marshg246
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- Joined
- Jul 12, 2015
- Messages
- 4,848
The NCNO solution would be fine if all I said was accounted for:I am not understanding why you think the Kegler clamps are good but the "NCNO solution" is bad. By NCNO solution, I take you to mean nuts welded on the pivot tube in the approximate location of the Kegler clamps sold by NYCNorton. They both convert the original geometry to a better geometry. From memory, the original Norton cradle had a fastener in the center of the top of the pivot tube, perpendicular to the rocking forces imparted to the swingarm. Both the clamp and nut solution move the screws to a similar location in parallel to the forces and offset from the pivot center so that they are better able to resist the rocking. These are both improvements. In my opinion, the Kegler clamps principal benefit is that they can be installed on the cradle while in situ since no welding is required. Why do you think one is good and the other bad?
The use of grease in the spindle is obviously bad and neither solution can repair previous damage. The principal advantage of the Kegler clamps is that they can be installed with less disassembly and are a fine product. However, welding two nuts to the cradle has the advantage of being less visible, an objective I prefer in my useful mods. What am I misunderstanding?
Best to all.
1) Replace the spindle with the MK3 type that has flats
2) Drill to align with the flats with the spindle properly installed
3) Weld without distortion
For all solutions, not just NCNO do it before there is damage to the cradle.
IMHO, installing either solution without removing the spindle and without cleaning up the burrs caused by drilling is unprofessional and a mistake.
My guess is that your misunderstanding is hearing the end without hearing the reasoning and most likely not having to deal with the aftermath.
IMHO: You cannot improve the geometry! A correct cradle and spindle have the correct geometry. Clamping can maintain that geometry or distort it, not improve it!
In a perfect world, when I build bikes, I would like to use MK3 swingarms and Cradles - not a real option. 75% of the bikes I build are Combats because that's what people ask for. The cost of upgrading to even the better pre-MK3 swingarms is normally something people don't want to pay for. I look for, buy, and restore certain parts such as cradles. About half are a waste of money and get recycled. The rest are just fine, and it ends up costing the customer WAY less than a new cradle. If someone wants to pay for the clamps, I will install them but only if using the new spindle/bushings kit which is already expensive. I will not weld the cradle tube even though as a part of the process the cradle is blasted clean to bear metal in most cases.
I'm happy that you're happy and point was not to start an argument, just to show/tell more about it all. People listen to what people say here and hearing only the good causes me LOTs of phone calls asking why things went bad and what to do about it.