How bad of an idea is drilling forks?

[Captian soup]

i have a 3/8 axle on the front and the hub on this wheel iv acquired has a whole for an axle which is 16th? of an inch( i apologize in advance for this making little sense). i have inquired into getting new bearings i got the "we can source them for you", but not 100% on my measurements. but then i thought what if i got a bigger axle rather then taking this wheel apart with no cup preses and all that hooha..i would just have to drill out the slots in the forks...is that too dogdy? or would it be easier and is a good idea?:innocent:

as always any input is appreciated

[GSF_Lou]

I wouldnt be going near it with a drill. Things like that are generaly the way they are for a reason. By doing it you may end up weakening it.

[Captian soup]

yea... thought so... it just seems like the easiest way out.. oh well il have to find a wheel with a small axel then.

Cheers

[Captian soup]

moderator.. does the blue face mean anythng? or did i bum a button?

[Captian soup]

i mean bumP

[ac3_snow]

nah man u just mashed sum buttons. at the bottom of the reply screen there are post icons which allow you to choose an addition such as the funky blue face

[Henk]

Better idea is to find some bearings the either fit or nearly fit and then mchine the wheel to suit.
If you take the measurements of the ID OD and width of the bearings you need and give LE and Drummond a call you might find they can dig something up. They found some weird bearing from an air con unit for me that meant I didn't have to machine the rear GSXR wheels to suit the FXR.

[DEATH_INC.]

Dood 16th inch? Give us the measurements in mm if you don't understand imperial, if it's only a mm or two it'll prolly be sweet as, and a pik or 2 will help too...
The other option is make up a couple of sleeves for the current bearings...

[speedpro]

I've put little steel sleeves inside bearings and I've also drilled the bottom of forks to take a bigger axle just using a drill press. good as gold. Just need a bit of common sence.

[schrodingers cat]

3/8 of an inch = 9.525mm
1/16' = 1.5875

I'm guessing you ment to say its 1/16" bigger = 7/16" = 11.1125mm

Just drill it. All that stuff is massively over-engineered by risk adverse manufacturers

[bogan]

yeh the detail is the difference! a mm or two wont hurt (ream if possible though, and make sure the setup is rigid as), dunno what the fuck these inch things are all about though :blink: recently sleeved a triple stem, just slightly undersized the sleeve diameter and heated it, also locktight is the good shit :D

or just turn up a new axle...

[gatch]

yeh the detail is the difference! a mm or two wont hurt (ream if possible though, and make sure the setup is rigid as), dunno what the fuck these inch things are all about though :blink: recently sleeved a triple stem, just slightly undersized the sleeve diameter and heated it, also locktight is the good shit :D

or just turn up a new axle...

What he said, ream the hole if possible.

We use loctite 680 at work, it is fuckin wicked stuff if used properly.

[Captian soup]

Better idea is to find some bearings the either fit or nearly fit and then mchine the wheel to suit.
If you take the measurements of the ID OD and width of the bearings you need and give LE and Drummond a call you might find they can dig something up. They found some weird bearing from an air con unit for me that meant I didn't have to machine the rear GSXR wheels to suit the FXR.
i tried a couple of bearing places already, and they dont seem to like the idea of a 42mmOD 3mmWidth with a smaller ID then 10mm. but il give LE and Drummond a go. Cheers.

@ speedpro & DI
a sleeve sounds great but i dont have the tools or materials, and dont know any engineers.

[Captian soup]

thanks henk managed they didnt have the bearing i wanted but they have some perfect sleeves for me. :yes:

[F5 Dave]

Yeah I was going to say you can buy sleeves.

WTF kind of forks ar you running with imperial sizes? the first bucket with Roadholders? ShtABrck even the wheel! Good grief man.there's a reason the Japanese won the war (yeah, well they did). Use some real motorcycle parts & measure stuff in mm.

[Pumba]

I have a tendancy to measure stuff in imperal, but that is only because the verniers I stole from the are in imperal and I am to much of a cheap prick to buy any newer ones:shutup:

[F5 Dave]

Yeah cause $15 is far more than getting a silly measurement.

Heck you could Trademe a $40 digital set that can swap between.