Monark Mega/Sunlite DeLuxe/Kai Cheng Fork

[NicksGarage]

These forks have been available on Amazon lately. Note that some vendors list the 1" as threadless but it is actually threaded.

 

[Sphinx]

Re: Monark Mega Fork - Sunlite - Felt

I'm curious about the length of the Steer Tube on the Sunlite ? It looks excessively long. Does that have to be cut and re-threaded to make it fit ?

Today I got to check out a Felt Abraham Linkage fork and a Sunlite Springer side by side. They're both made by Sunlite but the Felt version is slightly narrower. The Sunlite branded one will work with 80mm rims and 3" tires. The Felt one is too tight. The extra width is at the top of the fork.

 

[Ratt_Bones]

I bought this fork a while back, and it's awesome! I run motorized, commute daily, and it takes railroad tracks, potholes, sewer caps, etc., like a champ with zero issues. I had the thinner version, and it only lasted a month. I've had this one nearly three, and it's in the same shape as when I bought it. The only down side is figuring out how to mount a fender. Unlike the actual Monark brand, I am about 99% sure I will have to fab up some custom braces for it.

I think I will just wait and see how you set yours up first. I've been sitting here for the past hour trying to find at least one photo of this fork with a fender on it with no luck. I did find this thread though.

 

[Ratt_Bones]

These forks have been available on Amazon lately. Note that some vendors list the 1" as threadless but it is actually threaded.

It's listed in just about every motorized bike parts/sales website. Other than that, I see that they are hard to find other than Amazon, and the occasional Ebay listing. For example: http://www.pistonbikes.com/category-s/37.htm

 

[NicksGarage]

These forks have been available on Amazon lately. Note that some vendors list the 1" as threadless but it is actually threaded.

It's listed in just about every motorized bike parts/sales website. Other than that, I see that they are hard to find other than Amazon, and the occasional Ebay listing. For example: http://www.pistonbikes.com/category-s/37.htm

The problem with some of those sites is they may say it's available but when you order it, you get a notice that it's on back order. That's after they took your credit card information and charged your card. That's what happened to me. A couple others I called before ordering and found they were out of stock. Not a problem with Amazon. They're not allowed to list items they don't have available.

 

[NicksGarage]

Re: Monark Mega Fork - Sunlite - Felt

I'm curious about the length of the Steer Tube on the Sunlite ? It looks excessively long. Does that have to be cut and re-threaded to make it fit ?

The one with the extra long steer tube is the threadless one. It is about 11 3/4" long. About 4 1/2" sticks out past the springer clamp. This gives a lot of flexibility for using different stems. Most people would probably cut it off.

The threaded one is about 7" long and about 4 1/8" to the bottom of the threads.

 

[NicksGarage]

I bought this fork a while back, and it's awesome! I run motorized, commute daily, and it takes railroad tracks, potholes, sewer caps, etc., like a champ with zero issues. I had the thinner version, and it only lasted a month. I've had this one nearly three, and it's in the same shape as when I bought it. The only down side is figuring out how to mount a fender. Unlike the actual Monark brand, I am about 99% sure I will have to fab up some custom braces for it.

I think I will just wait and see how you set yours up first. I've been sitting here for the past hour trying to find at least one photo of this fork with a fender on it with no luck. I did find this thread though.

You can probably mount a shorty fender to the mount on the front fork. A longer fender would need to be mounted to the rear fork. I have some fenders I'm going to experiment with. The fork does have mounting holes for the fender braces on the rear fork. I'm probably going to mount both front and rear braces to these mounts. Will have to space out the front ones to clear the front fork.

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Just remember that the front fork moves with the tire on bumps, the rear does not.. If you mount a fender to the rear fork it will have to be mounted up and away from the tire to allow for suspension travel. If you mount to the front fork it will move with the tire and you can mount it as close as you like.

Luke.

 

[NicksGarage]

Just remember that the front fork moves with the tire on bumps, the rear does not.. If you mount a fender to the rear fork it will have to be mounted up and away from the tire to allow for suspension travel. If you mount to the front fork it will move with the tire and you can mount it as close as you like.

Luke.

Yes, you have to look at how much travel there is an how much space between the tire and fork. With a 26" tire there isn't a lot of space between the tire and front fork. I'm using 24x3 tires on the bike I'm planning.

 

[NicksGarage]

Here's another thread where a member tried mounting a shorty fender to the Felt version.

http://www.ratrodbikes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=30978&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=45#p306260

 

[Ratt_Bones]

I bought this fork a while back, and it's awesome! I run motorized, commute daily, and it takes railroad tracks, potholes, sewer caps, etc., like a champ with zero issues. I had the thinner version, and it only lasted a month. I've had this one nearly three, and it's in the same shape as when I bought it. The only down side is figuring out how to mount a fender. Unlike the actual Monark brand, I am about 99% sure I will have to fab up some custom braces for it.

I think I will just wait and see how you set yours up first. I've been sitting here for the past hour trying to find at least one photo of this fork with a fender on it with no luck. I did find this thread though.

You can probably mount a shorty fender to the mount on the front fork. A longer fender would need to be mounted to the rear fork. I have some fenders I'm going to experiment with. The fork does have mounting holes for the fender braces on the rear fork. I'm probably going to mount both front and rear braces to these mounts. Will have to space out the front ones to clear the front fork.

