Fork question, probably a dumb one.

aaronarthur · May 12, 2010

What's the story on this screw? Is this for holding the front fender on? The fork and tube are one piece, right?

I cannot get this screw to budge. I plan on having my frame/fork powdercoated, should I just have them sandblast and powdercoat right over this evil screw?

Pudge · May 12, 2010

Well, I'll be the dumb guy to attempt an answer!

Yep, in my very limited experience, that screw has been to help fasten down the front fender. I've seen them threaded into the fork and I had one that the bolt dropped down from inside the head tube and through a hole in the bottom of the fork. I had to stick a long screwdriver down there to hold it in place while I tightened down the nut underneath, between the forks. The threaded screw hole style is much easier to work with.

If it were me, I'd battle to remove it before powder coating. Perhaps some PB Blaster shot down the inside of the head tube would help free it up? Even if you don't want to use that threaded hole to attach a front fender, you might want to use it for some other application down the road, like a low slung bullet headlight bracket , or a front rack, or something else. It could come in handy down the road. Getting it out now will be a whole lot less painful than having to worry about marring the finish later after it's powder coated.
Good luck --- Pudge

user 135 · May 13, 2010

Or you could just grind it off.

deorman · May 13, 2010

You might be able to grab it with a small vise-grip, or grind it off, and if you want the hole, drill and tap it.

aka_locojoe · May 13, 2010

I had the same situation and I just left the screw in when I had the fork powder coated. Like was said before though... better be sure you'll have no use for the hole later.

Walker · May 13, 2010

Grind it off, drill out the threaded remains and they you can tap it with new threads once it is powdercoated. At least this way you would have options down the road.

I've seen some truss rod brackets attach to this bolt as well.