How short is too short

[Tim of DO THE TON]

So - just how many inches can one remove from the front end of an XS650's 35mm forks?

Talking about lowering them. I'm working with a Voodoo Vintage MK4 frame and I'm looking at potentially needing to remove 3-4 inches of height.

 

[3Deuces]

Look at some of the Ardcore bikes, they appear to be dropped about 4" or more.
To short? Maybe, but it looks damn tough.

 

[jdizon]

Dropped mine 3" and moved up tree close to 1/2". Have about 2 inches of travel from the bottom tree to the fork boot. I don't bottom out. If any lower use 30w fork oil.

 

[Tim of DO THE TON]

Dropped mine 3" and moved up tree close to 1/2". Have about 2 inches of travel from the bottom tree to the fork boot. I don't bottom out. If any lower use 30w fork oil.

That's more or less the range I'll end up with to make the frame level.

I've been working on alternative front ends for the bike - girders, springers etc. but haven't come up with anything yet. So in the meantime I'm working with stock 35mm forks and plan on putting the covers on them up top to clean them up a bit and make them look a bit like '50s Triumph forks.

This is likely just a bar-hopper bike for around town, but still, I'd like to have some suspension up front if for nothing else some safety.

 

[jdizon]

I saw a picture on fb of a girder/springer front end that voodoo vintage were developing. It looked pretty slick on those frames. Aggressive as hell! Looked like it was doing a ton standing still.

 

[Tim of DO THE TON]

I've been working on David to do a springer for me He designed one from scratch a while back and it's really tidy and small. Not completely sold on the modified DNA. It's a massive improvement, but if I could have any front end I wanted, it would be a girder.

~$1K and I can have a custom girder done. So one day, I'll splurge and drop the hammer on that.

 

[Curtis P]

Tim
why not build your own Girder?
Looks of.books there on it... Heck if we plan it out right i can ride my bike in to your place and you can copy mine

 

[Tim of DO THE TON]

Where are you located? Sadly I don't have the skills or facilities to build a girder properly.

 

[Tomterrific]

One way to build a high tech girder is to cut off the steering neck, run suspension A-arms from the frame to the neck. The steering neck is unsuspended so the legs to the front wheel are ridgid. The steering is at the neck but a steering linkage should be used so the handlebars stay sprung.

This is similar to the Hossack design but uses trunions and king pin instead of ball joints.

Tom

 

[Curtis P]

I am in peterborough Ontario. So not far from Toronto

 

[Curtis P]

BBuy me lunch and i will bring up the welder and toys and help ya build.it

 

[Tim of DO THE TON]

Sounds great, but not practical in my situation - no plans on cutting the neck off. This is what I'm currently working with.

 

[Tim of DO THE TON]

BBuy me lunch and i will bring up the welder and toys and help ya build.it

Might just take you up on that. I've got a Lincoln 180 here, but haven't used it yet - just starting to get into the welding side of things. Too cold to go outside and play with it just yet, and I'm taking a quick intro at Centennial College next weekend.

But aside from an angle grinder, no other metal working tools or solid flat level surfaces to build the blades on.

 

[Scrambled]

Tim , under where the users name is and under the join date , some members list their locations . Is that info hidden for you ? Not everyone lists their location , but most do.

 

[Tim of DO THE TON]

Sometimes I'm on my phone using Tapatalk - that detail doesn't show.