Fork Straightening

[Ricks]

I am working on my 55 rat bike and have gotten to the point where I need to straighten the front forks.  As many of these bikes were abused, this is a common problem.
Here is the pictures of what I started with. The rigid fork was bent so far that the rockers couldn't move, as it was in a bind with the spring fork.

[Ricks]

This is what it looks like now. I used heat and a piece of pipe to return them to close to normal. I will reweld them and call it good.

[pd]

Looks much better , Rick .  A little paint and no one but you and me will know .

I believe my forks were also bent and straightened . The have a slight bulge just under the lower cross brace . They seem to be fairly straight , so I'm not very concerned with how they are .

[Ricks]

No paint Pete, just going to keep this one rusty for now.  I have rebuilt the transmission and have just about everything to do the motor, including a new, oversized piston. I am going to do a little port work on the crank and cylinder to see if I can get a tiny bit more horsepower!

[pd]

"I am going to do a little port work on the crank and cylinder to see if I can get a tiny bit more horsepower!"

Don't forget to take before and after pics of your porting experiment .

I have done a bit of porting and piston relief work . I thought about doing some work on my Simplex , but I have to get it running properly first .

[Mike Sal]

Hey Rick, is that box under the bench a stitch welder or a spot welder?  How well does it work?
Mike Sal

[Ricks]

Hey Rick, is that box under the bench a stitch welder or a spot welder?  How well does it work?
Mike Sal

Niether, it is a stud welder.  It welds those little studs on sheet metal , then you use a slide hammer to pull the dents.  I am not a fan of cheap tools, but I could not see spending $500 on a pro model. The one I have I got from Harbor freight, on sale and with a coupon,  for $80. Worked great to pull the dents from the gas tank on my simplex truck. Sorry, I did not take pictures when I used it.

[Ricks]

After spending several more hours cleaning and regreasing everything, here it is.  This front end is not original to the frame, as the frame and tank are maroon, and the front end and front fender show evidence of blue.

Took about an hour with the spoke wrench to true up the wheel.  Did every person who owned a Simplex ram it into a curb at some point during its life? LOL

[pd]

Rick ,

I have to think that the reason a lot of the front ends show up bent is because back in the heyday of Simplex the roads were not as nice as we have today . Specifically , the pot holes were likely bigger , deeper and much more frequent . And , the fact that eye protection was probably not a priority only added to the problem . But , I'm just speculating .

[Mike Sal]

Ya, I meant to say "stud" welder in my post.  This is good info.  I've seen those at harbor freight, but never talked to anyone who actually used one.

Do I have the frame number for this bike in the registry?  If not, send it to me again & I'll plug it in.  I'm getting ready to update the registry again.
Mike Sal

[oil-lamp]

I guess I will have to post pictures when I stretch my forks. That is if I can learn to use my new tight torch properly.   

[bill marcum]

PD ,You think the roads were worse back in the 50's . Do you live in paridise, here in Michigan our potholes will swollow you up and spit you out. Genreal Moters uses our roads to test their supensions. LOL Bill Marcum

[pd]

Bill ,
I was born and raised in West Michigan ( Grand Rapids area ) . The street in front of our house in Hudsonville was dirt until about the mid fifties . We didn't get curbs until the sixties or early seventies .
I know that may not be the average , but I have to think it would be pretty close , other than in the bigger cities .
Yeah , I know some of the potholes there can rip an inferior suspension apart , with ease .
But , over all , I think the road system is a major improvement to what it was 60+ years ago .

Pete .

[bill marcum]

Yes you are right about the roads. I grew up here in Romulus . I learned to ride and drive on these dirt roads Dad said that I was going to be a good driver because I tried to go around the pothole in the road. Hope to have this Simplex running this summer . Bill Marcum

[pd]

"Hope to have this Simplex running this summer . Bill Marcum Cool"

Good luck with that , Bill .  Mine is being a bit cantankerous about smoothing out and running right .