I have a full fender I want to put on, and so far I am unsure of the braces I should be using for it. I'll do some experimenting with what I have lying around to see if I can't determine the length. I am also running a disc brake, and think that may get in the way of where the brace needs to line up.

 

[Ratt_Bones]

Just did some checking, and if you use the hole on the front fork, the mount for the braces on the back fork...... Well, probably shouldn't be done anyway since the two forks move up and down from each other which could be a problem. At any rate, the braces would need to be very small. I checked the actual Monark brand website's photo gallery, and did see some full fenders mounted to their forks. However, their forks are designed a bit differently. Their rear fork sits lower than their front, and these are are the opposite. This way, both the fender, and the braces mount clean and effortlessly to the back fork.

I think the solution on this fork (to run a full fender), is going to be to fab yourself a bracket that extends down from the crown of the rear fork to the desired height above the tire. This way, frame mount braces should bolt in the provided threaded holes, and axle braces should line up correctly.

 

[NicksGarage]

Just did some checking, and if you use the hole on the front fork, the mount for the braces on the back fork...... Well, probably shouldn't be done anyway since the two forks move up and down from each other which could be a problem. At any rate, the braces would need to be very small. I checked the actual Monark brand website's photo gallery, and did see some full fenders mounted to their forks. However, their forks are designed a bit differently. Their rear fork sits lower than their front, and these are are the opposite. This way, both the fender, and the braces mount clean and effortlessly to the back fork.

I think the solution on this fork (to run a full fender), is going to be to fab yourself a bracket that extends down from the crown of the rear fork to the desired height above the tire. This way, frame mount braces should bolt in the provided threaded holes, and axle braces should line up correctly.

I tried a full fender I have and you would have to do as you say, mount it to the bottom of the rear fork with a bracket. The braces that come with the fender would have to be shortened to mount to the rear fork since they're designed to mount to the axle. It's hard for me to try and set it up since I don't have the fork mounted to a bike yet.

Another option would be to split the fender into two parts and mount the halves to each fork. Might look goofy.

Question, how much travel do you see on the fork when riding?

 

[Ratt_Bones]

Just did some checking, and if you use the hole on the front fork, the mount for the braces on the back fork...... Well, probably shouldn't be done anyway since the two forks move up and down from each other which could be a problem. At any rate, the braces would need to be very small. I checked the actual Monark brand website's photo gallery, and did see some full fenders mounted to their forks. However, their forks are designed a bit differently. Their rear fork sits lower than their front, and these are are the opposite. This way, both the fender, and the braces mount clean and effortlessly to the back fork.

I think the solution on this fork (to run a full fender), is going to be to fab yourself a bracket that extends down from the crown of the rear fork to the desired height above the tire. This way, frame mount braces should bolt in the provided threaded holes, and axle braces should line up correctly.

I tried a full fender I have and you would have to do as you say, mount it to the bottom of the rear fork with a bracket. The braces that come with the fender would have to be shortened to mount to the rear fork since they're designed to mount to the axle. It's hard for me to try and set it up since I don't have the fork mounted to a bike yet.

Another option would be to split the fender into two parts and mount the halves to each fork. Might look goofy.

Question, how much travel do you see on the fork when riding?

Honestly, not that much.
I am going to try this out, and see how it goes. I did some tinkering, and made a quick trip to the hardware store. I bought two 5m .8 x 1" bolts, and two half inch thick washers/spacers to match. I stole a bracer from a 29" fender for the front section of me fender. It reached perfectly. For the back section of the fender, I had to break out the torch and angle grinder.

I am running the center fender mount on the front fork. If I have an issue, I will simply just make a bracket, move it back, and run it on the back fork.

 

[Ratt_Bones]

Front fork = bad idea!

So after all of my tinkering around, and messing with different options, I have found that the BEST way to mount a full fender on this fork is this:

Fab up an extension for the middle mount on your fender, and mount to the rear fork.
If using the mounting threaded hole on the back fork, use a 29" bracer for the front portion of your fender, and custom cut the rear to fit.
Also, go buy two 1/2" washer/spacer. This will give the front bracer room to clear the front fork and disc caliper (if one is used).
Buy two 5m .8 x 1" machine bolts for mounting.

Other than this, I tried using axle bolt on bracers, and they hindered the fork's ability to work properly.
It is my opinion that this is going to be the best solution to mount a full fender on this fork.

 

[NicksGarage]

Front fork = bad idea!

Yeah, I can imagine the first bump you hit the middle of the fender is going to go up while the ends are pulled together.

 

[Ratt_Bones]

One more tip.......

Do not mount it flush with the front fork.
I forgot about topout. Giver it about 1/8" of room at least.
It might not look as clean, but will be a little quieter scooting down the road.

 

[NicksGarage]

Check out this Felt with fenders.

http://www.ratrodbikes.com/forum/index.php?threads/felt-bicycle-pics.16855/page-30#post-753632

 

[Ratt_Bones]

That's awesome!

You gotta be creative when mounting fenders to these forks, that's for sure!

 

[NicksGarage]

Here's another fender mounting. I think this is how I'm going to do it, mount the fender to the front fork only. That way it goes up and down with the tire and since there is plenty of height with the rear fork, shouldn't have any interference problems. These are stock Basman fenders which don't use a front strut.

http://www.ratrodbikes.com/forum/in...your-basman-cruisers.67246/page-2#post-689281