[Garym262]

I'll get this ball rolling here in this area.
After looking at the raking of the front end of the Volusia,idea and seeing how it would need to have a longer front fork to get it back up off the ground a little I need to ask some "old school" folks about this. What was used before the day of replacing the whole fork asembly to extend the stock forks?
Did people compress the springs and put plugs in the tubes?
Did they replace the whole tube?
I've heard bits and pieces here and there and was wondering if anyone knew the old methods. :?:

 

[Bluto]

The two choppers I built back in the late 70's :?
I bought new tubes that were 6" longer than stock . At the time that was considered the way to go . Both bikes were Triumphs , and those parts were plentiful . I spent some big cash on a long springer once , but before I could get the project finished , I kissed the back of a milk truck and was laid up for 7 months and ended up having to sell it to make ends meet . They sell fork extensions , but I never thought they would be strong enough . I suppose they may have improved on that .
If I were to extend the forks on my bike , I would probably do what I know how to and get the whole tube . It just seems stronger to me .
Now if I had 1500 bucks to throw down , I would get the springer , for sure ! :wink:

 

[Hank]

The methods of "the good ole days" were as varied as the owners themself. I have seen extensions welded on existing tubes, shocks removed and replaced by home made ridgid tubes and front ends bastardized by combining tubes and shocks from different makes and models to gain a few extra inches. My all time favorite is the home made "girder" type front end. Struts were flame cut from steel plate, usually 3/8" thick or more then drilled and machined to remove the excess metal to reduce weight. The beauty of this is you could be very creative in the design of the girder. I have seen these works range from downright nasty looking to outright beautiful. And of course there were available overstock length tubes in just about any diameter imagineable along with custom made springer kits.

Before the advent of the "raked" triple clamp, the neck had to be cut from the bottom bearing race and stretched upward to compensate for the increased length of the front end. The hole was welded shut using steel plate to fill the void. Some builders opted not to rake the neck and handling usually suffered. In the late 60's/early 70's the raked triple clamp came out and solved the neck cutting delimma.

So, today is really no different than then. If a creative person feels up to the task, any combination of materials and/or components can be made into one fine looking unit. It just depends on how much money a person is willing to spend and how much time there is to invest in the project.

 

[Bluto]

So that's you Hank ?
I didn't know guests were able to post ......hehehe
That's strange :roll:

 

[Hank]

Yup, that was me Bluto. Seems strange things follow or find me no matter what or where. Keeps life interesting though.