Fork boot vs. gaiters

calbigbird · Feb 18, 2010

I have a 75 MK III Roadster. I got it from ebay and found it appeard to be put together with several parts off an older Commando. The forks have gaiters that are in good shape. I noticed in the parts book numbers for both gaiters and a shorter "fork boot." Can anyone tell me which is correct, or at least most common?

ILLF8ED · Feb 18, 2010

For the '75 model, the long fork gaiter is correct. The small "boot" was original equipment up to '74. It's up to your preference. The long gaiter offers better protection.

batrider · Feb 19, 2010

The long gaiters protect the fork legs from road dirt. On my '72 (which originally had the short boots) the front of the fork legs almost immediately started wearing . Eventually you could see quarter-sized areas on each side where the chrome wore off. When I bought new fork legs I went to the long gaiters. If it wears at least I'm not seeing it. :roll:

I haven't looked in a long time to see if it is still wearing under there. The new legs came from Forking by Frank. I've used their legs on other bikes and the quality is good. Only a theory but I think the dirt gets partially embedded in the short boot and it becomes a nice piece of sandpaper.

L.A.B. · Feb 19, 2010

illf8ed said:
For the '75 model, the long fork gaiter is correct. The small "boot" was original equipment up to '74. It's up to your preference. The long gaiter offers better protection.

Both are listed for '75, and there are enough period photos of various MkIIIs fitted with the short boots to prove that either type could be fitted on MkIIIs.

MexicoMike · Feb 19, 2010

The '75 US brochure shows only the small gaiters as far as I can find. In any case, I just converted my 73 roadster to a fastback and also swapped to the long gaiters for improved protection as noted earlier. I agree totally that the small gaiters end up acting as sandpaper and I have had to replace the fork legs due to that over a rather small amount of mileage. Use whichever gaiters you prefer.

79x100 · Feb 19, 2010

The long gaiters have a breather hole to stop them inflating on compression like a bullfrog .

This small hole allows salt and grit to be sucked in and the gaiter keeps it there in a moist environment forevever.

I've seen far worse corrosion of legs and oil seal retainers where the 'European' gaiters are fitted. Their only advantages to my mind are that they'll stop stone chip damage to the chrome and if you stuff them full of cotton wool at annual test time, you'll probably get through with leaky seals

.

Coco · Feb 19, 2010

79x100 said:
This small hole allows salt and grit to be sucked in and the gaiter keeps it there in a moist environment forevever.

My thoughts as well. In my days as a bicycle mechanic, many mountain bike shocks had long gaiters and crud, moisture, and dirt embedded oil would collect underneath and wreak all kinds of havoc with premature corrosion and grit scraping off the hard anodized surface of the fork tubes. Mind you, MTB fork tubes are hard anodized alloy and not hard chromed steel like on a Norton.

BrianK · Feb 19, 2010

I prefer gaiters. You can grease the tubes before installing if you're really worried about moisture collecting in there. Then, however, you can't use the poor man's test to see if your fork seals are leaking ( grabbing the gaiter and squeezing it against the tube and trying to push/pull it up and down - if it sticks, seals are good, if not, they're leaking).

calbigbird · Feb 19, 2010

Thanks for all the input. I am okay with the long gaiters, I just wanted to make sure they are correct. It isn't a show bike, but I don't want to have something that is totally wrong if I can help it.

Flo · Feb 19, 2010

The Commando Boots are terrible. I replaced mine with Triumph T140 boots (if my memory serves me well), far better.

Fork boot vs. gaiters

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