it was the damn fork brace, I loosened up one side and it popped back into place, i guess even though the brace is made to just fit on top of where the cap is taken off, it doesn't line the forks up. So I just tightened it back down where it stayed after loosening it up and works fine now.

 

Glad to hear you found a solution!

 

I have a Super Brace fork brace on my bike. I like it and think that it has provided a more planted feel to the fork, but it definitely took some messing with to get it right. I didn't have binding as severe as what you've described, but I was aware that the forks weren't properly responsive at first (I followed the Super Brace instructions). I think I ended up loosening the axle pinch bolt, the axle nut, the fender, and the lower tree pinch bolts. Then I bounced the fork around a little, then lifted the front wheel off the ground, then installed the brace, then re-torqued everything...