bending the front forks?

[Portland Rob]

Has anyone taken standard vintage schwinn forks and bent them out for a bit of a stretched look? It is my latest idea but don't want to try it without being certain it will work. Do I need to heat them up with a torch then pull them out? thanks!

 

[necessaryevil]

I "bent" these by notching out 4 spots on the front of each leg with a zip wheel, bent the forks to my liking, then welded everything up. A lot of finishing work, but they came out pretty nice. I'd say a torch, vise, and a big old pipe would work also.

 

[deorman]

If you're referring to solid blade forks, I've seen them bent at the crown, but I'm not recommending it.

 

[KOTA]

Is this the one you want to bend?..................Forget it! I've done a "few" forks (also ruined a few). :lol: But I wouldn't think about doing a solid blade fork (IMHO).

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[Anonymous]

Perhaps with the use of one of those Bumper Jack type fork straighteners you could bend it "too far" forward.

Dunno if I would try it...

BENT Springer forks are cheap enough to avoid the hassle of even trying it.

 

[KOTA]

If everything goes right, it takes about 10 minutes to do one.

 

[deorman]

Here you go. viewtopic.php?f=16&t=22912

 

[TheFlyingDingo]

i Used to have a schwinn fork i found in a lot of parts, it didnt appear to be modded whatsoever, but i want another one...
Edit-I geuss thats at the crown

 

[speedster huffy]

If everything goes right, it takes about 10 minutes to do one.



How did you bend the forks so even, without taking any paint off?

 

[speedster huffy]

If everything goes right, it takes about 10 minutes to do one.



How did you bend the forks so even, without taking any paint off?

How did you bend the forks so even, without taking any paint off?

 

[KOTA]

Speedster Huffy, here's the thread on how it was done. viewtopic.php?f=3&t=9254&st=0&sk=t&sd=a I use a 1" conduit bender, a 3/4" bender would also work, and it some applications would even work better. You're bound to get some scratches or chips when bending, but sometimes it's minimal. Most were done for new builds, so paint wasn't a concern. You have to be careful that you don't bend to far, otherwise your tire will hit the top (crown) of the bent fork. For example the GREEN (or black in the thread) is a 27" fork, with a 24" tire and wheel. The recumbent is a 24" fork with a 24" tire and wheel. I would have liked it to be about an inch lower, but that's as far as I could bend without hitting the crown..........GOOD LUCK!

 

[Portland Rob]

Wow! You guys are amazing. Thanks for the replies. No, I will not be bending that Schwinn 5-speed so don't worry. I love that bike as is. After looking at the photos I guess it is not the look I am after so those photos helped a lot! Thanks. I was toying with stretching out that JC Higgins tank bike I got on ebay but maybe it is not the route to go. Thanks. Rob

 

[speedster huffy]

Speedster Huffy, here's the thread on how it was done. http://ratrodbikes.com/forum/viewtopic. ... &sk=t&sd=a I use a 1" conduit bender, a 3/4" bender would also work, and it some applications would even work better. You're bound to get some scratches or chips when bending, but sometimes it's minimal. Most were done for new builds, so paint wasn't a concern. You have to be careful that you don't bend to far, otherwise your tire will hit the top (crown) of the bent fork. For example the GREEN (or black in the thread) is a 27" fork, with a 24" tire and wheel. The recumbent is a 24" fork with a 24" tire and wheel. I would have liked it to be about an inch lower, but that's as far as I could bend without hitting the crown..........GOOD LUCK!

THANK YOU