Topic: Fork Leg Identification

[Trav-i]

I have run into a little snag in my on going project.  I recently overhauled the forks I was given for use on my bike, but when I went to mount the caliper and check some things I realized that the caliper won't fit.  When I checked the fork bottoms I realized they are very different thus the mount will not work.

So what I'm trying to figure out is where these forks came from (what year, what model ect...).  I would really appreciate any info y'all might have as I'm getting towards the end of this build and don't want to get hung up on this little problem.

Here is a pic of the leg...

[Don R]

When I pulled a bike out of the junk yard one of these stuck in the mud. The frame is buried in my brothers storage building though. We never checked the tag on that one. I am  curious too. The plan was to use the bracket for double discs. It didn't fit.

[bryanj]

69-75ish

[754]

Actually72 and down, those look liuke the later syle of those years, made after about serial # 44,000.

 The difference is in the shape of the rasdius underneath the wider area where the seal fits in.

 I have an NOS early one,(1 side) if anyone, is looking to try to put together a brand new set

[Don R]

Now I am confused, my 70 K-0 has forks that look like the other models I have, 73 and 75f.  The big difference in the ones in the photo is the brake mounting lugs are different. Could the style shown be the correct ones for the 70 model?  On the loose one I have the caliper and pivot arm appear the same but the part that mounts to the fork lug is different.

[754]

The ones shown will fit the 70, but are probably incorrect for an early 70.

Most people will never notice the difference, its the radius or shoulder under the seal area bulge.

The pivot and calipers look  the same, the bracket between the pivot and fork is what changes.

[Don R]

So trav-i will need to get the proper bracket to mount his caliper or go to the more standard fork.

[754]

Yes, a 72 or earlier bracket.. might be as cheap to buy a caliper with bracket on ebay..

[Trav-i]

Not really.  As everyone knows the early stuff is pretty expensive.  I think I will just clean up the late model lowers that I have from another set.

I'm just wondering will the sliders this early set fit the later lowers.  The reason I ask is because all the other fork sets I have had oversized sliders in them and just would not come apart like factory forks.  Plus these old sets did not have the bushing that goes under the seal which is why I ask about compatilibity (they did not look anything like the factory sliders I have). 

So I guess what I'm asking is this can I use early style sliders in late model lowers?

Travis

[754]

no

you could actually make the piece and pin, less work than your axle plates.

What I was getting at earlier was, some folks might list just a caliper not knowing the year, and was thinking it may go for less than one listed as 69-72.. could be wrong..