FF: Forks Fitting the front fork springs to a Rapide - method.

Phil Arundel

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VOC Member
I am at the stage of wanting to fit the front fork springs on my Rapide renovation. Any suggestions for compressing the springs to fit the bolts please?
Regards
Phil Arundel
 

Bill Thomas

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VOC Member
Hello Phil, This is what I use, Two bits of angle iron, The bottom is slotted, Undo the bottom bolt until it slides
Behind the bolt head, The top has a small plate with two 1/4" bolts that slides in behind, DON'T do the small bolts up tight, Or it will dent the top box, I use some duct tape to save the paint.
Undo the top bolt a small bit.
Tighten the nut on the long stud , Till the top bolt feels loose.
It was in MPH many years ago, By the late Roger Haylett.
DSCN0044 (2).JPG
 

vibrac

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VOC Member
I pinch a bit of blue nylon 'washing line' make a loop one end goes in the fork at the bottom of the spring cover the other over the eccentric use a reef knot.
It is important that the spring is fixed in the eccentric bolt and hangs down vertically
then I loop a steel rod through the line at the center of the unit and start to wind up the windlass
it soon becomes apparent that if I hold the winding steady and swing the unit forward the string tightens more just wind up until the swing forward clears the lug and insert the bottom bolt, then remove line. Fine adjustment by a few thous is simple by rotating the winding rod a few degrees once the box is on the lug
line needs to be thin enough but strong enough some times I need to cut the loop near the bottom bracket it soon unravels and slips out.
Its worth using your own line rather than washing line if you plan more than once every five years and plan to stay with your partner
 

bmetcalf

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VOC Member
Away from home now, so I can’t look it up, but Whitakerpedia on the VOC site likely has even more methods. Thanks to Bill for the photo, I hadn’t visualized the details from the descriptions before.
 

Peter Holmes

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VOC Member
And I always thought that is the reason the two clever Phil's gave us a tommy bar through the hollow axle, remove the solid axle nut from the opposite side to the tommy bar, use the same washing line as vibrac with a knotted loop round the top of the springbox and another knotted loop round one of the tommy bars and wind up until the rope has tensioned enough to remove the springbox top bolt easily as it is no longer under tension, once the bolt is out rewind the tommy bar until the springbox is no longer under tension, repeat the process on the other side by removing and replacing the tommy to the other side, same process to refit the top springbox bolt, the only additional tool required that is not supplied with the bike is a length of strong rope.
 

greg brillus

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VOC Member
The front axle method is how i do it, and a lot lately with all the stem upgrades I've done. I also use a length of steel tube about 8 to 10 inches long that slips over one of the Tommy bar arms to give a bit more leverage, and I can hold this with my leg whilst supporting the upper spring box so it can't get away and damage something, like a fuel tank ............. :).
 

macvette

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Non-VOC Member
Here is an extract from Motorcycle Mechanics 1961. I use this method with a length of parachute cord. If you start from the postion shown in the picture, with slight tension in the cord,the spring box compresses as you rotate it up to the eccentric and the top bolt can be inserted easily. I set the cord under tension at the wheel end with a half hitch. Make sure the cord is twisted several times to form a good loop at the top of the spring box and if you are worried about the spring box " escaping" and hitting the tank, use masking tape to fix some protection to the tank. I use a chunk of rubber cut from a workshop floor tile. I ve used this method over the years to replace gaiters and more recently when experimenting with springs for the steering stem mod.
 

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