Anybody cut off and reposition their headstock?

I keep creating more problems for myself. Determined to retain my 19" front with USD forks, I've found my tire will be backed up uncomfortable close to my exhaust. Nearly every USD swap I've seen has used the smaller wheel from the donor bike and don't have clearance issues.

Adding rake will of course compound the problem of shorter USD forks, but I'm already assuming I'll be getting dropped triples. Also 1-2 degrees should really be enough, no need for extreme.

It looks fairly straight forward to cut out the old headstock, reposition it for a couple degrees more rake and even lower it down a hair.

thinking that you "can do it"is the hardest part :lol: !

all that is left is execution.

i would make sure i had all the parts i planned to use,and make it look like i want it to.

keep us posted,

leon

I am not looking forward to it I assure you. A jig of sorts will need to be made to keep it square. I trust my welding and fabrication, I put my life in my hands any time I drive my hand built custom suspension Explorer and now the KZ withcustom shock mounts in back. It's the tedious detail work of aligning everything and calculating angles that puts me off.

do you have any pix's of it mocked up I am curious about how close it it I am planning on the same set up having my axle and spacers made to fit my usd forks.

I had one I could not get a title for without jumping through a bunch of hoops. I made a slice on each side of the stem and removed, leaving the portion attached to the frame. I then welded the donor stem to it and bumped it out a couple degrees at the smae time. It was easy to keep everything straight. I have also just cut the downtubes, sleeve them and add in a few inches. Downside is it also raises the front.
Wayne

a little grindin welding and maybe even heat ...oh and one of them fancy little magnetic levels with digital degrees right on it ..clamp er up and weld

I'd push to get it on a jig, good time to square things up.








General idea of what to do.

Les

Don't finish off the popcorn just yet, I have a whole riding season to make it through before I start frame work.

I can get some pics, I just compressed the forks to the same height as the USDs and mentally subtracted 1.5" to remove the leading axle. It physically fits at static height but might not when fully cycled.

Good suggestions guys.