The Knowledge - Velocette Owners Club

L #1342 As part of my complete Winter strip/rebuild I took the front forks to bits on my 1960
Venom, not that there was any problem it was just that all the parts were being resprayed so it seemed
a good opportunity. I replaced the pistons and the bushes in the fork damper tubes and also the front
fork tube bush and the fork slider tube bush and the oil seal. The fork tube/stanchions were straight and
did not appear to be particularly worn. I have just put the fork legs back into the steering column
assembly and the fork cross member and tightened everything up. With the bike on the centre stand if I
grasp the front wheel between my legs I can move the handlebars a couple of inches. I removed one
fork from the bike, removed the spring dust cover and also the headlamp cowl bracket. I refitted the fork
leg without the wheel. Although I could twist the slider tube against the spring there did not appear to
be play in any direction. I refitted the spring cover etc and refitted the fork leg. Without the wheel I could
twist the slider tube but there was no obvious movement. However once I put the wheel in I was still
able to twist the handlebars whilst gripping the wheel. I realize I must be missing the obvious but frankly
I do not know what it is.
#1363 Install the front fender brackets-all three of them making sure they're straight-and snug the bolts
fairly well. Check for your "twisting" action now. It should be significantly less. With the front fender
mounted the whole assembly should twist very little. Be sure the fork pinch bolts on the lower steering
head are tight, too.
#1366 I think you are spot on in your suggestions. I think there were two problems. One - I hadn't
appreciated how important the mudguard brackets were to the rigidity of the front forks and secondly
having cleaned the rust from the fork stanchions so that I could get the sleeve tubes off to remove the
springs, how important it was to get the bolts really tight on the lower steering head. Although I thought
mine were tight with the rust free stanchion it was allowing the sleeve tube to move when I tried to twist
it.
L #1374 Can anybody tell me / point me in the direction of a drawing / write up of how girder forks
are supposed to be assembled? The spindles / plates in mine (Webb) seemed to have an odd
combination of threaded / not threaded which did not make them easy to get apart! Also, what
material(s) are the spindles / bushes supposed to be made of?
#1376 The answer re girder fork assembly is rather long and depends on whether you have the right
bits to start with! The spindles should be a decent steel EN16T (not silver steel or mild steel) The
bushes are a bronze, not specific really but not too soft. The spindles are screwed into the link on one
side and the opposite end is unthreaded and shouldered. This allows the spindle to be screwed into the
link to adjust the length and hence end play. Between the link and the yoke or girder blade there is a
knurled hardened steel washer. This must be adjusted to allow one washer to revolve with no side play.
There is a lock nut outside of all the links. The threaded end is a lock nut which sets the spindle length
fast once the adjustment has been made. The other (on the smaller end) stops the link from falling off!
Follow the above and you can get forks which are a delight to ride with and the handling can be nicer
than tele forks (on the right surface)
#1377 How do I make a puller to get the bushes out (what's left of them - I strongly suspect the ones in
the bottom link are totally worn away?
#1378 Richard, look at expanding type pullers made for pulling bearings from blind holes. Kukko,
Hazet, and Heyco, all three well known German automotive tool makers, build very nice examples. In
the USA, MAC Tools make several nice examples.
#1379 Tap a thread in the bushes, screw in a bolt and tap them out with a drift from the opposite end.
#1380 The new bushes should be pushed in and bored in line. As you will probably not be able to get
that done you will need an in line reamer or at least a reamer with a pilot to ensure that the finished
bores are in line with each other. There is one other method. This requires a lathe. The reamer is held
in the chuck and the fork member held with a centre in the tail stock. The reamer passes through one
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