Front Suspension

Now that the Lansdowne kits are mostly unavailable, what's anyone doing to upgrade the Roadholders? Aslo, does anyone have a source for re-chroming front tubes? I still have the old pair (worn-through chrome) I removed years ago, and I've noticed lately the plating's deteriorating on their replacements.

A possible new option, if pockets are deep enough??
http://www.peterwilliamsmotorcycles.com ... y=18429012

Only aware of this option. I have a pair in my Seeley and they are fantastic i.e. like modern suspension:

http://seeleynorton.com/technical/suspension

About $800 clams.

The forks on my 750 have been reworked by Maxton Engineering. Take a look at their website maxtonsuspension.co.uk
They have reworked several sets of forks, & also supplied shocks for my bikes & a mates over the years. You won't be disappointed with the result.

Martyn.

Matchless said:

The forks on my 750 have been reworked by Maxton Engineering. Take a look at their website maxtonsuspension.co.uk
They have reworked several sets of forks, & also supplied shocks for my bikes & a mates over the years. You won't be disappointed with the result.

Martyn.

Click to expand...

I've had a few forks and shocks from Maxton too.

Only thing I've been disappointed with (presumably at busy times) is slow turnaround and poor coms.

Quality of their work and performance of their products is first rate.

Danno said:

does anyone have a source for re-chroming front tubes?

Click to expand...

Try asking Forking by Frank. Not sure if he rechromes, or just sells his new tubes.

Personally, I would consider tubes as a stressed consumable part. Just buy new quality ones for $200.

elefantrider said:

Danno said:

does anyone have a source for re-chroming front tubes?

Click to expand...

Try asking Forking by Frank. Not sure if he rechromes, or just sells his new tubes.

Personally, I would consider tubes as a stressed consumable part. Just buy new quality ones for $200.

Click to expand...

I think I have Franks' tubes on there now. Wasn't sure if he was still in biz.

elefantrider said:

Danno said:

does anyone have a source for re-chroming front tubes?

Click to expand...

Try asking Forking by Frank. Not sure if he rechromes, or just sells his new tubes.

Personally, I would consider tubes as a stressed consumable part. Just buy new quality ones for $200.

Click to expand...

So the ones you see all over Fleabay for $100-135 are no good?

Danno said:

elefantrider said:

Danno said:

does anyone have a source for re-chroming front tubes?

Click to expand...

Try asking Forking by Frank. Not sure if he rechromes, or just sells his new tubes.

Personally, I would consider tubes as a stressed consumable part. Just buy new quality ones for $200.

Click to expand...

So the ones you see all over Fleabay for $100-135 are no good?

Click to expand...

You get what you pay for. Cheap tubes often have thin inferior chrome plating which quickly starts flaking off, and often they are not truly round causing the seal to leak.

Danno said:

I think I have Franks' tubes on there now. Wasn't sure if he was still in biz.

Click to expand...

His tubes are etched with his name at the top. Call him and see what he says about rechoming his own tubes. He is in your part of the country.

I have a pair of cosentino cartridges,I'm pretty sure they are still
Available.I went back to stock so id
Be willing to seek them

I'm pretty sure Frank himself died years ago and the business is being run by his family. I got no response from them (two phone calls) when I was looking for Matchless tubes last year. They had supplied them to me previously, back in the 80s.

Used fork tubes are useful as pry bars or slipped over wrenches for more leverage.

zefer said:

I have a pair of cosentino cartridges,I'm pretty sure they are still
Available.I went back to stock so id
Be willing to seek them

Click to expand...

Is there a reason you took them out and went back to stock? I am communicating with a member who is in the process of designing and manufacturing his own and the price seems reasonable. What would you have to havw for the Cosentinos?

I just purchased a set of Commando tubes from Frank's in February this year. $219 plus UPS shipping. Communication only by phone and mailed a money order. That old system still works. Tubes were perfect.
Bill

Good to know they are still in biz.

