# Shortening the Monark springer



## the tinker (Oct 18, 2015)

So It's Sunday morning and the wife and I are sitting in church and what's the tinker thinking of? 

PUTTING A MONARK SPRINGER ON THE 46 COLUMBIA!!!
 Now Monark springers are one of my favorites. Took a photo of one this morning that is setting down in the hidden bike bunker[beneath Colson Command]. What kid didn't think he had a real motorcycle when he was riding that?



So after church down to the bunker I went looking for some Monark forks.Came up with 3 and lined them up on the drive to illustrate the height difference between each one:

Three different forks .... three different heights.
The dark blue and the red primered ones are boys. The light blue on the far right is girls.
The two blue ones are bent[typical for Monarks]


The dark blue one is bent at the forks where they meet the fork tube.
The light blue one is bent in the middle of the tube. This can happen when attempting to straighten a fork by putting it into a vise. Yes the forks straighten, but the fork tube it self may bend.No matter as it is still not straight so I will use my brother's old GTO bumper jack to jack them straight. Notice that an old axle has been placed into the fork. Because  the rocker assembly  on Monark and J. C. Higgins forks tend to make it harder to straighten, I only straighten the main fork.  The Small front fork on the Monark is easily straightened by hand as is the Higgins truss rods. 


Notice the front axle assembly in the regular black fork on the saw horse : That is what is used on a regular fork. It must be bolted in tight and it helps if the bearing head nut is tight to keep the fork locked straight when using the jack.




Now the fork has to be threaded to fit the Columbia headtube. I actually did this step before I straighten them. Either stick your fork into the frame you intend to use or measure VERY CAREFULLY.Better to be too long then come up short ! Then Thread your fork using plenty of oil. 
THe front fork on the monark also must be cut down and threaded. The easiest way is to clamp your die into a vise grip and thread as shown. Some die holders have removable handles but this way is faster.





  Well I see I have a duplicate photo.... oh well,Anyway next is to mark your cut on the main fork and thread down an old bearing nut down to exactly where you wish to cut off the excess. This can be done on the bike as shown or in your vise.
Using the nut as a guide carefully evenly cut with hacksaw and you are done.
And that folks was Tinker's project for Sunday, after church! 
P.S. Don't forget to extend keyway with your dremel......


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## the tinker (Oct 20, 2015)

Went to the hardware store looking for some cap nuts to fit the Monark springer .
Not every one carries American Fine 5/16ths. 24s. 
however I did find a new die. This one fits in a ratchet socket wrench.  Made by the Irwin Co. and surprise  surprise, made in THE U.S.A! for about 6 bucks.....threads it down in less than a minute. 
Much faster then my vice grip way.....just thought I'd add this info...


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## WES PINCHOT (Oct 20, 2015)

Hi Tinker!
Do you remember the homily??????


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## the tinker (Oct 21, 2015)

WES PINCHOT said:


> Hi Tinker!
> Do you remember the homily??????




NO


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## the tinker (Oct 31, 2015)

I have to add to this post so folks can avoid a problem that will ruin your day when shortening a girls Monark springer to fit a boys bike.
There are chrome spacers on the two spring posts. The older ones have one on top each spring and one on the bottom. The newer springers have just one on the bottom of each spring.
These will be removed and discarded when the forks are cut down and re threaded.         Normally these spacers slide right off.Some of these forks are rusty and these spacers rust themselves to the spring post.
If you try to force them off the whole post will snap off.....
They do not go down into the fork very much. You will then have to braze it back in or re thread a new one as I did,shown in photo.
If they are stuck the two rods must be supported before twisting or hitting them off.
Take the fork and place in vice. heat the spacer hot enough to brand someone with and hammer it down with a chisel to remove......
Also remember on the older boys forks, the length of the two posts are shorter on the older boys models as the newer springers had added hardware on them. Make sure to allow for all the hardware of your specific springer before you cut...


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