standard fork legs on special

[Tonyxs11]

I saw and talked to Fred Hunteman at a sidecar event in september he said to have someone pull the wheel forward and the forks will slide in easily.
i will be finding out before too long i hope.

I'm sorry but thats not a good thing to do, first off bending the lower yoke will be fairly hard and to bend both sides equal won't be easy, if the top yoke is on the stem then the forks won't slide up through it as they are out of line. to me this sounds like a bodge !!!!! and IF you do get the forks in the top yoke, when all the bolts are tightened then their will be a lot of stress on the aluminium top yoke.

[somesuch]

I just swapped out my '81 Special front end with the '80 Standard front end. I did it to make the front wheel removal easier and for better brakes (sintered pads are available for standard calipers, but not for the swinging Special calipers)
I am using a 14mm master cylinder from my GSXR with stainless steel lines, and it is what I would consider "perfect" for a vintage brake setup. the 14mm master cylinder would be too small with rubber lines as you probably would not be able to get the lever firm enough.