FITSTLY....Re chroming fork legs. There is chroming and then there is hard chroming. I suspect that many fork legs are chromed, they certainly were decades ago...... Having a set of fork legs hard chromed correctly will be expensive...it was in my younger days when I used to get it done by a local hard chrome Company. Really you need to start with fork legs that are undersize which if your old legs were simply flash chromed will probably require them to be ground before hard chroming. More expense? But I dont suppose many owners ever check the size of their new fork legs upon buying and before fitting them ..... bet most owners dont even know where in the manual to find the sizes!! I know one London dealer who decades ago sold I suppose 25 pairs of short Roadholder legs all of which were well under the minimum size shown in the workshop manuals and only one customer returned a set and he was a German! I bought several pairs and had them hard chromed CORRECTLY back to size and one new unused pair is still sitting by my radiator 30 + years on and the labals attached to the legs state 1.3589 and 1.3588.
Have just spoken to a friend who in the past won the odd few championship or two racing Atlas Mk3s / Commandos and had a natter about the forks. As far as he was concerned they worked OK most of the time but not well when hitting the bump at the entrance to Gerrards at Mallory Park.......Clearly I stirred up old memories of exciting times!! However we agreed that a CORRECTLY set up set of forks will work perfectly well enough for anyone using a ES2 / Dommy / Commando under normal conditions on the road.
One modification he did which resulted in an improvement was to junk the std fork damper caps and manufacture ones that fitted the damper rod more tightly (correctly?) to better control the oil as the forks extend. I pointed out to him that the early caps I had seen over the years were made of steel (early Roadholder or Manx??) and were much tighter and longer where the damper rod passes through.
He also played with different oils which also make a difference as does having the right amount of oil in each leg!! PLUS for example he is aware that there was a tad more movement between mechanical end stop in the damper tube assembly than there is in the main tube / slider assembly. Thus with each fork leg on the bench you adjust the damper tube assembly by inserting the rod further in or out of the fork top tube bolt before locking it off with the lock nut. Personally I used two half nuts locked off together so they stay in the correct position. Set up thus fully extended or compressed mechanical end stop does NOT take place in the damper assembly AND over the years I have seen several sets of forks where some brain dead has used the shorter Dommy damper tube / rod assemplies in Commando forks.....stands out like a sore thumb with the bikes on the centre stand!! Mind you ever seen a side view of a Wideline on the centre stand when fitted with the 1 inch shorter Slimline rear suspension units?? Not only does it look stupid there is usually a groove being worn in the rear tyre as it rubs on a bolt or something in the mudguard on full compression......especially with a passenger on the rear.
Then there is the matter of the positioning and size of the oil holes in the fork legs all of which effect the efficiency of the forks....... I swear older long Roadholder legs had more holes.....
Personally I would suggest owners sort out their forks before spending money. Of course if you simply want to tell your friends during club night meets over a pint or two how much the latest fork improvements cost.........I bet if you took them to my friend for sorting he would take your bike for a run and if he felt the forks needed sorting out would simply put them together correctly and after a test run you would come back saying how wonderful they were.....as a Gold Star owner did one day after a certain ex AMC mechanic 'balanced' (hah hah) the flywheel asembly for him.....all the mechanic did was shove them up in his lathe, clock them, take them out and drop them on a big lump of wood a couple of times to get them aligned correctly, checked them again and being correct he drilled a couple of holes inthe outer of the flywheels diametrically opposite each other...... That was at least 45 years ago and cost the owner £12. I wont tell the tale of how one Gentleman found his Seeley G50 up for sale in a London bike shop when he thought it was under going a rebuild with the mechanic ..... The proverbial certainly hit the fan that day! There were and probably still are lots of 'rogues' in the motor cycle game... you should see the repairs done by some so called experts to frames a friend sorts out......

.

Lovely story about days of yore. What about today?

J. M. Leadbeater said:

He also played with different oils which also make a difference as does having the right amount of oil in each leg!! PLUS for example he is aware that there was a tad more movement between mechanical end stop in the damper tube assembly than there is in the main tube / slider assembly. Thus with each fork leg on the bench you adjust the damper tube assembly by inserting the rod further in or out of the fork top tube bolt before locking it off with the lock nut. Personally I used two half nuts locked off together so they stay in the correct position. Set up thus fully extended or compressed mechanical end stop does NOT take place in the damper assembly........

Click to expand...

I think this must be the last time you post this nonsense. It is not correct as you have been informed on several previous occasions.

lansdowne-fork-damper-kit-t4683-150.html#p323970

And if you don't actually believe what you've been told then I suggest you inspect a set of standard Commando Roadholder forks.
You should then discover not that: "there was a tad more movement between mechanical end stop in the damper tube assembly than there is in the main tube / slider assembly." but that there is a whole 1.5+ inches more travel in the fork leg with the damper assembly disconnected!
With the damper assembly connected, this reduces the total stroke of the Commando fork from 6+ inches to approx. 4.5 inches. The damper assembly has a longer stroke than the actual fork 'leg', however, the fork stanchion bottoms out in the slider well before the damper piston/rod reaches the end of its stroke (LH diagram, below).


RH diagram, fork nearly at full extension, the damper piston is close to hitting the cap. As for: "Oil trapped between bushes forced back through big hole then small hole into stanchion as big hole becomes blanked off" - we know this doesn't happen in the standard fork, because the holes never even get close to being blanked off by the bush before the damper piston hits the cap, and lowering the damper rod slightly as you suggest won't do it!

J. M. Leadbeater said:

...as a Gold Star owner did one day after a certain ex AMC mechanic 'balanced' (hah hah) the flywheel asembly for him.....all the mechanic did was shove them up in his lathe, clock them, take them out and drop them on a big lump of wood a couple of times to get them aligned correctly, checked them again and being correct he drilled a couple of holes inthe outer of the flywheels diametrically opposite each other...

Click to expand...

Yes, but what about his dry clutch?

From the Norton Owners Club website http://www.nocnsw.org.au/technical/norton-roadholders as relates to topping out: ...the extra collar should be about one and a half inches long, with the final adjustment best made by measuring up the various fork components to see how far below the top bush the stanchion oil holes are kept by the damper assembly at full extension.
The lower compression mod done to mine helped, but I've yet to mod the top bushings. The only time it seems to be an issue is when lifting onto the center stand.

Nathan

Just out of curiosity, seeing that new fork stanchions are being manufactured and sold, do any of them have the oil holes located correctly to provide the hydraulic stop at full extension? I have asked this question before. This problem has been known about for a very long time and it would seem such a simple thing to fix when making new components.
I made and fitted nylon bushes below the standard top bushes to get the hydraulic stop working.