Well, I did it. Found a pair of 2007 Griso 1100 Showa fully adjustable (preload, compression, and rebound) forks on line for $185. Turned out they were fine, as is. Just did a Dave Moss dump and ride fork oil change and proceeded with fit up to my 2004 V11 Sport Naked using the Griso axle, V11 axle spacer, and stock V11 front wheel.
Grisos are 53 mm diameter, stock Marzocchis are 54 mm. So, $8 worth of 0.5 mm shim stock from Amazon took care of that. But Griso fork lower brackets must be thicker than stock Marzocchis. So had a local machine shop mill around 2 mm off of the stock Brembo caliper bolt bosses to get them centered around the brake discs on the stock wheel. Griso forks are shorter than the stock Marzocchis, which are mounted up to the top of the triple clamp brackets on top of the top triple clamp. Did not want to effectively raise the "new" forks as much as 39 mm. So, opted for Woodcraft clipon brackets with 2.5 inch rise mounted under the top triple clamp. That left the clipons at about their stock location. Didn't even have to remove controls from the stock bars. Just slipped them out of the stock brackets, slipped into the Woodcraft brackets and tightened them up. That left the need for a new front fender to mate up with the Griso forks. Griso front fenders are very hard to find. So, a quick look at online pics seemed to show that an Aprilia Tuono fender might work (same Showa shock mounting brackets more or less). So, 50 bucks for a used fender and a bit of surgery on the rear mounting brackets and it worked fine. Have no idea about fork spring rates, etc. Rides fine using stock Griso fork adjustment settings and I am using something like 1/2 of the 120 mm fork travel for static sag and pretty gentle street riding.
So, not sure why I did this except that I could. Usual disclaimer: I am not a mechanic or have any other sort of expertise on this. If you try it ,you are on your own and realize that messing with your bike's suspension could cause your injury or death.
That said, here are the pics
Gtista
Grisos are 53 mm diameter, stock Marzocchis are 54 mm. So, $8 worth of 0.5 mm shim stock from Amazon took care of that. But Griso fork lower brackets must be thicker than stock Marzocchis. So had a local machine shop mill around 2 mm off of the stock Brembo caliper bolt bosses to get them centered around the brake discs on the stock wheel. Griso forks are shorter than the stock Marzocchis, which are mounted up to the top of the triple clamp brackets on top of the top triple clamp. Did not want to effectively raise the "new" forks as much as 39 mm. So, opted for Woodcraft clipon brackets with 2.5 inch rise mounted under the top triple clamp. That left the clipons at about their stock location. Didn't even have to remove controls from the stock bars. Just slipped them out of the stock brackets, slipped into the Woodcraft brackets and tightened them up. That left the need for a new front fender to mate up with the Griso forks. Griso front fenders are very hard to find. So, a quick look at online pics seemed to show that an Aprilia Tuono fender might work (same Showa shock mounting brackets more or less). So, 50 bucks for a used fender and a bit of surgery on the rear mounting brackets and it worked fine. Have no idea about fork spring rates, etc. Rides fine using stock Griso fork adjustment settings and I am using something like 1/2 of the 120 mm fork travel for static sag and pretty gentle street riding.
So, not sure why I did this except that I could. Usual disclaimer: I am not a mechanic or have any other sort of expertise on this. If you try it ,you are on your own and realize that messing with your bike's suspension could cause your injury or death.
That said, here are the pics
Gtista
