Front Forks

Over the 50 or so years that I have been following the industry’s moves, I have seen many forks come and go, and maybe some have stayed – I am not sure. The thing is that I have never paid much attention to the suspension at all, including the front fork, so I really do not know how they work, except of course holding the front wheel and keeping it reasonably well

on to the ground as the driver is pushing hard to become airborne.

I had heard about Norton, Ceriani, Marzocch, Paioli forks and I had always thought the Ceriani to look great and as they had been used by world Champions they must also be good enough for me. Only problem is that they are not make any longer. Norton style forks are available from several sources but I had the same problem here as with the wheels and brakes – it was difficult, not to say impossible to get measurements out of people so that I could combine the forks with the wheel hub and the brake components.

Then I stumbled over a Canadian company called e-n PRODUCTS, which is making replicas of the old Ceriani forks. The guy there is called Kevin and he not only answers to emails but I also got him to provide me with the measurements I needed for the wheel and brake designs and that settled the issue for me. I ordered their fork, with sliders and yokes made of magnesium alloy and painted black. They also provided the Brembo F08 brake calipers, the Brembo master cylinder and a pair of Woodcraft clip-on handlebars, all in all pretty much completing the front fork assembly.