Forks rake and trail for a 1925 Douglas

[gsx1100s]

Hello all , I hope this finds you well. i am in a bit of a quandry with the forks on my Douglas. there seems to be nothing worng with the layout of the forks but there is a pronounced gap between rear of front wheel and frame of Douglas. IE it looks like they are sagging. There seems to be no signs of stress on frame at head stock or in the forks themselves. Sorry i cant supply pic . I have not the technology at hand at the moment.Will be rectifying this soon.
I hope this is enough info to get some feedback on how i should proceed .
 Regards Michael

[Ian]

Don't know if this helps - from the centre of the front axle to the front of the lower frame on my 23 model is just over 43cm

[eddie]

Michael,
              According to the works drawings, both the '24 RA and the later DT models both had the forks raked at 25½ degrees. Hope this helps.
         Regards,
                         Eddie.

[gsx1100s]

As always, imindebted to you both, off to get my measuring tape and compass!   
Thanks again
Cheers michael

[cardan]

Hi Michael,

Let's hope it's just that the forks have the wrong links; but do keep worrying until you've located the source of the problem.

At the recent veteran rally, there was a very nasty accident caused by a snapped steering tube on the fork of a veteran BSA. Sometimes this causes the wheel to sag out in front (like a chopper, and your bike), but in this case it folded underneath the machine and the bike and rider hit the road hard. Luckily it seems the rider escaped serious injury.

The moral is that you can't be too careful with front forks!

Leon

[gsx1100s]

Thanks Leon for your timely warning
fortunately the Douglas isn't quite road ready .good to hear the rider was ok, sounded nasty

Regards michael

PS does anyone know if  we have any close up shots( on this site) of the girder forks commonly used for the douglas?
Could be a good way to see if there is a problem with set up.thanks again

[Ian]

There are a number of good photos in the members gallery showing good detail of TS models

[Jim]

Hello Michael, you may have your headstem tube in backwards which would give the symptoms you describe, the spindle hole is to the rear where its offset, regards Jim

[gsx1100s]

Hello Michael, you may have your headstem tube in backwards which would give the symptoms you describe, the spindle hole is to the rear where its offset, regards Jim

 
 
Of course the bleeding obvious.
I would like to say in my defense that that's how it came, and that I haven't dismantled it,
And other muttered comments as I shamefully turn the head stem tube the correct way
Talk about not seeing the forest for the trees!
I hope this was a lesson to you all .......
Thanks Jim and everyone else.
I hope this gave you a chuckle

Cheers Michael (or "wrongway " as I might now be known!!)