Building Fork Ears
- Thread starter Deoodles
- Start date
I met with the fabricator today. He pointed out the areas that would be problematic; said he could get close and told me I wouldn’t want to pay for them. He said building some out of an earlier year would require making a back plate and placing the spacer. He could do that for around a buck or buck and a half. I am going to have to accept that finding a set just may take years. As a side note, I emailed CHP and asked about repops. I never heard back from them. Guess that’s a dead end as well.
Bummer. Was hoping you had found someone with the skills and reasonable. Regarding the repops from CHP, I've yet to receive a response on any question I submitted directly from their website.
I've not heard a word on the Fork Ears since May, in which Lyle stated the prototype was 8 weeks late and no ETA.
I've not heard a word on the Fork Ears since May, in which Lyle stated the prototype was 8 weeks late and no ETA.
These are a classic example of what's cheap, quick & easy to turn out, with stamping dies & hydraulic presses...but an ungodly nightmare to replicate by hand. Honda probably stamped these out for less than $5 a pop, circa 1973, but the first pair came with a 5-digit price tag. What, exactly, constitutes "reasonable"? Consider the amount of highly-skilled/highly-specialized talent & equipment that was needed to create those OEM stamping dies. I wasn't overstating the case in my previous posts, just trying to provide an accurate picture of what repairs will take...and this is NOT an "I told you so" recap, either.
Unless you get very lucky, expect to have at least $350 invested in a pair that are good enough to use on a full restoration. Yes, it's stupidly expensive, for what they are; that's why I have such a harsh opinion on the design. OTOH, what are the options ....and...what's an extra coupla C-notes within the context of a complete restoration? IMHO, not enough to shelve the project. If it were mine, I'd grumble a little, maybe pour a couple drams of single malt elixir...and then just get on with it. Life's too short to let the price of a brake job derail the whole project.
If you're willing to consider the modified K1 approach, then you're also willing to forgo some original stamping detail. There's no way to replicate that with K1 (or K2) ears. In that case, an actual set of K1, or K2 ears could be chromed...and the signal bodies relocated to the HL shell mounts. I'd go with flexible, polymer, stalks that are as short as possible...to prevent more damage. At least this way you'd have OEM HL ears, even if they are from a previous model and the T/S changes would be reversible. Which segues into the second part of this solution...namely staying on the hunt for the correct parts. Eventually, you'll come up with something viable...either NOS, undamaged, or repairable originals... or the much-hyped repops.
I stand by what I said before, restoring a damaged pair of originals is damned difficult, but not impossible.
I agree that the tooling up-charge to make this part was substantial. In a former life, I had to approve payment for a few tooling charges. Would not be surprised if the tooling charge today exceeded $100k. Well, I guess I'm the eternal optimist when it comes to reasonable charges. I have learned so much here and hoped someone had found an easier way, if nothing else, to mask the damage. I guess this one falls in the bucket of being out out of bounds for most hobbyist, such as myself.
I am going down a path as we speak to use a cheap set from DRATV with the addition of a spring where it mounts to the ear. The "cheap set" has thin wall tubing for the stalk. Going to test it before I go live, but my thinking is the stalk or spring should "give" before the ear. In other words, trying to make the signal/stalk the weakest link and not the ear.
I've looked at several stalks from other bikes/years and just not sure of the best option. Even thought about a short section of stiff hose, or something similar, as a separation point between the stalk and the ear. A nice round chuck of rubber that is stiff enough that it doesn't flop too much at 40mph and few bumps would be ideal, but I don't know what that material is the moment. I tend to overthink and sometimes overcomplicate things, so looking for feedback and ideas.
I am going down a path as we speak to use a cheap set from DRATV with the addition of a spring where it mounts to the ear. The "cheap set" has thin wall tubing for the stalk. Going to test it before I go live, but my thinking is the stalk or spring should "give" before the ear. In other words, trying to make the signal/stalk the weakest link and not the ear.
I've looked at several stalks from other bikes/years and just not sure of the best option. Even thought about a short section of stiff hose, or something similar, as a separation point between the stalk and the ear. A nice round chuck of rubber that is stiff enough that it doesn't flop too much at 40mph and few bumps would be ideal, but I don't know what that material is the moment. I tend to overthink and sometimes overcomplicate things, so looking for feedback and ideas.
That is exactly what I was talking about. Turn signal bodies are cheap, HL ears...well...don't lets overstate the obvious even further
Early JDM Dax models, circa 1972, that got the CT70 K1 (gatorless) fork but with chromed bmx-style (fixed) handlebars, had the front signals mounted to the handlebars...midway along the upright portions, far enough inboard that they didn't snag on everything within visual range. A pair of mounts, like those used for clamp-on mirrors, would be ideal - rigid and with a lot of placement flexibility. Use short lengths of split tubing, either plastic, or rubber, and you won't scuff the handlebar chrome.
Don't feel bad about "overthinking" things at the very least you are not alone in this regard, ask me how I know this.
