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What is a Front Fork in Motorcycle: Working, Types and Differences
A motorcycle, sophistically designed, is an assortment of many components. Each part contributes largely to give you a joyous ride. Motorcycle forks fall under the essentials of the front suspension system. It connects front wheels and axles using a yoke or a triple clamp. It comes with an upper yoke and a lower yoke, joined by the steering shaft.
This article discusses functions, types of front fork on a motorcycle, and the importance of fork oil.
How Does a Motorcycle Fork Work?
This telescopic mechanism is engineered with several crucial elements, including two parallel tubes, two triple clamps, a damping system, suspension springs, steering steam and fasteners, to make the system work seamlessly.
The motorcycle fork comes with certain purposes. These are:
The primary purpose of this configuration is to enhance traction. The elevation of traction helps to establish end-to-end contact between the tire and the road.
Subsequently, it hassle-freely tackles all road conditions and offers smooth handling of the bike (cornering, braking, accelerating).
As a combination of enlisted purposes, a motorcycle front suspension maximises the comfort and stability of a rider.
What Are the Different Types of Motorcycle Forks?
Principally, there are two types of motorcycle forks available in the market.
1. Conventional motorcycle forks
Conventional motorcycle forks are also known as “right-side-up” forks. It comes with a slider or sleeve near the axle (at the bottom) and a triple-clamped fork tube at the top.
2. Upside-down motorcycle forks
Upside-down forks or inverted forks have the slider up top where it is synced into the triple clamp and fork tube at the foot.
What Are the Differences Between Conventional Forks and Upside-down Forks?
Apart from their differentiated outlines, both motorcycle forks own a handful of key dissimilarities. Here is a closer look:
| Aspects | Conventional motorcycle forks | Upside-down motorcycle forks |
| Unsprung mass | The slider at the bottom adds supplemental weight to the suspension making it slow. | With an up-top slider, this motorcycle's front suspension is weightless. Thus, it reacts to road conditions swiftly. |
| Application | These can effortlessly be incorporated into commuter bikes. | These have precisely been developed for sports bikes. |
| Price | These forks are comparatively less pricey. | The costs of these forks are significant. |
| Damping | Their basic architecture includes damping rods which are easier to work with. | These forks come with damping cartridges which are a bit tricky to deal with. This mechanism allows riders to modify compression and rebound by levelling the adjuster. |
| Maintenance | In these forks, sliders attract dirt easily. Thus, they are required to be maintained frequently. | Since the slider stays atop, it remains secured from dirt and grime. |
What Are Damping Rod Forks and Cartridge Forks?
Most modern motorcycles have any of these two forks: damping rod forks and cartridge forks.
Let’s understand each of them in detail:
1. Damping Rod Motorcycle Forks
This motorcycle front fork assembly has been implanted into two-wheelers for ages. In this fork, damping occurs when oil gets oozed out from a bunch of small holes. When a motorist rides over a bump, this fork initiates compression allowing the piston to release oil through a hole.
Though it may work fine during a normal ride, the fork can be underdamped during a low-speed motion, an unanticipated braking, or a quick turn. The common cause behind this issue is the proportional resistance of forced oil to the square of velocity. Swift movement of oil peaks the resistance capacity.
As a solution to this issue, one can use an advanced valve that can regulate oil flow keeping the rod damp always.
2. Cartridge Motorcycle Forks
This front fork on a motorcycle is a cutting-edge version. It aims to make damping straightforward and proportional to velocity. This fork comes with a small cylinder or cartridge inside the leg. The cylinder is basically a shock absorber.
Being submerged into fork oil, this cartridge allows the piston to slide through, offering a constant damping effect every time.
At each end of the cartridge, a spring-loaded shim is placed. The high flow of oil enforces these shims to deflect away from the piston's face, making the damping function more systematic and accurate.
A cartridge motorcycle fork offers two types of damping effects. Take a look:
Compression damping: When the fork collapses (braking), the oil flow forces the valve to move to one side, performing compression damping.
Rebound damping: When the fork expands, the oil flow drives the valve on the other side, resulting in rebound damping.
What Are Gold Valve Emulators/Cartridge Emulators?
A damping rod motorcycle fork lacks two aspects: precise control and elevated traction. Gold valve emulators or cartridge emulators ensure to meet this gap. Installation of emulators on damping rod forks makes them perform like cartridge forks. This tunable valve can be attached at the top of a damping rod by springs.
During a slow-down (low-speed compression), oil seeps through the holes of the valve piston since it lacks enough pressure to open the valve. During high jumps, and knocks (high-speed compression), the oil pressure takes the emulator off its place, flowing freely without any hassle.
Why Choose a Gold Valve Emulator Instead of Cartridge Motorcycle Forks?
Gold valve emulators are better than cartridge motorcycle forks for the following reasons:
Cost-effective
Completely tuneable
Improved control
Why Change Motorcycle Fork Oil?
Riders must change the fork oil time-to-time to get a seamless damping effect. A host of conditions can diminish the lubricating ability of the motorcycle fork oil over time, which are as follows:
Flowing through holes for uncountable times deteriorates the natural greasing ability of the oil.
In damping rod forks, the oil amalgamates with air to dampen. Mixing up with air decreases its damping effect.
Being a part of a moving mechanism, waste contaminates the oil, degrading its quality.
All enlisted pointers degenerate fork oil. Thus, changing the fork oil is mandatory after a certain time for a pleasant ride.
What Happens if You Don’t Change Fork Oil?
If one does not change the fork oil, then the damping effect on the spring will be the least. It can pessimistically affect one's ride in various ways, such as:
It will reduce the fork performance making the front end of the motorcycle jolt.
Adjustment of the fork will result in zero damping effect.
The contaminated oil will blow up fork seals, causing leakage.
With broken seals, atmospheric contaminants will enter the mechanism worsening the situation.
Hopefully, this has helped to meet all your queries regarding the front fork on a motorcycle. Being an important element of your two-wheelers, forks require proper care and maintenance. Sometimes, changing the fork oil is not sufficient. One must check all the components to make it work flawlessly.
FAQs About Front Fork on a Motorcycle
How often should one change the fork oil?
Though it varies for different motorcycles, changing fork oil every 2-3 years amplifies fork performance.
Are motorcycle forks universal?
No. Steer tube measurements and bikes’ structure help to tailor forks. Thus, all bikes’ forks are different from one another.
Why are upside-down forks more prone to damage?
Gravity is the greatest foe for upside-down forks, particularly with a tempered seal. It pushes out oil and decreases the fork’s damping power.