4" fork extension

Jonaven

XS650 Enthusiast
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I have a 78 xs650 thats hardtailed and I'm looking to get extended forks to give more of a 70's chopper look to it , I'm not wanting something crazy like 6 or 10 over just a Suttle lift to the front , my buddy has a shadow and ordered extensions that basically replace the top bolt with an extension that clamps into the triple tree , anyone heard of these for an xs?
 

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They were sold back in the day and were considered sketchy then. I felt if the joint stayed above the lower triple it wasn't too likely to fail. But haven't seen them in ages.
 
You're better off getting the proper +4" upper tubes. While you're at it, since you've got them apart, go ahead and clean house, with seals, emulators, etc. A wise man (on this site) once said something to the effect "...as long as you've got it apart, now's the time to replace parts..." (sorry. I couldn't quote it exactly :doh:,but, it would've taken me too long to look up!) :twocents:
 
Slugs work fine so long as they are within the triple tree in length. Frankly though you can get new fork tubes fairly cheap at Niche Cycle. I have 2” over and it makes a hard tailed xs650 sit fairly level to the ground. You need 4 or 6” to get a bit of lift to the front.
 
I have a 78 xs650 thats hardtailed and I'm looking to get extended forks to give more of a 70's chopper look to it , I'm not wanting something crazy like 6 or 10 over just a Suttle lift to the front , my buddy has a shadow and ordered extensions that basically replace the top bolt with an extension that clamps into the triple tree , anyone heard of these for an xs?
Extension slugs have an unhappy history of snapping out on the road and making the rider kiss the tarmac. The only ones I'd ever entertain would be 2" ones and only if I absolutely had to. 2" will at least ensure the joint is between the top and bottom clamps.
Any extensions that are long enough to be below the bottom clamp are just asking for trouble.
 
" slugs " Noooo.... Check with Forks by Frank.... 😎
 
IIRC Frank Died, his widow ran it it for quite some time, then an employee bought it and moved it.
Glad to hear, hope, it's reopened.
:twocents: In the past I've had a lot of Franks tubes come through here on chopped XS650's. The chrome at the top bushings/ seals was inevitably worn through to the copper under it and beyond. My thought was their chrome wasn't up to factory standards. Factory tubes were "hard chromed"? a different process, material, than "show chrome". Franks tubes????
 
IIRC Frank Died, his widow ran it it for quite some time, then an employee bought it and moved it.
Glad to hear, hope, it's reopened.
:twocents: In the past I've had a lot of Franks tubes come through here on chopped XS650's. The chrome at the top bushings/ seals was inevitably worn through to the copper under it and beyond. My thought was their chrome wasn't up to factory standards. Factory tubes were "hard chromed"? a different process, material, than "show chrome". Franks tubes????
"Unlike many of its competitors, Frank's uses only hard chromed steel for longer life on our products along with vigorous testing of our steel tensile strength. No one in the industry makes the variety or a higher-quality fork tube."

Taken from their website.
 
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