great work and super interesting project. i would also love to have a girder in my shadow. hope the next video part is coming very soon? greatings from germany
Skimming through RUclips and this vid popped up...cool seeing you do all the work on your lathe, you get a mill everything will be a breeze for you being how you work already. Props 💪
yea I can't wait to get a decent mill. The independent 4 jaw was a worthy holdover for this project but a mill sure would make things easier. Just finished up the legs and need to edit that video up now.
Just finished my 1st springer (was curious how to do it!) Looking at your vid has given me inspiration to try a Girder and swap it out to see how it looks and performs.
Hi just started building my own girder forks made a frame to go with them Out of box on the diamond nice to see your top and bottom yokes i had same idea using aly
Incredible! I'm thinking about making a leading or trailing link front end, and came across this. Certainly different, but gives me some ideas on the fabrication side.
Nice bro, didn't know what a Girder was at first, but at the end I realized what it was. Just a suggestion, the sound was a bit on the low side. I turned the video volume control up all the way and had to lean into the monitor speaker to hear it. Maybe an attachable mic? Well done on the editing! I look forward to the next ones. Wish we were closer, I have a Honda scooter that needs work done on it.
Perfect tip, thanks! I am using a DJI wireless lavalier mic but I probably was editing with my computer speaker turned up too high so overall made my volume too low.
Everything in your video looks great, from your machining, welding, fab-work and also video lighting, editing and commentary! I have little doubts that the geometry youd have to have figured in first wont be other than as exacting as the fine mechanical product youve produced here. I have no recommendations and just curious why you welded the (4) links or actually each of the (2) links to the center piviot tube? I only ask because the only time ive ever seen the pivot links connected such as youve done is when machined as such from a solid piece of material (aluminum). I do believe there it would eliminate twist especially after wear and guarantee parallel alignment when done as you have but considering the time and effort you invested making that perfect, is it a necessary consideration? Im asking as a first time girder builder the past couple weeks myself but just the beginning R&D for a production product and curious if this step youve taken has been an overlooked step by many others throughout the years with a justified need for implementation.
Thank ya! Yea as far as geometry I'm modeling it closely to the original specs of the stock Honda shadow front end and then once it's done I'll make the custom frame to suit. As for welding the pivot arms into once piece, I had looked at several girders and thought (sometimes its hard to tell from images) they were all one piece. If they weren't, the only think keeping the front end aligned would be the clamping force holding those straight and I wouldn't trust that to hold in a corner. With them welded it's guaranteed straight and the work spent welding them I suspect will payoff in saving time trying to straighten them/ keep them straight.
I'm waste deep in making the legs right now. That will be part 3 whenever I get them done, and editing that vid will be a lot of work as they are a big step!
I love the way a girder looks and moves, but I have seen one fail and it was not pretty. We were riding to a run and one of the guys had a Sportster with a girder, had his wife with him and the girder broke at the bottom of the neck pin. And the whole thing just came off the bike at 70mph. Luckily they were both wearing leathers. Even so they were both hurt pretty bad. Some broken bones and road rash. I had never given much thought to what happens with breakage on different types of front ends, in various spots, but if a girder fails at that spot, there is nothing to keep it from coming off. The lower pivot will swing out and the pin will slide right out of the neck. On springers and telescoping forks it would be very difficult for that to happen because of the way the triple trees are clamped on the same member. His was made of steel with the neck pin welded at the lower tree and it failed at the weld. Not trying to discourage you, it's just something be aware of about the design.
Thanks for sharing that experience! Wow that's a scary thought. I'm curious what you're referring to as the neck pin? Is that the steering stem? Like it failed where the stem was welded into the lower yoke? Compared to my design with the stem pressed into the aluminum lower yoke? Or do you mean the pivot shaft that goes horizontally through the lower yoke and holds the lower pivot arm on?
@@oneupmotogarage Yes the stem. I see that your design is pressed in. I think I would maybe think about cross drilling it and putting a pin or bolt through the stem and lower yoke, or at least check it regularly to ensure it hasn't moved. The one I spoke of broke where it was welded and you could see that it had been cracked for awhile, part of the break was discolored. His frame had been raked also. How much I don't know but I would guess the front end was something like 8-10" over stock length. This happened in 1994 so my recollection may be off some.. I don't tell you this to scare you, but couldn't in good conscience say nothing. I really do like how girders look and operate and you don't see them often anymore. I've heard that back in the day, guys would lengthen springers by using Ford model A radius rods welded in place of the back legs, and if they weren't tempered correctly, they would break at the welds. Keep up the nice work.
@@jerrylong381 Oh no your input is exactly why I just started this channel. You got me thinking that the stepped press-fit which is stock design on modern front ends with aluminum yokes could possibly get pulled through with enough time/ abuse since girders put upward force on the top yoke. And like you say with Girders if that moves there's nothing holding the rest of it together unlike telescopic forks that are still kept in place by the triple clamps. So as a fail safe against that possibility I'll make a rod that goes through the stem (since it's hollow) and threaded on the ends so I can "clamp" the yokes together that way. I think that would be the strongest/ least invasive/ modular solution.
