Front end...
Well already mentioned the forks and how the yokes needed some engineering to fit them, worth mentioning that although the bottom yoke shims are in fact made as a bush; ie completely circular, I will be taking a cut out of them vertically so that I can be certain of a good grip around the fork legs - I don't want them sliding up through the yokes when hard on the brakes.
Of course radial mounts need radial calipers and I found a good deal on a set of new Brembo M4 Monobloc calipers from an Aprilia dealer who was having a bit of a clearout.
These are the same calipers as fitted to 1198 except that the Aprilia versions are gold coloured rather than grey - combined with a Brembo RCS radial master cylinder and Brembo full-floating discs - I am not expecting the brakes to be wanting in any way.
I quite like the gold, a little bling is nice and they match the rear caliper too;
You may notice in that that there's a 3-spoke wheel on there, but I want to match up with the rear and I prefer the look of and the lower weight (usually) of the more spindly spokes so, to this end I bought a 5-spoke front.
It's not the same design as the rear, rather it is from a MHe900 and is a nicer (IMO) wheel than the rear, and much lighter than the 3-spoke but as it's new, grey and got no bearings (or tyre) it's not fitted yet and is waiting for paint along with the frame and rear wheel before fitting with bearings, discs & tyre.
Not quite decided on front mudguard yet, I have a new Monster DP carbon-fibre mudguard and also a DP 916 carbon mudguard, both fit (as does an 1198).
The Monster version is longer at the rear and so will keep the engine slightly cleaner and looks more 'Monstery' but the SBK version is more substantial at the sides and has better fork leg protection and since the 916 forks have slightly longer sliders they are more exposed to road debris but it is very short at the rear as the SBK models have fairings to keep the engine clean - so, for now the jury is out on this one.
You will notice that this pic shows a black tank rather than the previous silver one, more on that in the next installment...
On to the steering damper; I don't know if it will need one? but I'm fitting one anyway.
I prefer the across the tank (916) style of damper to the long frame mounted version but it is proving more tricky to sort out.
I've got a suitable adjustable damper and a mixture of ST & (later) Monster mounting brackets and although none of the brackets are quite right, due mainly to the handlebar clamp bolt spacings being narrower on the early (like mine) Monster, I will be getting suitable bracket(s) made once I've finalised the how & where.
Here's a pic to give the general idea;
It fits OK onto the frame (through the ignition lock bolts) but I need a bracket to suit the bar clamp spacings and also suitable spacer to get the height just right due to the forks being longer meaning that I need higher bar risers.
This part is still under consideration though so likely to change.
More later...