79josh81
XS650 Addict
I just want to know...has it been done? how does it ride? and pics of what it looks like?
-
Enjoy XS650.com? Consider making a donation to help support the site.
XS650.com receives a small share of sales from some links on this page, but direct donations have a much greater impact on keeping this site going.
6 over fork tubes with stock rake
- Thread starter 79josh81
- Start date
-
- Tags
- 6 over fork tubes rake
Okay, so, the skyscraper bike (in the picture) is definitely more than 6" over. But on an Xs, 6" over will be noticeable, and it will change the rake. How? By extending the forks, you'll raise the steering neck (vertically), which will change the rake angle, and give your bike a slightly "up-hill" looking stance. 6" over is not extreme, and shouldn't change the trail by much.
You can "Google" more information about front end geometry (and I almost flunked geometry!) than you can shake a stick at. Do your homework, make the calculations, and you'll find the answers you are looking for. I was planning to go with 6" over fork tubes on "The Basketcase". If that's too much, I can "lower" them slightly using spacers (see the Tech section: How-to: Rebuild XS650 forks / install lowering kit). It's definitely a "look" thing, and will affect performance. But by how much will be subjective, if not substantive. Bottom line: don't let "cool" outweigh your safety.
Oh, to answer your original questions: I'm certain it has been done, I don't know, personally, how it rides, and you'll find plenty of pictures on the inter-web. Sorry. That really wasn't an answer, or the one you were looking for... Good luck, and send pictures of your project, as it evolves (we're nosy!).
You can "Google" more information about front end geometry (and I almost flunked geometry!) than you can shake a stick at. Do your homework, make the calculations, and you'll find the answers you are looking for. I was planning to go with 6" over fork tubes on "The Basketcase". If that's too much, I can "lower" them slightly using spacers (see the Tech section: How-to: Rebuild XS650 forks / install lowering kit). It's definitely a "look" thing, and will affect performance. But by how much will be subjective, if not substantive. Bottom line: don't let "cool" outweigh your safety.
Oh, to answer your original questions: I'm certain it has been done, I don't know, personally, how it rides, and you'll find plenty of pictures on the inter-web. Sorry. That really wasn't an answer, or the one you were looking for... Good luck, and send pictures of your project, as it evolves (we're nosy!).
I was a teenager in the 70’s. Back then it was very popular to swap in longer forks and a set of mini apes and call it a chopper. Haha, everybody wanted to be like Easy Rider.
Like Tebo was saying. If you just lengthen the forks without altering the steering head you wind up with a bike that always looks like it’s going uphill!
Like Tebo was saying. If you just lengthen the forks without altering the steering head you wind up with a bike that always looks like it’s going uphill!
79josh81
XS650 Addict
Yeah the bike in the picture I put up was more of a joke because of how hilarious that bike looks. I don’t “mind” the up hill look. What I really want is a raked neck with 6 overs, or a springer, or a girder. What I don’t want to do at this time is take one of my good finished builds and chop into it. So I guess I was thinking extend the forks and then rake the neck sometime down the road.
Way back I rode a CB750 hardtail, 12 over, stock rake til I cut the tubes back to 6 over and raked the frame with hacksaw, hammer, and acetylene torch in the basement of an apartment we lived in while going to school. Being the gggGary it was a project bike with a spun bearing I bought, blue Silicone seal had been slathered on all the chromed engine cover mating surfaces..... Sorry, like a bike with extended forks, I'm wandering.
They tend to want to fall in at low speed, once moving they are (just) OK. Any XS fork is pretty flexy from the get go. "Tweak bars" were real popular in those days........ I've had lots of 4 to 8 over XS650's through here but honest to god I've never ridden one. they always got removed before I rode em. There's (three i think) extended fork XS's out there now. Coincidence that so many extended fork bikes are also barn find bikes? The early bikes were more likely to get the long tubes. Easy Rider was released in 1969, coincidence? I think not.
They tend to want to fall in at low speed, once moving they are (just) OK. Any XS fork is pretty flexy from the get go. "Tweak bars" were real popular in those days........ I've had lots of 4 to 8 over XS650's through here but honest to god I've never ridden one. they always got removed before I rode em. There's (three i think) extended fork XS's out there now. Coincidence that so many extended fork bikes are also barn find bikes? The early bikes were more likely to get the long tubes. Easy Rider was released in 1969, coincidence? I think not.
Last edited:
I ran some overstocks, 4 or 6 (took them off and thought no more about them aside that they were extended) with a stock neck. Sometimes I would think about the oil level in the crank case. Two over would have been fine enough. I like mildly aggressive cornering so I went back to stock.
79josh81
XS650 Addict
I would love to have one of my XS’s to have the the same style front end as Peter Fonda’s easy rider bike. I just like that profile.
79josh81
XS650 Addict
I would love to build an xs650 as an exact replica of Fonda’s bike. However, sending everything out to be chromed sounds hard on the old checkbook.
79josh81
XS650 Addict
I figured it had already been done. Lol
If you're really serious about building a chopper, check out:
www.chopperhandbook.com
There's enough information there to keep you busy for a long, long time. You may find inspiration, or decide your stock motorcycle is cool enough.
Good luck!
www.chopperhandbook.com
There's enough information there to keep you busy for a long, long time. You may find inspiration, or decide your stock motorcycle is cool enough.
Good luck!
