Can we stuff this in the front end and not worry about fork seals.

[The Buddha]

OK so the GS fork seals die every 12 miles and the fork tubes rust ... OK so we know that.

Now we have fork braces made form 1/2" billet ... and we can even make thicker ...
Then we can stuff a bolt in the steering stem hole and bolt it into the top - its not that important, it will stay there and the load on it will be compression - it sould stay in and function as it should ...

So we bolt this bugger between the lower triple running to the fork brace.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-CHROME-FRONT-SHOCK-ABSORBER-HARLEY-54484-97-SOFTAIL-BADBOY-HERITAGE-SPRINGER-/251335661089?pt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&hash=item3a84c5d621&vxp=mtr

Spring is still in the fork, the fluid in that is irrelevant. The fluid in that little capsule will take the fluid damping ...

What y'all think.

Cool.
Buddha.

[Big Rich]

I think it's a crazy idea. And wouldn't want to be the guinea pig to try it.....

If I read that right: with no oil in the forks (only springs), would the oil in that tiny shock get too hot too quickly to be effective?

Edit: Just thought about it......I'd bet that shock has much less travel than GS forks as well.

[The Buddha]

I think it's a crazy idea. And wouldn't want to be the guinea pig to try it.....

If I read that right: with no oil in the forks (only springs), would the oil in that tiny shock get too hot too quickly to be effective?

Well there is oil still in the forks ... maybe we put very light and not a whole hell of a lot in the forks, cos we still need it to lubricate the sliding parts ... put like 250cc instead of the needed 325.

The little shock - it is made to be taking all the bumps on a much heavy a$$ pig of a bike ... for the same road/distance travelled, I dont see how it will be making any more heat than it does in the harley.

Cool.
Buddha.

[The Buddha]

It probably travels less - here it looks fully extended ... or atleast mostly so ...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SHOCK-KIT-FOR-HARDBODY-DNA-PAUGHCO-SPRINGER-HARLEY-/290938919942?pt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&hash=item43bd4f9c06&vxp=mtr

I think it may bottom out ... you're prolly right - too little travel.

Cool.
Buddha.

[RossLH]

The HD springer front end is designed such that there's more body travel than suspension travel. I think the GS front suspension travels too much to use such a part. And if there's still fluid in the forks, seals are still necessary....I'm not sure I see where you're going with this.

[yamahonkawazuki]

Buddha, since you had the bars back in the day, ive got a challenge for you. or a challenge for just a suggestion.  my gtr40 goped. has 2 SSSA's on it. using compression/torsion bar type suspension PMW calls it CIDLI no external shocks of any kind no external springs. 4 rods, compressed, and twists for suspension. runs the gamut from soft pillow like to damn near rock hard. 2 square tubes. each roughly2"x2'x6"?

[The Buddha]

The HD springer front end is designed such that there's more body travel than suspension travel. I think the GS front suspension travels too much to use such a part. And if there's still fluid in the forks, seals are still necessary....I'm not sure I see where you're going with this.

Fork oil - we put thin oil in it, and let it leak if it does, and let it be.
The damping could be taken up via the shock ... except the shock will limit the travel to like 1.5" ...

Yamahon: I never figured out how the torsion bar crap works ... its on the FE of my VW ... no clue what is in it.

Cool.
Buddha.

[Old Mechanic]

Just take a coil spring and straighten it out. Mount one end to the suspension lower control arm and the other end to a strong point in the frame. That's a torsion bar, just a spring never coiled.
The VW front end (early bug) is a group of flat bars clamped together that act the same as one single solid bar.

regards
Mech

[yamahonkawazuki]

still think a variation of the cidli setup.would work. IF it could be built. consists of4 rubber type material rods, compressed inside a square tube with a billet cap. 5 bolts. centre one holds cap on with great force. 4 outer bolts, compress rods, which twist to dampen travel. no springs, no oil no nothing. and really no chance of failure. unless the cap blows off lol.

[RossLH]

Scaling the CIDLI up from 46lbs to near 400lbs is where difficulty arises. For reliability reasons, the same rubber could not be used, you'd have to go with a much sturdier composite.

[The Buddha]

OK we are not looking for springyness ... we want fluid ness ...

Yes an elastomer style shock could work, it sorta makes damping force using rubber block.

Cool.
Buddha.

[The Buddha]

The usual shock of that ilk seems to be around 6" length  hole to hole (not too bad) and has 2" of travel ... far too less.
May have to look for something where its like 6" length and has about 3" ...

So if we found a 8" shock, we could cut off the eyelets and sorta get the body clamped to the lower triple and the stem bolted to the brace ...

Cool.
Buddha.

[The Buddha]

Like this sucker -

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Mountain-Bicycle-Bike-Rear-Suspension-Spring-Shock-Absorber-Absorbers-750lbs-/181128213641?pt=Cycling_Parts_Accessories&hash=item2a2c153489

Cool.
Buddha.

[RossLH]

Or we could just remove the forks entirely, convert the front end to a hub center steering system, and use whatever shock you desire.

[The Buddha]

Or we could just remove the forks entirely, convert the front end to a hub center steering system, and use whatever shock you desire.

That is too much work ... heavy and fugly.
I am more shooting for the BMW R style telelever ... without the tele ... or lever.

Yea need an 8" shock with like 3-3.5 of travel ...

Cool.
Buddha.

[007brendan]

Torsion bar suspensions still use shocks, so you'd still need to find a damper that can handle the full travel of the suspension.  I don't know how a torsion bar suspension would work on a motorcycle.  The rods are pretty long and thick, bigger than an equivalent coil spring.  I just don't see where or how you would mount them.

[The Buddha]

Couple of years ago one of those harley clone builders built a harley with a leaf spring FE ...
Looked stupid, and nearly sure it handled to match.
Cool.
Buddha.

[Blueknyt]

stop trying to reinvent the wheel, use one from another bike, something more upto date like upsidedown forks

[Janx101]

stop trying to reinvent the wheel, use one from another bike, something more upto date like upsidedown forks

[The Buddha]

stop trying to reinvent the wheel, use one from another bike, something more upto date like upsidedown forks

I already did ... I have katana forks ...

I am not re-inventing the wheel ... I am like using a wheel from somehting else.

Cool.
Buddha.