the tinker
Cruisin' on my Bluebird
Buy a girls fork for your bike......and it's too long
Here's how to shorten it and re-thread.
The fork being shortened is a 1930's girls shockmaster to fit in the Hawthorne 5 bar I bought last Sat.
I removed the girls steering tube and placed it next to a boys. you can see how much has to be removed.
The first step is to figure how much you need to remove. the best way is to measure a boys fork that fits or taking your girls fork and placing it into the frame you are going to use and mark it in place where you will make the cut. Allow for the all the hardware that goes on your particular fork. Don't be caught short! Make sure the cups and bearings are in place when doing this.
If you are cutting down a Monark,Shelby, Columbia or post war cleaveland welding take a headset nut and thread it down to the point that it will be cut off at. Using the nut as a guide use a hacksaw to evenly cut off the excess.[see photo] and remove nut. There will be some threads left on these type forks to start your die on.
In the case of the pre war shockmaster it is much longer so I placed it in a pipe vise and used a pipe cutter to insure an even cut.
Then place the steering tube in a vice and firmly start your die cutting into the fork tube.
Use plenty of oil. liberally oil on each complete turn. Notice the oil that dripped into the rag on the floor. Not enough oil and you may ruin your die.
when you are down far enough ,back off continuing to oil as you unscrew the die.
Next use a dremel to cut the keyway.
If your springer has truss rods as this one has the bottom of them will have to be shortened.
Basically the same process as the steering tube X 2.
On Monark forks the front fork that supports the springs will have to be shortened and re threaded. just discard the two chrome spacers afterwards.
Monark and shelby will use their existing yoke. Columbia 's yoke will need to be replaced with a boys.
On The 53 54 monark and huffman springers the fork arms and truss rods are too long so cutting them down is not an option.
The pre war single upright hawthorne and postwar rollfast springers have a different size spring for boys and girls forks.
Last resort is to cut off {see arrow on photo] the fork tube and replace with one from another fork as shown. Notice the weld bead about an inch from the bottom. If the fork tube is too badly damaged this may be the way to go. The two pieces must be exactly aligned.
something[pipe... bolt... whatever] must be inserted into the fork tube at the joint.This will hold it straight and give some backup for the weld. Has to be no more the an inch from the bottom of the fork tube or your stem will not go all the way into the tube at handlebar time.
Be sure to have bottom stationary cone on before you weld together.
I have these photos a bit out of order here but I think you get the idea] Have fun!
Here's how to shorten it and re-thread.
The fork being shortened is a 1930's girls shockmaster to fit in the Hawthorne 5 bar I bought last Sat.
I removed the girls steering tube and placed it next to a boys. you can see how much has to be removed.
The first step is to figure how much you need to remove. the best way is to measure a boys fork that fits or taking your girls fork and placing it into the frame you are going to use and mark it in place where you will make the cut. Allow for the all the hardware that goes on your particular fork. Don't be caught short! Make sure the cups and bearings are in place when doing this.
If you are cutting down a Monark,Shelby, Columbia or post war cleaveland welding take a headset nut and thread it down to the point that it will be cut off at. Using the nut as a guide use a hacksaw to evenly cut off the excess.[see photo] and remove nut. There will be some threads left on these type forks to start your die on.
In the case of the pre war shockmaster it is much longer so I placed it in a pipe vise and used a pipe cutter to insure an even cut.
Then place the steering tube in a vice and firmly start your die cutting into the fork tube.
Use plenty of oil. liberally oil on each complete turn. Notice the oil that dripped into the rag on the floor. Not enough oil and you may ruin your die.
when you are down far enough ,back off continuing to oil as you unscrew the die.
Next use a dremel to cut the keyway.
If your springer has truss rods as this one has the bottom of them will have to be shortened.
Basically the same process as the steering tube X 2.
On Monark forks the front fork that supports the springs will have to be shortened and re threaded. just discard the two chrome spacers afterwards.
Monark and shelby will use their existing yoke. Columbia 's yoke will need to be replaced with a boys.
On The 53 54 monark and huffman springers the fork arms and truss rods are too long so cutting them down is not an option.
The pre war single upright hawthorne and postwar rollfast springers have a different size spring for boys and girls forks.
Last resort is to cut off {see arrow on photo] the fork tube and replace with one from another fork as shown. Notice the weld bead about an inch from the bottom. If the fork tube is too badly damaged this may be the way to go. The two pieces must be exactly aligned.
something[pipe... bolt... whatever] must be inserted into the fork tube at the joint.This will hold it straight and give some backup for the weld. Has to be no more the an inch from the bottom of the fork tube or your stem will not go all the way into the tube at handlebar time.
Be sure to have bottom stationary cone on before you weld together.
I have these photos a bit out of order here
but I think you get the idea] Have fun!
