Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

'I .. c~.... II'. ~ ••• No. We rely only on atmOllfheric pressure and compression to gtve us lOme of our spring rate. With all forb nowadays, at leut for din hilts, it _ to be popular to haft the a.de mounted iD front of the fork leg and if r- draw a Itraight line ~ h the center of your forb, the axle II now jut I1ight.Iy forward. Is there any reuon why r- chCIIC Dot to 80 any more forward from that center line than r- did? Well, since the forks are bi~r, they have to be funber forward for more tank clearance, 10 that's about as far forward as we could go. That closn't really biDder the feel or the steering or anythiDg? Actually the geometry as far as the rake and trail is unchanged. In other words, the axle is still in the same location, or very close to the same location as the stock bike. Oh I ICC, if you drew a line from, say, the center of the -mg head .. _ To the center line of the axle, you'd find the geometry was the same as with a conventional leading axle fork. Unless we have a good reason, we don't alter or change the geometry of the motorcycle because today the motorcycles are built pretty well and in most cases, if you alter the geometry, you'd probably be doing the consumer a disservice. How mach do r- get with th_forb? WeD they can be built for virtually any travel you want, but right now we're sticking with I2 incha. Do r- think there .-hi be adnntapa to aaiDg thia deIip iD, say, a roadrac:iDI appliatioa as well as on the other ead of the apectrWD - for IIiIlIIIIc:J1* or cIeIert? WeD rd say this, that the rigidity-toweight ratio with this fork and the precUe steering is aJ?Plicable to any type of fork, whether It be roaclracing, flattrack or motoal*, At this point I can't lee any difIerence, really, Actually, there are differeDt requimDemI for each type of fork, but the basics are ..... 00 ..... C') .-... ~ < tram the same. Haft r- been approached by differ- ent manafactaren who want to ltady thia and make it on their own? We have been approached by several manufacturers and they are interested first of all in buying them from us as an OEM supplier and then second of all in being licensed to make them. Are r- gonna do that? We're considering it right now; ~ haven't made any agreements whatsoever, but we are considering it. Just as long as it would be beneficial to everybody. Is there a trick name or -ming to tbemyet? At this point we haven't got a name for them. • Stftlfl Martin is CUfTently CfJmfJClilp&ing aft LOP Suzui fllith ,114 ufttuVallooiiftg forb in 'he 2'Occ NtJtimIals. According Martin, "TM, wori retJU, good. I'w rode $loci CIftd I'w put 'hose (new Simons forb) on tmd 'M, wori much better. You'w go' kss lPISJ1rung Uleiglat and 'M, seem '0 comer 6et'er. I seem be able comer better fllith '0 '0 22 answen to problems that we were faced with. CoDSUlting work that he's done for us has been ve.ry helpful. He is probably the best suspension man in the motorcycle industry. I really owe Chuck a lot for helping me out. He feels it's been wonh it be· caUIC it could be the difference between winning and 1000ng. That's the way to explain it. One phenomenon we run into with is the fact that the geometry that we've come up with actually makes the bike steer eUler. And that's something that every rider has noticed, has to do with the weight and the way we built the forks. When the rider goes and does testing, I think in every cue they noticed that when they are in a tum, they think it's t~ easier to change your line once you're ina tum. If your oil carried iD the upper part of the forb or the lower part? It's more carried in the center of the forks, it's where the damping is done. The damping is done more in the center. Do you run any air p~re at all with thae? '0 them and tM,'re just so sluf'fl'J, 'JOV don', IuJw 1Ift'J flu or aftyllainlc. Th~ don', stici a' aU; 'M, _I really smooth. TM, sOCl1c up everything. .. Simons pl4ftS to IuJw '114 forTes available l4'e 'his summer for I4te model HtmdCI, Suzulti and YamaluJ motoerossers aftd, yes, 'M, wiU be more upensive tluJ,. his current high doll4r forb, though a price Ia4s fIOt yet been established. During tM firsl several mon'hs, Simons sta'es 'IuJt the units wiU be machined from solid bille' .... limited quantities and .... his _tis, "They'U be reaU., beautiful. "

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