New Fork

[TheKid]

The old 26" fork didn't work out on the Hauler. The dropouts are too close together for a drum brake hub, much less a hub motor, and pulling them apart to fit the drum brake hub made it feel weak. I have no 20" forks and had no luck finding one the past few nights. So I cut the legs off the 26" hub, and made my own fork out of 1 1/4" square tube for the top, and 1" square tube for the legs. I'll make the dropouts tomorrow.
I have a wheel I could use with a disc brake, and the hub motor I'm interested in is disc brake compatible, so I'll make a caliper mount as well.
After cutting the legs off the old fork, the stubs on the crown remained. I took a piece of 1 1/4" square tube, placed the crown on it, and traced out the shape of the crown to the square tube. I used the can opener method to cut the hole for the stubs. I then welded the underside of the crown to the steering tube, because I once had a problem with an old crown becoming loose. I welded the crown to the square tube, making sure the steering tube was perpendicular to the square tube. This in essence is a crown extension.
The only steel for the dropouts I have at the moment is 3/16" thick, and I want to mount them to the inside of the forks, so I made the 1 1/4" tube 6 5/8" long. On each side of the crown, I cut 1" out of the bottom of the 1 1/4" tube to accept the 1" forks. Then I welded the forks to the new crown extension, making sure I had 4 5/8" between the inside of the forks from top to bottom. After welding the dropouts, this will give me 4 1/4" between the dropouts.
The result is a massive looking fork, which surprisingly, weighs little more than a normal 20" fork. To me, the square tubing looks like a natural extension of the square tube frame.

[robertwb70]

This sounds interesting but where are the pictures?
we want pictures- we want pictures- we want pictures- we want pictures- we want pictures- we want pictures-we want pictures- we want pictures- we want pictures- we want pictures-we want pictures- we want pictures- we want pictures- we want pictures-we want pictures- we want pictures- we want pictures- we want pictures-we want pictures- we want pictures- we want pictures.

[TheKid]

I'll have some pics tomor.. oops. Later today. I'll still have to make some changes to it to get the correct amount of trail. I'm hoping I could do it with longer dropouts. If not, I'll have to cut the legs and angle them forward.

[TheKid]

No pics yet. In order to get the handlebars at the best angle to eliminate the tiller effect, I had to relax the head tube angle just a tad. The easiest way was to cut the front tube and boom, then reweld. At the same time, I thought about running the cables internally, which was already prepared for with the USS. However, there were two head tubes in the main boom which would prevent running the cables all the way back, and rather than drill new holes and have a foot or so of the cables exposed, I decided to replace most of the main boom. I cut it partway over the reinforcement under the seat, and put the new piece in place. Then I welded the front tube a little more upright than before to relax the head tube angle. The holes are already drilled in the front tube for the rear cables. I won't need to hide the front brake or front derailler cables.
In order to get the correct trail, I'll have to put a slight bend in the fork, which I'll do tomorrow, weather permitting. Once that's done, it's just a matter of welding the flatbed mounts before I prime and paint.
The flatbed will be very light. It's fiberglass over foam, and will feature intregal fenders. I just need more practice with the epoxy.

[TheKid]

Still no pics. I put the bend in the fork to get the correct rake, and made the dropouts, but there wasn't enough daylight to install them. I'm a little hesitant about using the 26" wheels, because I didn't make them wide enough, so I may go to the 20" 68 spoke wheels I have on hand. Just for fun, I cut some 1 3/8" holes in some spare flat steel, and the plugs fit nicely into the hubs. If I weld the plugs in place and drill them out to 5/8", they should fit the axles perfectly. I'll protect the freewheel threads so I could make spinners from flat bar and the left side of BB shells, which will screw onto the freewheel threads.
Using the 20" wheels will change the head tube angle, which will throw off the steering geometry. So I'll set the rear axles 10" off the ground and then weld the dropouts in the appropriate place to get 1" or less of trail. Then I'll check the geometry with the 26" wheels in place to see if it stays within the limits. If so, I'll use the 26" wheels until I have time to finish the 20's. But I won't put too much of a load on them.

[SirJoey]

Imagine how kool those spinners would look if you had 'em chromed!

http://img384.imageshack.us/img384/7131/sirjoeysigmedij1.gif

[TheKid]

I'm planning on just painting them silver, if and when I get around to making them.

[n9viw]

http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/images/smilies/ttiwwp.gif

[SirJoey]

http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/images/smilies/ttiwwp.gif

Okay, okay. I was busy...

http://img297.imageshack.us/img297/1430/madpenguinln8.jpg

Happy now?

http://img384.imageshack.us/img384/7131/sirjoeysigmedij1.gif