Topic: Cycle X Fork Tubes

[stueveone]

Measure your fork tubes! The Cycle X fork tubes that are listed as "standard" on their website are far from. They are about an inch longer than my stock K4 fork tubes, so I had to just re-order the -1 fork tubes.

Just a heads up.
Cheers,
stueve

[stueveone]

Not very happy with Cycle X at the moment, for upon telling them that I need the correct tubes by friday, they charged me 25 bucks to ship the tubes 3 day mail, and it is saturday night and I got nothing. Again, re-ordered on tuesday morning, 3 day air, and still have not received my tubes late saturday night. Particularly concerning because I am moving in 5 days and NEED to finish up this build so that I can pack up my garage. Really lame.

[Terry in Australia]

Gee that's no good mate, I bought some 2 inch overs from CycleX a year or two ago and the service was superb! I just ordered a heap of parts yesterday, I hope they don't let me down! Cheers, Terry.

[MaaseyRacer]

When a bit more cash comes in I am looking at their -2 fork legs to go on my CB500T fork set up on my CB350F.

[traveler]

"forking by frank" is the place to go for fork tubes.

He has been at it for a VERY long time.

~Joe

[754]

 She..
 Mary runs the show.. Frank died in a plane crash? in the 80s I think..
 Most vendors for forks list stock length or what they consider stock.. always pays to check..before you buy..

[traveler]

Thanks for the correction.  Nevertheless, that is where I would go.

~Joe

[Hannibal Smith]

I got a set from "Forking by Frank" for my CB550, they came within a week and cost $250(?)

[754]

Unless you like super shiny , (or non stock length).. the chrome will wear by the seals..

 FactoryHard Chrome is really good,, look for forks from models that came gaiterless.. I did at one time buy NOS honda, but I think they may not exist anymore..

 Some places will hardchrome your old tubes, but it may  cause problems if you have a lot of rust between the trees.

[Old Scrambler]

Plus a big ONE with Frank..........show chrome is not the way to go for fork tubes!  I have several sets of Frank's tubes with peeled chrome and rust at the wear area and at the top ends.  Hard chrome is for hydraulic tubes. My tip of the day is to rotate your tubes about a 1/4-turn at each seal replacement interval. That will spread the wear and more evenly expose the tubes to road-dirt for the gaiterless crowd.

[stueveone]

Yes, further proof that you should always measure before you buy. And why you should not put "standard length" on your website if it is any area of debate 

[MaaseyRacer]

Is this Frank's site?
http://www.frankmain.qpg.com/

[MCRider]

Is this Frank's site?
http://www.frankmain.qpg.com/

Yes it is. And as they say, they are the only manufacturer of aftermarket tubes. My bet is that Cycle-X buys their tubes from Franks. (Although I certainly don't know that for an absolute fact.)

Whenever you inject a middleman, you increase the risk of mixed up and delayed orders.

[754]

There is only a few manufacturers.

 I think when sold through Franks as their product they are marked. I believe their list usually gave lengths, and a bit of info.
 Keep in mind now if they are indeed over $200 ;
 That you can hardchrome originals

 There is places that can coat them in black & gold finishes..

 I cant remember what I paid for OEM Honda tubes way back, but I bought 77/78 K tubes and ran them in 73 lowers..

[stueveone]

Whoa! Black chrome finish would be HOT!

[Terry in Australia]

Black chrome tubes would be nice, but to my knowledge, you can't get hard chrome in black. Having said that, you could possibly get your old tubes ceramic coated black, they ceramic coat pistons so the wear wouldn't be a huge issue, if you can get it in the desired color. In defence of Cyclex's forks, it should also be remembered that the OEM tubes differed in length over the life of the CB750. Cheers, Terry.

[Doctor_D]

The black would be Diamond Like Carbon and the gold would be Titanium Nitride.  They're both fairly expensive ($500). I wouldn't get near it unless I was making custom stanchions out of gun-drilled billet 2024-T3 or some other lightweight material.http://www.le-suspension.com/services/forks.html

And if you're going that far, one might was well get some custom titanium springs wound... http://www.engineered-spring.com/spring-materials/titanium.html?tsid=googleppc&gclid=CMOjsPSR158CFQ4HagodJV5xaQ

[Alan F.]

