Can you add rake just by angling the fork legs, and not the neck?

#1
Working with tiny minibike frame for drag racing. Currently have 24* of rake. Would like to get to around 35*. Only care about keeping it straight, don't care about turn radius. Can you simply pie cut the fork and add 18* to it? Would be easier than cutting the neck.

Gets a little shaky over 40... would like to limit that.

Thanks!
 
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#2
You would not be adding rake since rake is the angle of the steering head. You would be adding offset (axle ahead of a line projected down from the center of the steering head). Too much offset would basically turn the front wheel into a caster wheel that you are trying to push backwards. A little offset isn't a problem, most motorcycles have some offset (usually achieved in the triple clamps). I imagine too much offset would be dangerous.
 
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#4
Just my uninformed opinion: But wouldn't you be creating a point of torque, by cutting and extending the forks to push the front wheel out? It seems to me, along with the many other issues, you would be creating a weak spot that, even if reenforced, would always be a design issue.
 

Addicted 2 Minis

Well-Known Member
#5
A steering damper, a larger diameter front wheel and skinnier front tire may alleviate a lot of your issues. A spinning wheel wants to stay straight due to the gyro effect it creates as its spinning, the larger the wheel the more gyro effect and the more inherently stable it will be. A skinnier tire will have less of a contact patch and remove a lot of controllability (high speed wobble). It's when we as humans interfere with a spinning wheels gyro effect does it become unstable. As we alter the geometry (rake, offset) the instability becomes MORE or LESS noticeable at speed. You can also change where you sit on the seat, this will change the weight displacement drastically with very little movement forward or aft. One would think that the more forward you are on the seat, the more weight is on the front wheel thus adding controllability and more stability, while this may be true, sometimes LESS is MORE. I've noticed on some of my bikes, less controllability is better so I sit further back on the seat. Another aspect to think about is handlebar placement. If you have handlebars and not forks, try adjusting them forward or aft, this makes a HUGE difference in handling. By moving your handlebars forward you will increase sensitivity, by moving them back, you'll decrease sensitivity to an extent. Another thing to think about if you have handlebars is the handlebar rise, this is how tall the handlebars are. The more rise, the more sensitive the steering feels, less rise, less sensitivity. If you can't change the geometry of the bike, change the geometry of how you ride it, it just might be the solution you're looking for.

-A2M
 
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#6
Working with tiny minibike frame for drag racing. Currently have 24* of rake. Would like to get to around 35*. Only care about keeping it straight, don't care about turn radius. Can you simply pie cut the fork and add 18* to it? Would be easier than cutting the neck.

Gets a little shaky over 40... would like to limit that.

Thanks!
A little shaky over 5mph until I adjusted rake.. altered the triple tree.. worked fine FB IIIII.jpg
 
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