@@oneupmotogarage Yes, that should work. Or if you ever build another one, put a shoulder on the stem and a stepped hole on the bottom yoke and press the stem from the bottom. It would be invisible and, unless the stem broke at the shoulder, would never pull out. Where are you located? I'm going to be out riding around this summer and would like to see your bike.
@@jerrylong381 This one does have that. The stem has a retaining snap ring near the base and I machined the yoke with a step so it presses to a fixed depth and has a positive stop. I really doubt it would ever pull through but given that if somehow it did there wouldn't be anything to stop the front end from falling apart. Having a retaining rod through the stem would be that extra fail safe so that failure wouldn't be catastrophic.
Sorry for break not to it savvy been a fabricator 50 + years what are your ideas on damper & spring I’ve been thinking about an avo 1.9 inner spring am using 20 & 12 mm box for girder
I'll put out part 3 soon covering the legs and installing the shock I chose. It's an air shock by Bazooka made for a CRF110. It has a huge amount of adjustability based on PSI.
Hey! So this is my first endeavor but once I'm done if I like the process I'll try to streamline it and see if I can't pop out a few custom ones for interested people. So keep posted on my progress I'll probably make a vid about just that once I'm done with this one.
Depends what it's going on! For a +500lb bike I would tend to agree, but this is built light for a light bike. Also depends on the length of the legs, if yours is a "long chop" meaning the legs are long and raked then they have exponentially more pressure being exerted on those shafts. You haven't seen my legs yet but the rake is short (close to stock Honda shadow) and legs are only 30" long. I also do have the bearings running on 1/2 through shafts, the 3/8" rods are simply there to pinch it all together. So, it is actually on 1/2" shafts as you would like. Lastly, the aluminum parts are oversized to their respective strength compared with steel, they will definitely not be the weak point of this build.
great work and super interesting project. i would also love to have a girder in my shadow. hope the next video part is coming very soon?
greatings from germany
Yes! Nearly a year later 😂 I've got the legs made and functioning and wheel mounted up. Video is all edited and should be out soon!
I’ve been thinking about doing this for my grom. But skills must come first.
a little baby girder on a Grom would be siiiiick
Skimming through RUclips and this vid popped up...cool seeing you do all the work on your lathe, you get a mill everything will be a breeze for you being how you work already. Props 💪
yea I can't wait to get a decent mill. The independent 4 jaw was a worthy holdover for this project but a mill sure would make things easier. Just finished up the legs and need to edit that video up now.
@@oneupmotogarage 💪💪💪
Just finished my 1st springer (was curious how to do it!) Looking at your vid has given me inspiration to try a Girder and swap it out to see how it looks and performs.
Heck yea! I’m editing up part 2 for this series today. Got the legs fabbed up and tested
Awesome video!! Theres nothing out there for girders. Thanks so much for making this sorta content!
Glad ya found me! That's exactly why I decided to start recording this. I kept looking for videos on them and couldn't find anything helpful.
Just found your channel, great stuff! Keep it coming please!
Cheers from Indonesia!
Slowly but surely! I took spring break to work on some other stuff but will be getting to part 3 making the legs for this front end next week!
Hi just started building my own girder forks made a frame to go with them
Out of box on the diamond nice to see your top and bottom yokes i had same idea using aly
Incredible! I'm thinking about making a leading or trailing link front end, and came across this. Certainly different, but gives me some ideas on the fabrication side.
Heck yea! Get wild with it.
Nice bro, didn't know what a Girder was at first, but at the end I realized what it was. Just a suggestion, the sound was a bit on the low side. I turned the video volume control up all the way and had to lean into the monitor speaker to hear it. Maybe an attachable mic? Well done on the editing! I look forward to the next ones. Wish we were closer, I have a Honda scooter that needs work done on it.
Perfect tip, thanks! I am using a DJI wireless lavalier mic but I probably was editing with my computer speaker turned up too high so overall made my volume too low.
@@oneupmotogarage makes sense, liked the silvergloves, made it look like a space man!
Thanx for your video, really nice build. I want to build a front suspension like on Jesse Rooke's Darla.
I’ll have to check that out!
Everything in your video looks great, from your machining, welding, fab-work and also video lighting, editing and commentary! I have little doubts that the geometry youd have to have figured in first wont be other than as exacting as the fine mechanical product youve produced here. I have no recommendations and just curious why you welded the (4) links or actually each of the (2) links to the center piviot tube? I only ask because the only time ive ever seen the pivot links connected such as youve done is when machined as such from a solid piece of material (aluminum). I do believe there it would eliminate twist especially after wear and guarantee parallel alignment when done as you have but considering the time and effort you invested making that perfect, is it a necessary consideration? Im asking as a first time girder builder the past couple weeks myself but just the beginning R&D for a production product and curious if this step youve taken has been an overlooked step by many others throughout the years with a justified need for implementation.
Thank ya! Yea as far as geometry I'm modeling it closely to the original specs of the stock Honda shadow front end and then once it's done I'll make the custom frame to suit. As for welding the pivot arms into once piece, I had looked at several girders and thought (sometimes its hard to tell from images) they were all one piece. If they weren't, the only think keeping the front end aligned would be the clamping force holding those straight and I wouldn't trust that to hold in a corner. With them welded it's guaranteed straight and the work spent welding them I suspect will payoff in saving time trying to straighten them/ keep them straight.