Tarozzi sells aftermarket fork tubes, they even have them available for the Honda fours, pricey though.

Ooh, colors too, bet that adds a few to the price. And remember their prices are probably per tube and not for a set.

http://www.fastfromthepast.com/servlet/the-template/forktubespage/Page

[Gears]

Plus a big ONE with Frank..........show chrome is not the way to go for fork tubes!  I have several sets of Frank's tubes with peeled chrome and rust at the wear area and at the top ends. 

Really? I thought Frank's were high quality. I was looking into replacing my forks and it was between CycleX or Franks. I was leaning towards Frank's even though they're higher priced than CycleX's, since they warranty them against chipping and peeling.

Old Scrambler, have you ever tried contacting frank's about replacing those forks?

[the architect]

My '75 had bady pitted and corroded fork tubes when I bought it.  I contemplated Franks vs. Cycle-X.  When I finally called Cycle-X to order (last November) they told me they didn't expect to have any in-stock until June    Forget that!  I scored a good pair of forks from a '77/'78 CB750 from eBay, and $40 later, I couldn't be happier 

The later model tubes are hard-chromed, btw, whereas the earlier models are not (from what I've learned).

[Terry in Australia]

The later model tubes are hard-chromed, btw, whereas the earlier models are not (from what I've learned).

No mate, they were all hard-chromed. I've got a couple of pairs of pitted and corroded 77/78 tubes here along with my collection of buggared early K tubes, the quality was pretty much the same, but the early K's suffered badly because the top 8 or so inches weren't plated and moisture build up under the chrome headlight ears had a disastrous effect on them. Surprisingly, my original CB750K0 tubes were in really good condition when I stripped and rebuilt them last year. Cheers, Terry.

[MCRider]

FYI: I sent an email to Franks's and asked them point blank were their tubes hard chromed or not and what kind of wear should one expect relative to stockers. Here is their reply: (Cut and paste, no edit)

"Our tubes are hard chromed, the same as factory tubes.
It is guaranteed not tochip, crack, or peel.
It will wear in the seal area at about the same rate as factory tubes."

Frank's Maint. & Eng., Inc
945 Pitner Ave.
Evanston, IL 60202
Phone: 847-475-1003
Fax: 847-570-4937  (End quote)

[Old Scrambler]

My comment about the peeling Frank's forks is based on the number of sets of rusty and peeling forks from them that are leaning against my garage wall.  All were taken from used bikes as were a dozen or so of the standard HONDA tubes that are in considerably better condition. If the new tubes from Franks are hard-chromed and warrantied, then an apparent improvement has been made over the years.

I guess I have somewhat of an advantage for getting used tubes in good condition.  I have 4 sizeable bone-yards within an hour's drive. One of the yards now calls me whenever he gets a somewhat clean rolling chasis for CB750 because he does not want to invest his labor to strip the parts.

[Gears]

No mate, they were all hard-chromed. I've got a couple of pairs of pitted and corroded 77/78 tubes here along with my collection of buggared early K tubes, the quality was pretty much the same, but the early K's suffered badly because the top 8 or so inches weren't plated and moisture build up under the chrome headlight ears had a disastrous effect on them. Surprisingly, my original CB750K0 tubes were in really good condition when I stripped and rebuilt them last year. Cheers, Terry.

That's what seems to have happened with my K5. I haven't even pulled the headlight ears off yet, but I can see it creeping out from under them. I'm 90% sure they're not even worth saving. Now I just need to figure out what I want to do(used/new, Cycle X/Frank's etc.)

[754]

I cant say about Franks now, but they were decorative chrome, as most after tubes were.

 If you can see wear or color change they are decorative chrome.

 I dont see that happening on Honda , Ceriani or Betor hardchromed tubes that are 30 years old..

[bucky katt]

i have had cyclex fork tubes on my k4 750 for 3 or 4 years now and they still look like they did when they came out of the box. only about 3,000 miles but lots of weather exposure.

[754]

Hardchrome is a buey grey finish, that is a bit matte, ie not mirror like..

Decorative chrome is highly reflective and mirror like..in finish..

 Should be easy to tell what you got..

 Pretty sure someone was making hardchrome aftermarket tubes, if I make a call I could find out..