G15 fork follies

I thought you might get a kick out of the front end I'm restoring.
Thanks to the tips and guidance on this forum, my front end for a 1967 G15 CS is coming along quite nicely.
I have the correct triple trees, and Andover Norton has supplied all the vital internal parts for me.

This bike was converted to a chopper decades ago and left to sit. Fortunately, except for gusseting the neck, and cutting off the tank mounts, the frame is stock and I have all the parts

I find it interesting that someone was able to find the correct fork stanchions for a Matchless that are 10 inches over. The chopper guy then cut the lower tree and welded in an extension.

He further strengthened the neck by gusseting it up. Anyway here are a few pics of the before and after on one side. You can see the gussied up lower tree. The bike sat surprisingly low and level.

Please show the gusseted neck! I wonder why the builder did that. The G15 frame is rather sturdy as is.

>I find it interesting that someone was able to find the correct fork stanchions for a Matchless that are 10 inches over.
Probably not an off-the-shelt item. Forks-by-Frank made any stanchion length you wanted by order.

- Knut

This could have been much worse!
I believe the chopper builder simply wanted to reinforce the neck area because of the way the front was extended.
It is my intention to keep an eye out for a neck piece from a ruined frame. Or even make and weld up the tank and motor support myself.
Cutting out the gusset isn't that hard,. Miraculously, the matching serial number to the motor is untouched.
The bike has a bolt on hard tail, and I have the stock rear frame piece and swing arm.

Replacing the frame's headstock is a demanding task because of the attached tubes pointing in different directions. Adding to the complexity, all lugs are brazed and secured by cross-pins.
It will be much easier for you to obtain a frame diamond in decent shape and transfer your seriel number onto this frame. Make sure the old frame is demolished. When buyng a frame diamond, pay attention to the neck's bearing seats and possible damage to the lower rails.
There is a seller named MachIVMotors who used to offer G15 frames on eBay. Currently he has 5 frames for sale. Prizes are inflated though. If you try to fix your headstock in a decent way, we are easily talking of one grand in expenses.

- Knut