I'm waste deep in making the legs right now. That will be part 3 whenever I get them done, and editing that vid will be a lot of work as they are a big step!
I love the way a girder looks and moves, but I have seen one fail and it was not pretty.
We were riding to a run and one of the guys had a Sportster with a girder, had his wife with him and the girder broke at the bottom of the neck pin. And the whole thing just came off the bike at 70mph.
Luckily they were both wearing leathers. Even so they were both hurt pretty bad. Some broken bones and road rash.
I had never given much thought to what happens with breakage on different types of front ends, in various spots, but if a girder fails at that spot, there is nothing to keep it from coming off. The lower pivot will swing out and the pin will slide right out of the neck.
On springers and telescoping forks it would be very difficult for that to happen because of the way the triple trees are clamped on the same member.
His was made of steel with the neck pin welded at the lower tree and it failed at the weld.
Not trying to discourage you, it's just something be aware of about the design.
Thanks for sharing that experience! Wow that's a scary thought. I'm curious what you're referring to as the neck pin? Is that the steering stem? Like it failed where the stem was welded into the lower yoke? Compared to my design with the stem pressed into the aluminum lower yoke? Or do you mean the pivot shaft that goes horizontally through the lower yoke and holds the lower pivot arm on?
@@oneupmotogarage Yes the stem. I see that your design is pressed in. I think I would maybe think about cross drilling it and putting a pin or bolt through the stem and lower yoke, or at least check it regularly to ensure it hasn't moved.
The one I spoke of broke where it was welded and you could see that it had been cracked for awhile, part of the break was discolored.
His frame had been raked also. How much I don't know but I would guess the front end was something like 8-10" over stock length.
This happened in 1994 so my recollection may be off some..
I don't tell you this to scare you, but couldn't in good conscience say nothing. I really do like how girders look and operate and you don't see them often anymore.
I've heard that back in the day, guys would lengthen springers by using Ford model A radius rods welded in place of the back legs, and if they weren't tempered correctly, they would break at the welds.
Keep up the nice work.
@@jerrylong381 Oh no your input is exactly why I just started this channel. You got me thinking that the stepped press-fit which is stock design on modern front ends with aluminum yokes could possibly get pulled through with enough time/ abuse since girders put upward force on the top yoke. And like you say with Girders if that moves there's nothing holding the rest of it together unlike telescopic forks that are still kept in place by the triple clamps. So as a fail safe against that possibility I'll make a rod that goes through the stem (since it's hollow) and threaded on the ends so I can "clamp" the yokes together that way. I think that would be the strongest/ least invasive/ modular solution.
@@oneupmotogarage
Yes, that should work.
Or if you ever build another one, put a shoulder on the stem and a stepped hole on the bottom yoke and press the stem from the bottom. It would be invisible and, unless the stem broke at the shoulder, would never pull out.
Where are you located? I'm going to be out riding around this summer and would like to see your bike.
@@jerrylong381 This one does have that. The stem has a retaining snap ring near the base and I machined the yoke with a step so it presses to a fixed depth and has a positive stop. I really doubt it would ever pull through but given that if somehow it did there wouldn't be anything to stop the front end from falling apart. Having a retaining rod through the stem would be that extra fail safe so that failure wouldn't be catastrophic.
Sorry for break not to it savvy been a fabricator 50 + years what are your ideas on damper & spring I’ve been thinking about an avo 1.9 inner spring am using 20 & 12 mm box for girder
I'll put out part 3 soon covering the legs and installing the shock I chose. It's an air shock by Bazooka made for a CRF110. It has a huge amount of adjustability based on PSI.
Where arw Your grease zerts ??
I haven’t decided if I’ll put any. On final assembly I’ll grease pack the bearings and I think that will last till any future servicing.
Where did you source your shock absorber for the girder?
My next vid will get into that. I am using an aftermarket rear air shock for a CRF110 by Bazooka.
Is it heavier than a conventional fork
@@VIJAYzk a whole assembled girder vs a comparably sized telescopic front end the telescopic one should be quite a bit lighter.
Would you build me one?
Hey! So this is my first endeavor but once I'm done if I like the process I'll try to streamline it and see if I can't pop out a few custom ones for interested people. So keep posted on my progress I'll probably make a vid about just that once I'm done with this one.
You built that way too light. I have an old P&P girder on my long chop, those shafts should’ve been 1/2” and the trees steel
Depends what it's going on! For a +500lb bike I would tend to agree, but this is built light for a light bike. Also depends on the length of the legs, if yours is a "long chop" meaning the legs are long and raked then they have exponentially more pressure being exerted on those shafts. You haven't seen my legs yet but the rake is short (close to stock Honda shadow) and legs are only 30" long. I also do have the bearings running on 1/2 through shafts, the 3/8" rods are simply there to pinch it all together. So, it is actually on 1/2" shafts as you would like. Lastly, the aluminum parts are oversized to their respective strength compared with steel, they will definitely not be the weak point of this build.