Fun With Springs

[Uncle Stretch]

I was looking and someone brought up an old post on how to build a springer.
There was one and it was made with two forks and a spring. I looked and I had
a worksman fork , that I cut the neck tube off of to rebuild another fork. I checked and
a piece of 3/4'' solid rod fit in what was left of the tube really tight. I took a piece of 1 1/2''
tubing and built a cup to hold the spring. It was out of a Harley front fork. It all fit good so
far. This is one of those , you have to keep watching , and not just scroll through the pics and
see how I did it. Not finished yet.
The two forks are alike so it should be easy to make the rest of the parts and have a springer.

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Looks like a good, fun project!
Will you be updating your signature line now? :mrgreen:
Something like, "Just springing around"?

Luke.

 

[Uncle Stretch]

Yep just did Luke. Still have stuff to do...turn the slots into holes, and a few things.
Not a real high tech style fork, but fun to play with.

 

[Uncle Stretch]

Got the top plate part roughed out. Still have to do some grinding and sanding to
make it look better than a big chunk of steel on there. Will have to figure out what
to put on the solid rod. Maybe thread it or a pin sideways . Just another got to figure
out what works deal. Doesn't look bad though.

 

[Dr. Tankenstein]

This is such a simple and effective design.

Question:
If you had started with two complete forks, could you have used a freeze plug cap to 'seat' the spring in and threaded a top nut on as a stopper for the 'sprung' section?

In any case, build on sir, there's a bunch of guys that need to copy this idea forthe Build-Off! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Cheers,
Dr. T

 

[RichL]

Cool deal, i was thinking on doing a monarch design for the bike i am building now... But this is pretty cool tooB-) build on

Peace

Rich

 

[Uncle Stretch]

Dr T the spring I had wouldn't fit over 1'' so it would have had to be another bigger
spring. I was just standing there wondering what I had that might work. I had that
chopped up worksman fork that I cut the tube out of. At the bottom near the fork they always
make the tube thicker. I was surprised a 3/4'' solid rod would fit all the way though. I had to bang
it some. Was a perfect fit. Then the Harley fork springs fit the 3/4'' nice with very little slop.
It was kinda like all that junk was suppose to be together. The having another fork just like it
was too much not to build it. I'm not sure how its going to look but the stuff is fitting perfect.

Yeah Rich I was cleaning my garage the other day and I have 3 of the 10'... 1'' tubing. I was going to
pull my bender out and bend a couple 180's and build a fork like this. Maybe a Monarch kind with
only one spring and then this kinda fell in my lap so I will try this one first since its pretty easy.
I'm getting lazy.

 

[ratcycle]

awesome work as always.

 

[Lowlife Lucas]

Nice work, I like what I see. I'll be tuned in

 

[mikeeebikey]

Very cool, I had the same idea but never tried it.....I started thinking of creative ways to use a shock fork on the rear......

 

[Uncle Stretch]

Thanks everybody , but I didn't design this. Saw it in another post and am just
trying to see how hard it is to build one and what it will look like when its done.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=13994
Ok this is really funny. Everything has worked out perfect. I have one big die for threads.
It fit the 3/4'' solid rod. I found one nut that fit once I got the threads done. You better
eat your Wheaties when you thread this 3/4'' rod. Its a job. The nut in the middle is just to
hold them apart.

 

[Uncle Stretch]

Got the top plate part ground down where it looks better.
Need a giant chrome acorn nut. Probably wouldn't be able to afford it.

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Very cool! Looking forward to seeing the rockers!

Luke.

 

[Dorian]

Will you weld on washers to the fork ends to close up the open end of the axle slots? Those rocker bolts can loosen up.

 

[Uncle Stretch]

Luke they should be done in a little while.
Dorian I'm going to weld a washer on both the inside and out of the forks.
I would never trust them being slots. I know from welding washers before,
that they are really cheap metal and melt some. I guess the days of real steel
washers is over with. I will come up with something if I have to make my own.
I stuck it on a frame and it should look pretty good....maybe :roll:

 

[user 135]

Those looptails look so good.

So is the front fork rod going to slide up through the top plate?

 

[Uncle Stretch]

Ok I finished the forks. I saw this in that other post. I decided to build it and answer
a few questions.
1. Is it easy to build
If your mildly handy its an easy build.
2. Does it work
I pushed down on the front of the frame ,and it has plenty of firm give.
You could change the spring to get the ride you want.
3.Was it expensive to build.
I had stuff and other stuff could be used and it can be done really cheap.

Now on the looks of it, you will have to decide , but its about as ratty looking
as you can get for something that works and looks out of the ordinary. :wink:

Yeah Clancy when I pushed down it would come through the top plate about an inch or maybe
an inch and a half. Seemed to work good. No binding or anything.

 

[user 135]

What keeps that nut from loosening up? I realize it is under tension right now, but it does lose tension as the spring compresses. A second jam nut may be needed.

Did I tell you that I like looptails?

 

[ZombieDodge]

that's pretty awesome!

 

[kchurch86]

Very nice! Thanks for the inspiration

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