Series 3 rebuild Front End Woes

[Gino_Lamberto]

In the process of rebuilding my series 3 special, I won't waffle on but during the initial rebuild process I ended up buying some new forks, then moving house twice. I have settled down in my new place now and once again started to rebuild my beloved scooter, and try to locate all my bits & bobs that have been packed and unpacked for the 3rd time now :-/

So anyhow over the last weekend I rebuilt my repainted front hub/wheel.

I had already installed the new chrome forks, fork links etc and fitted the escorts dampers, I noticed straight away that the new fork links are much wider where the wheel bolts in than my original ones ?

I know its been a long time, but on offering the wheel up to bolt in, the distance between the fork links is much greater than the overall distance of the hub ? and yet the links are thicker - what have I done wrong ?

Will the fork links move together when tightening the front wheel bolts ? At the moment it looks like a dick in a shirt sleeve

Pics to follow

Any help much appreciated

[foremanbob]

PIctures would help.....

[Gino_Lamberto]

Hopefully these will help shed some light ?

[HxPaul]

Possibly a problem with the aftermarket fork links.

[johnnyXS]

I'd agree with that. Some of the Far Eastern casting leaves a lot to be desired.
The only way you are going to know for sure is to bolt the two original links on a steel rod together with the two new ones and clamp them up tight then measure and compare the dimensions and alignment of the original links with the new links using a vernier guage

It might also be worth while checking the alignment of the two fork ends in case one of them has been twisted in an accident at some point in its life.

[Wack]

The link hooks should be around 130mm apart, the same as the fork link washers internally. If you didn't want to change the links try a taller backplate spacer or washers then add thicker washers or Scoot RS nuts to the axle. May not be exactly right but will save changing the links.

[JETEX]

I would say that they are remade GP type links. I bought a pair of these, and they were so poor quality I sent them back. I had shock mounts welded on my original Li links and used these instead. What rods are you using ? ( the separate ball type or the integrated ball ? ).

[corrado]

Those links look like remade Indian ones, note the area where the recessed washer sits it's not well machined to take the special washer. You could just add washers behind each nut, I wouldn't just tighten them up as they are as you'll probably just bend the link, especially if they're Indian. Shocky on here [or scooterotica] will weld stubs onto your original link for damper studs at a good price.