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Triple clamp and front shocks

T

Troy Norton

Just got it firing!
Joined
Jan 26, 2021
Messages
5
Location
Palma Mallorca Spain
Hi all,

I have a 1980 1000SP I'm modifying for a cafe racer project. I'd like to change the complete front end from the triple clamps forward. Anyone recommend a relatively easy conversion? I have a access to decent machine shops and fabrication shops.
 
Hi Troy,

I often see project where they swap the fronts ends for some other bike and wonder
- how common is the headset / bearings / length of those parts, can it be that simple ?
Or are they cutting off the headstock and welding the one that goes with the New forks onto the bike...
 
You'll be playing with numbers of triple clamp offset, front wheel diameter(18 or 17 inch) and the resulting trail if you want to have a bike that steers like the original. I once had the original 'short' triple tube pressed into a triple clamp of a LM4 that have the 40mm legs. This was by far the easiest mod. Also because the offset didn't change so there is no interference with the tank. If you have the possibility of boring the triple to 41 mm, you can mount more modern fork legs although they are generally on the short side. Depending on your choices you might need an axle, spacers and caliper adapters.
I also once had the bottom of the tube of a GSXR USD triple set turned down 1mm for a bearing of a Kawasaki that had the correct 52mm outer diameter. Also an easy fix but the tube is too long so a spacer at the top is necessary, plus the offset is a lot less (30mm instead of 65mm) so you'll have interference with the tank and a huge trail which makes the bike want to go straight, even with a 17 inch front wheel. There is no easy fix really, other than perhaps having custom triples machined with 65mm offset and a top clamp that has a drop to account for the shorter modern fork legs.
 
jr1967 said:
You'll be playing with numbers of triple clamp offset, front wheel diameter(18 or 17 inch) and the resulting trail if you want to have a bike that steers like the original. I once had the original 'short' triple tube pressed into a triple clamp of a LM4 that have the 40mm legs. This was by far the easiest mod. Also because the offset didn't change so there is no interference with the tank. If you have the possibility of boring the triple to 41 mm, you can mount more modern fork legs although they are generally on the short side. Depending on your choices you might need an axle, spacers and caliper adapters.
I also once had the bottom of the tube of a GSXR USD triple set turned down 1mm for a bearing of a Kawasaki that had the correct 52mm outer diameter. Also an easy fix but the tube is too long so a spacer at the top is necessary, plus the offset is a lot less (30mm instead of 65mm) so you'll have interference with the tank and a huge trail which makes the bike want to go straight, even with a 17 inch front wheel. There is no easy fix really, other than perhaps
jr1967 said:
You'll be playing with numbers of triple clamp offset, front wheel diameter(18 or 17 inch) and the resulting trail if you want to have a bike that steers like the original. I once had the original 'short' triple tube pressed into a triple clamp of a LM4 that have the 40mm legs. This was by far the easiest mod. Also because the offset didn't change so there is no interference with the tank. If you have the possibility of boring the triple to 41 mm, you can mount more modern fork legs although they are generally on the short side. Depending on your choices you might need an axle, spacers and caliper adapters.
I also once had the bottom of the tube of a GSXR USD triple set turned down 1mm for a bearing of a Kawasaki that had the correct 52mm outer diameter. Also an easy fix but the tube is too long so a spacer at the top is necessary, plus the offset is a lot less (30mm instead of 65mm) so you'll have interference with the tank and a huge trail which makes the bike want to go straight, even with a 17 inch front wheel. There is no easy fix really, other than perhaps having custom triples machined with 65mm offset and a top clamp that has a drop to account for the shorter modern fork legs.
Click to expand...

having custom triples machined with 65mm offset and a top clamp that has a drop to account for the shorter modern fork legs.
Click to expand...

Hi JR,

Its often the simple solutions that work best and for some reason I over complicated it thinking I had to toss the triple clamps. The ultimate goal by the way was to replace the front tubes, legs and brakes as I'm not a fan of the linked braking and I feel that a definite improvement can be had here by a little "modernising". I think I'll be a lot more "free" in replacing the tubes and legs now. Just need to get the length similar. Or can have modified locally.

Cheers buddy

Troy
 
I fitted Showa cartridges into my LM2 oem forks from an RC6 (VFR750); with a decent fork brace they've transformed the front end and now has pre load adjustment.
With re oiled Konis fitted with softer springs and wearing Conti radial rubber the bike handles far better than stock.
I also de linked the brakes and went with stainless discs and carbon ceramic pads, braking now is again, far superior to standard.
 
jr1967 said:
What did it take to fit the cartridges in the fork legs?
Click to expand...
The Showas piston rods need shortening and a new thread cutting to fit the fork cap.
The Showa fork cap needs machining to the correct diameter and the oem fork stanchion thread cutting into them.
The Showa is secured to the slider with a 6mm bolt; the Guzzi's is 8mm, so the bolt hole in the bottom of the slider needs bushing.
The LM2 oem forks have 2 springs, one short, one long. The Spada may have the same forks as these were modded to take the extra weight of the heavy fairing. The Showa cartridge is longer than the stock damper and I ditched the shorter spring. The longer spring is just about the right length although I've fitted a spacer to slightly pre load the spring. I also checked the spring rating on a set of scales and found them to be 1kg/cm (from what I can remember) which has turned out to work very well. I replaced the oem LM2 fairing with a re worked light weight replica as the oem fairing is ridiculously heavy.
I've found 5w fork oil to work well and have just adjusted the air gap to tune them.
 
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