Forum

[Lord-Toady]

Hi is it easy to remove these metal fork shrouds and replace them with the rubber type fork gaiters? I am not keen on the way these cover everything up and can't easily be removed so you can't see what's going on also mine seem to have grey grease packed up them which is running down the fork legs and getting all over my exhaust on a long run. I tried undoing one of those chrome bolts before I realised they were all that secures the fork to the bottom yoke. In the catalogue some of the bikes have those metal shrouds, some have rubber gaiters and some have the forks naked so i guess it is personal preference.

[Adrian]

It's a straight forward enough job, even though gaiters look a bit odd with the casquette headlamp, if we're talking personal preference. Sixty-5 and Electra-X owners may disagree!



To do a neat job you still need a pair of short fork shrouds on the bottom yoke to fit the top of the gaiters onto (our hosts' part no. 801466) as well as the gaiters themselves (go for the large type, part no. 146167) and a couple of ring clamps (146362 & 146363).

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You do have to strip out the front wheel AND the forks. The pinch bolts on the bottom yoke which you mentioned aren't the only things holding the forks in, the tops screw into the casquette casting. To shift these you have to undo the chrome cover plugs and then find a suitable tool to fit the 1/2" female hex hole in the stanchion tops to unscrew them (normal right-hand thread). There is a proper tool to do this, ST25108, though people do improvise with a piece of 1/2" hex bar, which funnily enough is what the main footrest bar is made of.



Once the forks are out simply undo the pinch bolts, remove the long shrouds and replace them with the short ones, re-using the thick O-rings and plastic caps off the long shrouds. Pop the gaiters onto the alloy fork sliders (the grooved end where the clamp fits goes at the top, fit them now), put the forks back into the casquette and screw them back in, slip the tops of the gaiters onto the metal lip of the short shrouds (the inside of the gaiter tops is slotted to match). Loosely refit the pinch bolts, refit the front wheel and brake cable, though don't tighten the axle end cap bolts fully just yet. In case disturbing the forks has affected their alignment grab the front brake and push the bike forward (and down) against the brake a couple of times so that everything re-aligns itself, then tighten up the axle clamp nuts and the pinch bolts in the bottom yoke. Don't to forget to refit the indicators if you have to disturb them too.



Hope this helps.



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[Lord-Toady]

Thanks Adrian thats a concise write up there on what needs doing.



I am looking at the Road Scramber page 210 of the catalog and it shows the setup with gaiters exactly as you describe with the chrome top parts which for some reason are a bit cheaper than the black ones. That bike has the gaiters and the casquette and I think looks great, the gaiters give it a more off road look.

[Lord-Toady]

Hi Adrian why do you recommend the 146167 gaiters and not the 92504 gaiters are the tighter ones harder to fit? Also those ring clamps if using the bigger ones (146362 & 146363) is that two of each one for the top and one for the bottom?

[Adrian]

More personal preference, the 146167 gaiters look chunkier, which I think is a bit more what you want, and the tops sit ON the short shrouds rather than tucking under. My own street scrambler (with a separate headlamp) has similar gaiters. Compare pictures of the Electra-X and Sixty-5 and you'll see the difference.



I just had a look at the Electra-X parts book (the 146167s are Electra-X gaiters) and I was wrong, the 146362 & 146363 clips are one each at the bottom, you'll also need a pair of 146313 clips at the top.



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[AndyMc]

The grey grease could be fork oil leaking past the seals.

[Adrian]

Having gaiters fitted will make it easier to check, as Lord-Toady mentioned. Dropping the forks out will at least allow him to investigate.



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[PeteF]

I got the larger diameter gaiters and simple cut the original shrouds shorter. Looks fine.

[stinkwheel]

I was just going to say what Pete just posted, I just did this exact job yesterday (fitting a disc front end, finally just bit the bullet and using a set of later fork legs on which the mudguard mount doesn't allow for shrouds). As he says, you can simply cut down the original shrouds with a hacksaw. There is even a "notch" in them to guide the cut. It takes longer to remove them than to do.



I personally think the shrouds look better but needs must. Next job, fabricate a fork brace/mudguard bracket and decide on super cool-looking late 60's alloy blade mudguard or a dry face/clean engine

[Adrian]

Cutting down the full-length shrouds is fine, but the lip at the base of the short shrouds gives extra fixing for the gaiter tops. Not essential, but helpful.



Incidentally you don't have to use the Electra-X type forks with the central mudguard mount for disk brake conversions if you prefer full-length fork shrouds, the shrouded early C5 UCE/EFI forks with the leading axle sliders and external thread on the stanchion tops will fit into earlier threaded casquettes and fork yokes. Choice of mudguard and mudguard stays up to you.



It would be interesting to know if the early C5 sliders would fit or could be modified to fit the traditional Bullet stanchions and damper assembly.



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