fork options.

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squirrel

New Member
Dec 2, 2010
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hills of northern cali
I'm in the midst of my winter remodel.
My frame is an oversized aluminum tubing, 26" trek cruiser. The head tube is 5 1/8 inch long and 1 1/8 diameter.
I'm looking to upgrade my fork to a springer or a Suzuki k10. Monark forks are too pricey with the adapter kit. What are your opinions/ suggestions on putting the k10 on a 1 1/8"x 5 1/8" headtube? The lowrider style springer forks on eBay don't look like they provide any travel...
I'm trying to keep my fork upgrade well under $150 with shipping.
Squirrel
 

bigbutterbean

Active Member
Jan 31, 2011
2,417
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Lebanon, PA
The K10's can be had on ebay for $39 plus shipping. They require some minor modifications to stiffen them up because they come pretty soft in terms of dampening. They have a 1' steerer tube, so if your bike takes a 1&1/8" steerer, you'll need to buy fork shims or do what I did, get bearing cups for a 1" fork and shim your head tube. As far as head tube length, you have two options. You can cut the steerer tube to the proper length (the K10 steerer tube is 6") or you can modify your headset hardware as I did. I took a crown nut (thats the nut that goes on top on a threaded headset) and a dremel and cut the crown part off (the part that stops the crown nut from going down past the top of the steerer tube). I dont know if anything I said even makes sense, lol.
 

chainmaker

Well-Known Member
Jan 19, 2010
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Ma USA
BBC how do you like those forks have you had any chance to give them a work out yet? now there doesn't seem to be any more felts the suzukis would be a good pick for a race bike.
 

MotoMagz

Well-Known Member
Aug 2, 2010
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Michigan
BBC how do you like those forks have you had any chance to give them a work out yet? now there doesn't seem to be any more felts the suzukis would be a good pick for a race bike.
chiming in....I have had monark,columbia,hawthorne and schwinn springers.They all perform good and look great on.But when it comes to reliability and comfort the K10 is my choice.They are heavy so if you are planning for a race bike you might want to go a different route.Oh ya all it takes is changing out the oil to stiffen them up.
 

bigbutterbean

Active Member
Jan 31, 2011
2,417
3
38
Lebanon, PA
chiming in....I have had monark,columbia,hawthorne and schwinn springers.They all perform good and look great on.But when it comes to reliability and comfort the K10 is my choice.They are heavy so if you are planning for a race bike you might want to go a different route.Oh ya all it takes is changing out the oil to stiffen them up.
I added 4 ounces of 10w30 to each fork and turned the spring perches upside down to compress the springs a little tighter.
 
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