Vard Frontend Installation / Part #1

I have no idea how the Vard employees were planning on mounting these triple trees, I mean I even got the original instructions and all but they only refer to some nuts that came with the fork so I guess I do have an idea about how the Vard employees were planning on mounting these triple trees after all but that’s not the point.

The point is I didn’t get any fork stem nuts with this frontend so the only thing I could do to make this work was of course to listen to The Who on a face melting volume and hope for the best. This little sphere shaped washer is the one that originally goes on the bottom of Springer fork stems if you run the original ball bearings. I had an extra one of these in the garage so I turned it upside down and used it on top so the upper ball bearing can be adjusted properly.

The thread on this fork stem is not the same as an original Springer but the same as the early Big Twin rear drum brake sleeve that the rear axle goes through, and probably even some other forks that I wouldn't know about but anyway, I used these nuts, but as you can see they had to be a bit modified in the lathe to go up into the top tree and center it properly.

For extra strenght and to distribute the tension from the top bolt I cut another washer on the lathe to fit inside the top tree, which is really annoying since you can't hear the stereo any good from the place where the lathe is, no matter what volyme.

Then when I came back out to my bike I had to put on ‘Mary Anne With The Shaky Hand’ on repeat to compensate, I really love that song, I also had to cut one more original rear brake sleeve nut to center the top tree from above, now you can adjust the bearings and still tight the top tree properly. The nuts still have like 1mm between them when they are tightened down like they are supposed to so it turned out really good.

And once mounted there's no way to see the bearing adjuster nut, the top tree fits perfectly over it, it also now works as a dust cover for the bearing, exactly like it says in the original Vard instructions, which is a bit weird because The Who didn’t exist in 1947.

I just can't stop staring at it, that's how much I love it. I'll mount the sliders and fork leg covers next.
  

Well, there you have it - all thanks to The Who.