Back when John Emanuel was becoming aware of this problem others were also aware of the problem, but never got very far. It seemed that most who questioned why the handling was sometimes horrible were focusing on the trail. Many thought that it was the change in trail that caused the problems. Phil Irving would never answer the question, and it was posed to him in MPH. I later learned he was quite fearful of the threat of legal proceedings being instituted due to the Vincent's high number of accidents resulting from speed wobbles.
I don't know what his answer would have been, but I was always of the opinion that it was not the the fact that the trail changed, but what was changing the trail that was the problem. As the posts on this forum have suggested, it was the fault of the axle path, and the axle path was the fault of the lower link position. I also thought the work Tony Foale had done on rake and trail seemed correct. He would say that you need some trail as opposed to no trail...that's all. I suspect that does not account for side car work, but it helped me look past the changing trail issue.
It is interesting that Eddie Stevens changed the language regarding the wobble. I think it is difficult for most to understand how the Girdraulic really works. We all know that tele forks dive naturally under heavy braking, but it seems that no one noticed that stock Girdraulics extend naturally under heavy braking. It is counter intuitive. When Sid would say "The Girdraulics have anti-dive" I would correct him by saying "No, the Girdraulics are pro-extension, just like the teles are pro-dive."
Worrying about the Girdraulics bottoming out during heavy braking would be like worrying about teles topping off during heavy braking.
David
I don't know what his answer would have been, but I was always of the opinion that it was not the the fact that the trail changed, but what was changing the trail that was the problem. As the posts on this forum have suggested, it was the fault of the axle path, and the axle path was the fault of the lower link position. I also thought the work Tony Foale had done on rake and trail seemed correct. He would say that you need some trail as opposed to no trail...that's all. I suspect that does not account for side car work, but it helped me look past the changing trail issue.
It is interesting that Eddie Stevens changed the language regarding the wobble. I think it is difficult for most to understand how the Girdraulic really works. We all know that tele forks dive naturally under heavy braking, but it seems that no one noticed that stock Girdraulics extend naturally under heavy braking. It is counter intuitive. When Sid would say "The Girdraulics have anti-dive" I would correct him by saying "No, the Girdraulics are pro-extension, just like the teles are pro-dive."
Worrying about the Girdraulics bottoming out during heavy braking would be like worrying about teles topping off during heavy braking.
David