Honda CBR 500 Riders Forum banner

Fork Length

3K views 3 replies 3 participants last post by  capetowndave 
#1 ·
Hi Guys,

Need some assistance please. A buddy and I are in the process of building a 500 race bike using an accident damaged bike as the donor. Front end was smashed so we've fitted a front end from a VFR400R NC30. Could someone please let us know what the total fork length is of the 500? From the fork cap to bottom?

The NC30 forks are to short so we are having extenders machined but we'd like to replicate the original 500 geometry as a starting point, so matching fork length is a necessity.

Will post some pics when the build is complete.

Thanks very much!

Dave
 
#2 ·
hi,
it's kinda hard to measure it propperly, because you would need to have the fork disassembled so at least approximately ...
with the bike on the side stand, with stock springs and preload set to my weight and riding position the length from the fork cap to bottom of the fork is about 81 cm,
it would be better if the bike was on the front paddock stand, but i don't have the space or time to measure that right now, so maybe someone else can be more accurate ... but i think if you go with about 85 - 90 cm total length, it should be fine, and you can still adjust with the position of the triple tree (i'm assuming you will be installing clipons anyway)
 
#3 ·
Hello Dave, and welcome to the forums.

While I'd say such a waste to use a VFR400R front on the CBR500 (a CBR600F4i might be more economical and provide a cartridge based fork with dual disc setup and bolt-on 41mm stanchions) it sounds like an interesting transplant.

My ride-around 500F has 807mm total standing fork length from cap to bottom, and about 18mm static sag if I measured it right. So all together it would be around 825mm.
I'd be hesitant to install anything longer than 850mm to the front. While you can play with dropping or raising the triple clamps and play with the geometry - putting it too high would screw your turn in even if you raise the back of the bike. Which you will have to do anyway as the CBR500 is not a real race replica - read you'll scrape it like **** on the track if it is not raised at least a bit at the rear.

There are a few guys on the forums who actually track their CBR500 ( I think Loserlazer Lean Machine, SBK1198 to name a few), I'll let them chime in also.
Good luck with your journey and keep us updated.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top