Can I shorten XS750 forks??

[Paulrxs650]

Hi All,

Turns out that the forks on my XS650 project originated from an XS750 (they have the blind retaining cap instead of the bolt at the top of the fork).

They have been swapped id say because they are longer to give the chop look, where as im going for the bobber look.

My question is can I shorten them? Can I simply dis assemble, cut the spring and stanchion down and re assemble? Anyone done anything like this?

Best regards

Paul

 

[gggGary]

IMHO they are very similar internally to the XS650 fork. So............. you should be able to follow the Punkskallor guide to fork shorteng.

You should post up some pictures, and do a bit of measuring, you might get some opinion as to whether or not they are XS750 The XS750 has 36mm tubes and came in two styles Standard and Special. The standard has a very similar appearance to the the XS650 fork. The special has the axle in front of the lower and had big aluminum brackets sticking out of the rear of the lower that hold the calipers. The 750 also had two brakes and the rotors (caliper mounts) are different (it uses a smaller rotor diameter) than the XS650. XS1100 forks are even bigger and used the same size rotor as the 650. We have seen a bunch of different front ends grafted on to XS650s one had a CB750 front end which drove the owner nuts til he figured out what it was. So, get some pics up?

 

[Paulrxs650]

Thanks for that. Whats the best way to post a pic?

 

[gggGary]

Here's the how to post pics:

http://www.xs650.com/forum/showthread.php?t=287

http://www.xs650.com/forum/showthread.php?t=287

 

[Paulrxs650]

Thank you very much

 

[gggGary]

OK Paul the pic testing works, let's see those forks! LOL

 

[Paulrxs650]

Pictures as below, ignore the lack of carbs - rejetting is occuring!

 

[Paulrxs650]

The stanchion diameter is 34mm
The overall length of the forks sat on the bike, from axle to top of the stanchion is 37 inches

 

[gggGary]

34mm? Then I have no idea what they were from.............. Probably a 400-600 class bike though. Seems too small for a bigger street bike.

 

[Paulrxs650]

Thanks for having a look at them.

 

[Paulrxs650]

So, I took the cap out by depressing and removing the spring clip. Two springs came out behind them - the first or top one, a short 5" spring and then the "normal" main spring. Perfect - I removed the short one altogether made up a 2" spacer for each leg, popped back together and results below:

 

[Belle]

Looks good! If the action is a little soft for ya taste, a little heavier fork oil will help stiffen it up.

 

[Paulrxs650]

It's pretty good actually, I made the spacer adjustable too, so I can fine tune it, if necessary

 

[Belle]