Eek! This will make your eyes water! One of our Mid-Glos Section Members just had a lucky escape when one side of his Brampton Forks sheared right off for no apparent reason - just above the wheel spindle. He was only doing about 45mph - which was unusual for him - he's usually going twice as fast. The wheel fell to about 20 degrees to the vertical, one brake locked-up, the mudguard went around the wheel several times, the bike veered uncontrollably through a tiny gap in the oncoming traffic and ended-up on the grass verge on the other side.
Examination of the fracture shows a fresh break covering around 20% of the breakage area on one side only. The rest is very rusty and has been cracked for some considerable time. The forks were refurbished by a well-known fork man in the Midlands about 8 years ago.
We need to get our man back on his bike soonest to get his confidence back. Right now he goes pale and shivery and his bowels get loose at the very mention of it. If anyone out there has a B Brampton bare girder assembly he could borrow - until he gets his own one rebuilt with new parts, please PM me.
In the meantime, I'm not suggesting you go rushing out to the garage with a magnifying glass and scraper in hand; but that's exactly what I just did to check my 'A' Bramptons!
Peter B
Bristol, UK.
Examination of the fracture shows a fresh break covering around 20% of the breakage area on one side only. The rest is very rusty and has been cracked for some considerable time. The forks were refurbished by a well-known fork man in the Midlands about 8 years ago.
We need to get our man back on his bike soonest to get his confidence back. Right now he goes pale and shivery and his bowels get loose at the very mention of it. If anyone out there has a B Brampton bare girder assembly he could borrow - until he gets his own one rebuilt with new parts, please PM me.
In the meantime, I'm not suggesting you go rushing out to the garage with a magnifying glass and scraper in hand; but that's exactly what I just did to check my 'A' Bramptons!
Peter B
Bristol, UK.