fork extending question

[slob]

I want to extend the rake on my 450 rebel. I have ben led to believe that 'back in the 70's' (tm pyro commercial enterprises) that fork extenders could be screwed ino the fork legs and then into the yoke. Is this still true?

I ant the cheapest and easiest way of doing this. If I have to buy longer forks I will but If I can avoid doing that i'd prefer it. :D

[Creature]

Also they are no longer legal to use on teh road

[glyn]

Creature and Happybiker are dead right avoid them like the plague.

[slob]

right... longer forks it is then! Thanks for the warning,... I'm not well known for being safety conscious and I would have been more than tempted.

[Creature]

spent most of teh nite trying to find a pic i have somewhere of what can happen just riding with 9" slugs when it all goes wrong... but cant find it :( all i will say is that it cost me 9 months in hospital....

do the job properly and you should have no worries - but always wise to get someone to check your handywork (god i must be getting old)

[slob]

It's about time I stopped bodging things, my rat divvy was held together with cable ties... it's a wonder I didn't kill meself on it.

[oxford_rebel]

Slob,

You can buy ready done legs in any length from Jacks salvage in Florida. He specialises in Rebel parts and these bits are made specially for him.
Have a look at:
www.rebelcatalog.com
He ships to the UK as cheap as poss and is realy helpfull.

[slob]

thanks for the link, rebel i'll have a look.

[titusni]

Also they are no longer legal to use on teh road

Oh? What law prevents their use?

I'm not sure if what I've got on my trike are exactly "fork slugs" or not - the GSXR1100 USD forks have a 3" extension on the top, the same diameter as the fokr legs, that goes into the top yoke. The extension looks like a solid cylinder of billet and I believe the bolt from the yoke goes through the extension and into the fork leg.

This was done 2 years ago as part of the trike conversion and its been through MSVA and 3 MOTs like that. If particular if it wasn't legal (i.e. C&U breach) I've have expected it to have been a MSVA failure point.

[Blackjack]

These guys tell me they can do overstock fork legs...


http://www.allbikeengineering.co.uk/

And they're in England

[slob]

These guys tell me they can do overstock fork legs...


http://www.allbikeengineering.co.uk/

And they're in England


thanks BJ!

[slob]

prices look good! When buying forks does that include the springs or is that seperate?

[PILRCGeff]

you would have to ask the supplier.

If they are selling as a complete assembly it should include springs.

[Blackjack]

Nooo...

The idea is to have longer forks with the same amount of travel.

So you use the same springs but you add a spacer on top of them.

6" longer legs, 6" spacer....

Never bought a set from All Bike but ask if they include a spring spacer. Forking by Frank who are highly respected, actually supply plastic pipe as spring spacers. So it ain't exactly Hi-Tech.....

New springs tend to sag, so if you're modifying the frame to accomodate the longer forks, it's best to use the OLD springs. While Nik might not like bikes that run "uphill", they look a lot nicer than ones that run "downhill" because the shiny new spings have sagged by an inch! :D

And the other question is....

"How much oil do I put in my X" over forks?"

And the answer is....

"Exactly as much as you put in your bog standard forks."

[slob]

I knew this was the place to come for bike related questions!!! :)

[Big Pete]

.....

And the other question is....

"How much oil do I put in my X" over forks?"

And the answer is....

"Exactly as much as you put in your bog standard forks."#

Do you always do that BJ? Because thats going to make the effective spring rate softer unless you have solid spacers. I would have expected to have to add an eguivalent volume of oil to match the change in volume of the stanchions.

[Blackjack]

#

Do you always do that BJ? Because thats going to make the effective spring rate softer unless you have solid spacers. I would have expected to have to add an eguivalent volume of oil to match the change in volume of the stanchions.



The critical thing is to keep the damper assy immersed in oil with out blowing the seals (feel free to insert the Eskimo joke of your choice here...).

As a piece of advice, it's a sweeping generalisation (cause if you're into racing you'll be messing with oil levels and grades to get the most out of the forks) but it's not going to get you into any trouble.

The increase in stiction from the change in rake is going to have a bigger effect most of the time. And changing the rake alters the effective spring rate too.

[noizy git]

I would have thought that you use the same amount of oil as standard as although the volume of the forks has changed you must still have an airspace above the oil level or the forks would be unable to compress.I doubt that the difference in volume of the airspace would affect road use.
Having said all that I'm not 100% sure so if anyone knows different please tell me :)