the bushings to adjust the offset and they should be a direct bolt on.
Post the info you get from Full Throttle, they do great work and if they can provide a complete triple that'll accept the stock ignition and head lamp brackets that would be something to consider.

Dan

mdtoney · 03-26-2006, 8:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by voodooridr

If I remember correctly the S&P triples are $800 but they do include a new stem and the bushings to adjust the offset and they should be a direct bolt on.
Post the info you get from Full Throttle, they do great work and if they can provide a complete triple that'll accept the stock ignition and head lamp brackets that would be something to consider.

Dan

The Full Throttle stuff is really nice looking stuff - it will accept the ignition, but I'm not sure about the head lamp bracket or the gauge cluster - maybe the S&P setup is worth the extra couple hundred $$. It would save a lot of custom fab work to get the small bolt-on stuff to fit like stock again.
I'll e-mail S&P in the morning.
-Mike

mdtoney · 03-28-2006, 1:28 PM

I've been corresponding with Enrico at S&P in Italy the past couple days (very nice and helpful guy) - and Voodooridr is absolutely correct - They said it will be no problem to make the upper and lower clamp to put RC51 forks on the 919; the top clamp will have risers to accomodate a 28mm bar, the ignition will go back in the same place, the head lamp bracket will still mount the same - basically it'll be a bolt-on and go package. They'll even anodize it black. The complete clamp package is 650 Euro ($785 US), and shipping is approximately 120 Euro ($144 US), so the total price is 770 Euro ($930 US).
Nobody ever said it would be cheap, but it's still quite a few hundred cheaper than some of the other options I've seen, and they make it so all the add-ons just bolt right back together like stock, and that's got to be worth something.

I'll get back with Bill at Full Throttle Inc. also. The ignition switch will go back in the same place on his clamps, but I'm no so sure that there's mounting for the gauges or the head lamp bracket - maybe something could be fabricated later. If re-mounting everything like stock is not a concern, his clamps are a few hundred $$ cheaper...

-Mike