EXTENDING FORK questions

[tribaltalon]

okay, it seems to be very difficult to get any answers from anybody on hardcore, cu, or here, but here's a shot. i have the 81 xs11 special, i'm wanting to lengthen the front end. i know that the front has 5 inches of trail stock. i am wanting to get extended forks, like 4 or 6 inches. but how much can i go before it looks stupid or i need to rake the neck? i am also hardtailing the back and dropping it two inches, so it seems to me like that would tilt the whole bike back some and give it some more rake? anybody? bueller bueller?

[Pat Kelly]

As far as looks go "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder". What I think is proportioned right another might look stupid to someone else.
Lowering that much might cause problems with the shaft drive (U-joint angles).

[DiverRay]

You may want to stay with 4" over forks. I've had a bike with 4", and it would still handle OK. If you do the hardtail, take a look at some of the older links. Someone did a 850 hardtail, and chromed the driveshaft! That also gave more room for a fat rear tire.
Good luck, and keep us posted as you do the mods!!
Ray

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Tribaltalon,

Dave Wales has just put 6" overs on his Special, and once he gets some tires on the rims....supposed to be this weekend, then he'll send me the photos and I'll post them in the other thread he had commented in, and then you'll be able to see what the 6" looks like, if you look in the pictures section, you'll see an 81SH by Ty Graham...that's my Hotmail pseudoname I used when I first joined years ago, but you can see the 4" overs there!
T.C.

[MartyA]

This past weekend I drove Highlanders Special with the 6" overs a couple of miles down the road. It does not look TOO bad. Handles like you would expect, straight line no matter, twisties are gonna be a learning experience. 80 MPH on a country road was a nice straight ride, even without a fork brace. On a trip on different roads it would not be any sort of challenge to drive.

But I have a Standard, so his Special did feel a lot different.

By the way, if you ever pull up next to Dave on that 'new' Special do NOT try to run him. He has something magical under that tank.

Sorry I forgot my camera.

[xs650mike]

With all these ridiculous so-called "choppers" on TV the whole reason we extended forks on the rigid framed bikes of yore has been forgotten. It had nothing to do with looks and everything to do with performance. First we got rid of all the garbage to lighten the bike, that means bobbing fenders, losing the instruments, cutting extraneous brackets off the frame, etc. etc. The ideal was to have a bike which would be unrideable if even one bolt was missing, absolutely no unnecessary parts. Though it wasn't often achieved, that was the "ideal". Next the forks were extended to improve cornering clearance. This was relatively mild, usually somewhere between 2 and 6 inches. The 5.00x16 front tire would be replaced by a 4.00x18 or 3.25/3.50x19 which provided somewhat lighter and more precise steering. Some guys mounted 3.00x20 fronts which are no longer available hence the 21 inch front wheels now used which to my eye look out of proportion. notice that the wheel and tire sizes used would be very close to the same outside diameter as a stock Harley 16" wheel and tire. In the '70s things got totally out of hand with ridiculously long girder front ends and sissy bars to the sky. Now with the huge rear tires and short bars the things are practically unrideable, no wonder these guys have pumped arms.

IMHO you should take Ray's advice and stick with 4" over tubes which are available from Forking By Frank. I wouldn't go over 6'' without raking the neck to maintain a reasonable trail measurement. If you too radical you'll have real trouble making u-turns and with the driveline slop on an XS11 parking lot speeds will be a real adventure but that's the price we pay for style! Dunno how much wider a tire you can mount, maybe a 140 section depending on brand, my Dunlop 130/90x16 is about 1/4" from the driveshaft on my bike.

Have fun building this beast. I'm looking forward to seeing the pics of your finished bike!

[tribaltalon]

well see, i dont care about making a "OCC" chopper or anything like that, actually, i am staying with the 130, maaaaybe a 140 width tire in the bike, but i doubt it. no fatties for me. i just have an image in my mind of what i want my bike to look like, and i sit out on my porch smoking cigs staring at my bike envisioning what its going to be. i dont want a ridiculous 20 foot springer front end, i just want something thats different, and not stock. i think i'll be fine in the back, i dont plan on lowering it more then 2 inches, which is what a hd 11" shock does. plus, since it'll be pretty much static in terms of swingarm movement, wear should be kept to a minimum. right? i'm very interested in seeing the 6" extended fork bike, sounds like that might be what i end up doing. it should be quite a learning process, hopefully it doesnt end up too ugly in the end. but eh as long as i can ride it, its all good. i'll definitely be throwing a fork brace on it if i can find one to keep the front end from wandering.

i'm not too worried about the bike being "interesting" in parking lots, i have uhhh.. quite a bit of experience riding sportbikes in all kinds of conditions, normally on one wheel. i wouldnt call myself particularly talented, just educated. (with scars, of course. )

[xs650mike]

Yeah, that's the ticket to get rid of the iron grip steering required at low speeds, just loft the front off the ground and ride it like a unicycle! Actually it should wheelie pretty easily with 6" over.

[tribaltalon]

lol not quite what i meant, but alrighty. hopefully that dave guy sees this thread and posts up some pics of that 6 over soon.

[dwales]

I just sent TC the pics of Magic, and Marty, it does have a fork brace on it.

[tribaltalon]

so where IS TC?? i wanna see these pics. and another interesting point somebody made on a different forum, what about oil starvation? since the motor is being tilted up? any thoughts on that?

[TopCatGr58]

Patience, patience!!

Okay, below are first a few views of Dave's 6" over forks!!






Now, here are a few views of my 4" over forks! Note the sidestand extension!!




And finally, with me on it, notice how SMALL Godzilla looks when you put my 6'6" frame on it, kinda looks like a minibike!

[tribaltalon]

is dave's bike lowered in the back? kind of looks like it is, but i cant really tell. it looks pretty good though. definitely like that alot better then the 4" overs, you can actually tell quite a difference whereas the 4 inch doesnt really look that much different in pics. does frank keep those 6 overs in stock, or would he have to make them? i know i read that he's way behind in production, so i'm wondering... i think with drag bars, and the forward controls, it could be exactly what i'm wanting. my latest thought is making a foot clutch and suicide shifter. now that would be cool, and also make the forward controls a little easier to make, as i could just have basically identical controls made on each side. not to mention the cool factor! now the main questions are which bars to use, and which damn rear fender to use! i'm starting to think about just using a trailer fender after all, they really dont look that bad, and i dont want a big ass fender in the back, just enough to cover most of the top of the tire. which trailer fender should i look at getting? i'm staying with the 130 width tire... also definitely going with struts at this point, if i could find somebody local that could build a rear end for me that looks clean and welds on, that would be great but it seems like nobody wants to touch a yammie around here. sorry about all the questions, but yall are pretty much the only ones that know anything about these things, and yall have definitely been a big help. i'm definitely shooting for having the rear fender and struts done by the end of this month, and fabbing a seat to work until beeza can make me a nice one, and ordering the forks and bars in october hopefully if they have them in stock.

PS, if you have any pics of you on the bike, dave, that would also be a huge help in telling how i would look on the bike.

[tribaltalon]

btw, the name of my bike is the War Eagle. it came to me while i was sleeping, and i just had to wake up and write it down in case i forget in the morning. i basically saw the entire bike as it's going to be when its done, and i dont want to give away the ideas i had, but man. this thing's going to be wild. wish i had dreams like this more often.

[xs650mike]

Looks to me to be lowered with shorter shocks. The bike does look somehow "right", doesn't it? I like the paint scheme and the Harley muffs.