Yes Bill had a well set up bike and it also had a Stg 1 engine in it but back to your question.gl_s_r wrote:Some really nice parts on that bike when you look..anyways, Hawk, looking at that bike would you suggest the brace still works despite the fact it looks like it isn't anchored to anything else and appears to be just a loop, as all the blade braces etc tend to anchor somewhere at the front near the shock/pipe for what I always thought was rigidity. Would they work just as well without this anchor point then?
I guess I really should have said under-slung braces can work.
What I mean is they must be designed properly and like most "modifications" there are trade offs.
What I see when looking at the JMC arm is yes at first it looks like it would not be effective but then looking a bit closer two things stand out right away.
First is the steeper angle of the brace as compared to a 'blade arm. This would give the brace on the JMC arm better leverage to resist twisting, lessening the need for the front anchor.
Second look at the size of the brace on the JMC arm. Where a 'blade brace is fairly lite this arm uses a large rectangular section brace (and who knows what wall thickness they use but I would bet it is pretty thick or is an engineered section with internal ribs for rigidity)
This is where I see the "trade offs"
If you want to eliminate the front anchor point(s), which for clearance of the shock linkage and everything else going on under the bike might make things easier, you can set it up this way.
Though of course there is a but here..... Which is the "trade off" which is you pay a weight penalty. In order to get the same resistance to twisting that you would get with a 'blade brace you must use much heavier tubing and a larger overall brace.
This is why I said they can work. Is it the best option? From a straight performance point of view, I would say no.
A standard 'blade brace will be lighter and easier to fit.
Though if you really like the under-slung look and are not going for ultimate performance and don't mind paying a weight penalty for the aesthetics you desire, then go for it as it will work fine.
I will say that personally I would figure out a way to anchor the front if I was building an under-slung brace.
Personally I took the easy way and just fit an early 'blade brace to my bike.
