longer forks for 900 custom

[racerboy6996]

anyone know where I could get longer front forks for the 900 custom?

Could I change the forks, triple trees & front rim without cutting & changing parts on the frame?

Or is the steering stem\neck (or whatever its called) different sizes on different motorcycles?

[cust900]

are you looking for longer forks to raise the front end or a different degree that the forks are at?

[racerboy6996]

If everything works out the way it is planned, I have a shop that is going to do some frame work & change the rake.
So if I need longer forks to get the look I am going for & I need to change out the neck to get other forks to work, this is the time to do it.
But if I can keep the same neck, the cost of the frame work will be cheaper.

I wasnt sure if other forks would bolt into the stock triple trees or if all of that would need to be changed out to get longer forks.

Of course if I go much longer I am not sure if I would need bigger diameter forks for it to look right.

I know if I go with larger diameter forks, the stock triple trees wouldnt work.

[Trashman900C]

Originally Posted by racerboy6996

If everything works out the way it is planned, I have a shop that is going to do some frame work & change the rake.
So if I need longer forks to get the look I am going for & I need to change out the neck to get other forks to work, this is the time to do it.
But if I can keep the same neck, the cost of the frame work will be cheaper.

I wasnt sure if other forks would bolt into the stock triple trees or if all of that would need to be changed out to get longer forks.

Of course if I go much longer I am not sure if I would need bigger diameter forks for it to look right.

I know if I go with larger diameter forks, the stock triple trees wouldnt work.

why not just use aftermarket triple trees to change the rake?

[elevater]

If you change the rake on your forks you will also change the trail, could(most definitely) make the bike hazardous to ride. If the trail is set wrong the bike will want to fall off to the sides while moving, could even be very wobbly at speed. A local guy tried this and found the bike to be unrideable, and when he tried to sell it no mechanic would safety it. Check out Seeger Motorcycle. They make a WELL designed kit, and their site splains it all.

[racerboy6996]

The reason I was wanting to rake the frame is -
1- A shop I know will do it cheaper than buying the raked triple trees
2- I havent seen anyone around here with that "custom" of a Vulcan, and if you are going to do something, do it big or go home. Right?
3- I thought raking the frame & swapping out the forks was the correct way to do this

the way I understood it using the triple trees to change the rake would change the trail negatively.

But if I had the frame raked & then swapped out the forks, the shop could calculate the rake correctly to not alter the trail to an undesirable amount or at least add some positive trail instead of negative trail.

I also read an article that talked about using the altered triple trees & lowering the front end in conjunction with raking the frame to counter act to much positive trail caused by raking the frame, but giving the "chopper" rake look.

But in my research I have not found any longer forks that would work on the Vulcan. I have found "custom" forks that are normally used on Harleys or complete custom builds. I was not sure if I would have to swap out the entire steering neck to use these. If I go this route I thought about going with the larger diameter inverted forks.

I think if I went that route I would also have to swap out the front rim.

I know, lots more $$$ than just using the Mortons triple trees, but if this is the correct way to go, and I could get it to look good, this is the way I would like to go.

Of course, this morning I looked at my frame closer & it looks like the steering neck is attached to the frame different than other frames I have seen. I will talk to the shop again today & show him pics of the frame to see if he still thinks he can do it for the price I was quoted.

But by next week my A.D.D. may kick in & all of this will be forgotten. LOL

[AdamT2]

Originally Posted by racerboy6996

2- I havent seen anyone around here with that "custom" of a Vulcan, and if you are going to do something, do it big or go home. Right?

Im pretty sure some of us( greeneyes, trashman, myself) here have a several thousands of dollars worth of add ons so watch what you say

anyways

the mortons trees have a spacer in them that "extend" the forks to keep trail where it should be

[racerboy6996]

sorry adam, greeneyes, trashman & the others with motorcycles that have many more add ons than I will ever have.
That is not how I meant it.

I was speaking about the frame mod itself.
(I say, as I am backing out of the room so I do not get jumped)

I may just stick with the Mortons trees. Less work. And the possibility of reversing my decision.

Also Mortons is about 30 miles from where I live.

Save the modified frames for when I hit the lottery.

I know greeneyes did not install the fork extensions because he lowered the rear & thought it looked better.

What are your thoughts on the "extensions" as far as looks go?

[AdamT2]

I was just messin with ya man

If you look at pictures of my bike vs greeneyes you can see the difference between with and without the extensions, the front of mine sat up higher

I agree with you on the trees in case you change you mind, I took mine back off. you could un-cut the frame but would be a pain in the @$$

[racerboy6996]

I thought you were messing with me, but when I re-read my post, I thought I should cover my a**. I dont want to offend the people that inspire me to customize my 900.

I will have to pull up the pics of yours & greeneyes motorcycles side by side when i get home.

Pulling them up on Iphone wouldnt help much.

Adam, do you have the rear of yours lowered?

Oh & in case anyone is interested - Forks by Frank \ Forking by Frank \ Franks Engineering & Maintenance (whatever you want to call them) gave me a quote of $259 for a set of vulcan 900 custom fork tubes up to 6 inch over stock length.

[Trashman900C]

Originally Posted by AdamT2

Im pretty sure some of us( greeneyes, trashman, myself) here have a several thousands of dollars worth of add ons so watch what you say

my bike is stock....

[racerboy6996]

Stock? Yeah ok, stock what? Lol

[AdamT2]

Originally Posted by Trashman900C

my bike is stock....

me too

[Trashman900C]

Originally Posted by AdamT2

me too

do you scrape your pipes?

[doughrek]

Originally Posted by racerboy6996

Stock? Yeah ok, stock what? Lol

Originally Posted by AdamT2

me too

Mine too!

[AdamT2]

I love that rear fender!!

I have never scraped the pipes, guess im not much of a leaner lol

[Trashman900C]

Originally Posted by AdamT2

I love that rear fender!!

I have never scraped the pipes, guess im not much of a leaner lol

i was good since i changed to the dragsters, but the other day i took a turn a little faster than normal and scraped them a little bit.......

Originally Posted by doughrek

Mine too!

nice, got any more pics.....?
what front fender is that?

[doughrek]

I will post up more pictures later. Its a Kustomwerks wrap around fender, I got it from brittmotorsports. Bulldog from there gave me hell of a deal on it.

[racerboy6996]

awesome looking rides...

i scraped my exhaust for the first time 2 weeks ago (owned the bike almost 1yr). Since then I have scraped it 3 or 4 times.... I am going to wear down my exhaust when I lower it.

[racerboy6996]

Adam, you are one of the ones that has removed the triple tree kit right?