To Springer or NOT to Springer

[davem222]

Hey guys,
Just curious, is there an advantage to putting a springer front end on rather than the stock forks? Other than look (if you like the look) are there performance benefits?

Dave

 

[1974jh5]

If you are talking about the springers like this:

then no. The flex like they are made of chewing gum and there is no damping (no shock absorbers) so are strictly a looks thing. That's not completely terrible in normal street riding if they are somewhere near stock length but it's not what I would choose for canyon carving.

The long ones like this:

turn mere inconvenience into danger. They are simply not rigid enough for anything approaching performance riding. My dad's speed shop used to sell these back in da day, I rode a couple of the bikes and they were frightening to anyone who liked to see how far their skills went.

They also have one other nasty characteristic: if you are running a front brake, when you grab a handful of it the front of the bike will rise, not settle. If you happen to be in a turn at the time this can be real bad news.

 

[TurboFarviknugn]

WOW !! Thats good info right there ! I was thinking about swapping over, thanks for talking me out of it.

 

[davem222]

Yeah, seriously, great info I don't know if I was really thinking about it because it's so pricey, but now I'm definitely not gonna do it

Dave

 

[XSLeo]

A properly designed springer with a shock on them preform well.
I do agrre that the way they put very long springers on back in the day was not very good. Just putting long tubes in a regular fork is bad for the same reasons.
There are many good springers out there. There are many cheap ones too. As in many things you get what you pay for.
Leo