I think you'd be disappointed with the real-world results. I've used neodymium (rare earth) magnets in a few different applications, with only marginal success. Even fairly small magnets, of this type, can have enough "grip" to be very difficult to pull apart. But, that's only one parameter, tensile strength. Once you add shear...anything that applies a non-linear load, can easily upset the apple cart. Signal stalks would walk around, from vibration. It only takes a small amount of leverage before the magnetic grip becomes weak, for the intended purpose. I can think of ways to overcome unwanted lateral movement. That said, what about the damage likely to result from a signal & stalk dangling by the power lead?
cjpayne
Well-Known Member
Why didn't Honda just use the Dax/K0 short stalk blinkers? Is there a U.S. DOT regulation that the blinkers had to stick out so far? Honda had to have known that those WILL catch anything when offroad. Something like an old door stop spring stalk would've saved countless headlight ears on these blinker bikes.
Mike_
Active Member
got to call them, only way to get a response 903-509-2727
Follow the money...
For many decades now, we've had some f*****d-up domestic laws, regarding vehicle lighting. Until quite recently, it was illegal to run anything but a sealed-beam headlight, for example...despite the fact there have been many other bulb types, most of which are far superior, for better than 50 years now. To this day, there's not a lot of aftermarket lighting that is legal...as in bearing the D.O.T. markings. Take a look at any aftermarket lighting catalog, especially the LED listings, they all have disclaimers "not D.O.T. approved", "for offroad use only" etc, standard, CYA boilerplate. I'm running a 30W LED headlight that provides better forward visibility than most car headlights; the OEM sealed beam, by comparison, is several steps below "lame". Three guesses as to which one is illegal. Fortunately, equipment inspections are virtually non-existant. At one time, the automotive lighting industry was controlled be less than a handful of manufacturers, with well-paid lobbyists. You know about politics...that's the stuff that shit scrapes off of its shoes.
Honda wasn't blame-free with this one, either. It was probably just cheaper to modify the HL ear design, to use existing turn signal stalks that were common to other models, than to add brackets & short extensions for a single model...for the fronts. They really should have been mounted to the handlebars. The only legit concern I could see would be the power leads, with foldable handlebars, and that's pretty shaky, imho. For the rears, they may have had no options, due to minimum width requirements. Of course that's changed since the 1970s. The now-common integrated tail light/turn signal units on many vehicles weren't always D.O.T. legal...because, we were told, "they weren't safe"...but now they are
hrc200x
Active Member
Maybe a flange around the two magnets to keep them from sliding on each other which i think would take care of the shear? Hopfully someone wouldn't ride around with them dangling by the wires but rather reattach them after a crash or brush against a stick, which would be as simple as lifting the blinker back up close to the magnet until it grabbed it and pulled it into its flanged area. Might need to guide the power wire in through the hole as some slack probably would pull out during the carnage.
Machine two bolts per side, to mount the magnets. One gets bolted through the HL ear, the other to the stalk, tightly centered through a stiff polymer grommet...rubber, or silicone. That'd be your vibration-absorbing, centering, flange.
W/O something to hold the two magnets aligned, the stalk assemblies will come apart. If that happens at speed, you're gonna have one helluva time grabbing it fast enough...imagine if both separate at the same time. All it'd take is one good jolt...from a bad expansion joint, RR crossing....
hrc200x
Active Member
I don't ride that fast, haha. Most my riding is first gear in the woods, but yea I can see where washboard on a gravel road or the things you mentioned could push the suspension past its damping ability and send the jolt up through the rest of the forks and everything attached to it.
I'm using neodymium magnets to hold a pair of custom buddy pegs in the "up" position, when riding sans passenger. Intuitively, they should be amazingly effective, right? I mean, they were a chore to pull apart, prior to installation. All it took was a 4" long footpeg, to produce enough leverage to easily overcome them. Ball detents would have had at least 10X the holding power. FYI, the contact spots are magnet-to-magnet and the pegs are stationary, not attached to the swingarm. My point is that I began with with the same expectations you currently have and reality disagreed...
kirrbby
Well-Known Member
The bigger the magnet, the more the holding power...of course.
I have a couple that are about 2"x2"x5/8" thick. If you stick one to your truck door on the flat, you might be able to pull it off...thin metal. If you stick one to 1/8" thick steel or thicker...I'd lay money that you couldn't pull it off without a tool of some sort. If you try carrying both, one in each hand, you risk hurting yourself. If you carry one in your hand and lay the other down on a wood table...you had better just keep your distance lol
and, don't venture too close to the knife drawer either.
2x2x5/8 and they are dangerously strong.
How about a strong spring to pull your signal stalk back into place?
I have a couple that are about 2"x2"x5/8" thick. If you stick one to your truck door on the flat, you might be able to pull it off...thin metal. If you stick one to 1/8" thick steel or thicker...I'd lay money that you couldn't pull it off without a tool of some sort. If you try carrying both, one in each hand, you risk hurting yourself. If you carry one in your hand and lay the other down on a wood table...you had better just keep your distance lol
and, don't venture too close to the knife drawer either.
2x2x5/8 and they are dangerously strong.
How about a strong spring to pull your signal stalk back into place?
scooter
Well-Known Member
First is an ST90 setup - probably hard to find
Second is CL70 setup - nice and simple. Something like this that sits under the top of the tree. Should be able to fab something like this pretty easily
Third is a CB360 setup - this one is reinforced with a circular bar that fits around the headlight and ties into the triple tree