Hitchcocks Forum

So, I've fitted gaiters and have removed the fork covers. In doing so I also removed the plastic fork cover bushes. It's now occurred to me that maybe they do need to be in there to support the fork? It seems fine without but I don't want it to slowly put excessive strain on the threads of the fork tops or something. Does anyone know if they should still be in there? You can see in this picture how I have no fork covers at all, not even the short ones so my forks are exposed above the bottom yoke. I am happy with this but only if it's OK from a engineering perspective. Like I said, it's been working fine (green laning) but it just occurred to me to check. Thanks

Hello Matt. I was a little puzzled at first when I saw the gap above the bottom fork yolk but I realise the fork shrouds are usually long enough and rise above the bottom yolk and meet the nacelle about an inch higher. The best way to avoid this ugly gap is to use gators that are wide enough to go over a shortened top cover shroud. Your gators are the wrong type in that the diameter of them at the top and bottom are the same size of the stanchion. Most British bikes that were converted to rubber gators on the front forks still had the top cover in position but shortened to about one inch in length by hacksawing them off. By doing this you will not have that ugly gap. Norton Roadholders were a classic example where this was done Apart from the appearance, leaving the shroud off will not affect the strength of the fork fixing, but as usual, make sure the lower pinch nuts and bolts are tightened up correctly because as you suggest, all the load will be transferred to the top nacelle crown. The gator you should use was often held in position on the cut off fork covers and at the bottom with a special thin metal strap or a very thin Jubilee clip. Then again I guess that modern plastic cable ties will work pretty well too. Another tip was to drill through the gator with a about a 4mm hole to vent the trapped air when the fork compresses.. This is usually positioned at the back and bottom of the gator. I found that a red hot 6"" nail made a very nice smooth hole whereas drilling rubber didn't work very well. Nowadays the gators might be more likely to be made from a plastic compound so drilling might leave a smooth hole.

just to aggree with les ,i think i said all this in your earlier gaitor thread matt,atb paul.