Feasibility of Making your Own Fork?

[fitek]

With all the recent threads on front hubs destroying drop outs, I'm wondering about the feasibility of rolling your own fork. There is a fork building instructable on instructables.com. But what about suspension forks? Springs are easy enough to find on McMaster... but what about shock absorbers? Anyone else wanna throw some ideas out?

 

[gogo]

I intend to fabricate some Earles forks for my stretched cruiser. They will be heavy and have a heavy feel due to the amount of mass far from the axis of rotation, but the smoothness of ride will be unmatched. I really don't understand why more touring motorcycles don't use them. Stiction from huge fluid seals on telescopic forks and dive from braking totally suck and are avoided by the earles fork.

http://jeffdean2.home.att.net/earles-fork.htm

 

[John in CR]

Gogo,

Thanks for the link on those Earls forks. I love the idea of no dive while braking, or even tuning it for a bit of front rise while braking. Plus it can solve some suspension width issue I have for one build.

John

 

[AussieJester]

Set of plans by John Brain for nice set of springer forks could be
made to the size required...

http://bikerodnkustom3.homestead.com/brainfork.html

Very easy to make if you have the tools i knocked a set up for my trike
they are strong as and would have no probs handling a front hub motor IMO

That second pic above is a set of forks found on sidecars,

was thinking of something similar for my trike before deciding on the springer

Kim

 

[Miles]

The articles here are a useful reference:
http://www.tonyfoale.com/

I like the idea of using rubber in torsion, for combined spring/pivot units, as in the Moulton New Series and the Greeves leading-link design.

 

[dogman dan]

I have often thought that some kind of add on to a small motorcycle fork to convert it to ebike use would be a cool thing to fabricate. Some kind of beefy dropout that bolts to the motorcycle fork, possibly somthing with a u-bolt closing the bottom of the dropout? The whole thing might even look like a torque arm, but thicker, like 1/2 thick stock so it's bombproof.

 

[fitek]

After attending NAHBS, I think the following would be ideal:

Go on instructables.com

Search for bicycle fork jig

Buy parts, including the fancy new mountain bike drop outs where the wheel can't fall out (dunno what these are called, they're on the new downhill forks) from some place like Nova Cycles, Henry James, or Paragon Machine Works

Build the jig

Build your fork

 

[Dee Jay]

For the sake of elegance, what I'd like is custom made steel fork with robo drop-outs and disc caliper mount, as well as V-brakes. And if it looks good, drop outs for 20" 24" 26" wheels!

And then borrow this brilliant idea

http://www.wisil.recumbents.com/wisil/headshock/headshock.htm

Anybody here know this guy?


J