Buying new fork tubes

[wirespokes]

I'm replacing a rusty set of fork tubes on a 97 California 1100. Where's the best quality for a reasonable price? I've heard SD quality isn't the best, so I'm being cautious. Are their fork tubes good quality? HMB and SD are both the same price at 95 euros. Officine08 wants184 euros for theirs and they say they're only for 1994-5. Are they different than the 96-7?

MG cycle wants $126 but they're out of stock. I haven't found them on Harpers, though I'm sure they've got them somewhere.

What would you recommend?

[dxhall]

If you are in the US, Forking by Frank has been the go to place for many years. I don’t know if they make tubes for your bike, but it would be worth a call.  The have a good web site (search “Forking by Frank”).

[wirespokes]

I thought of Frank just after posting and sent them a message. Will let you know how that goes.

[wirespokes]

Haven't heard back yet from Frank's Forks, but didn't really expect and answer so soon. But I did give them a call - the phone rang and rang and rang. No answering machine. Finally hung up. Are they closed Fridays? Why no answering machine?

[Rough Edge racing]

 I recently had Franks alter a set of Honda Interceptor fork tubes.. They did a very nice job, about two weeks turn around time....However, they are not the best at customer relations,like answering the phone or emails. Try the phone at 6 pm their time because that's when they called me  back.It may be a part time business at night..I do know their new fork tubes are likely more expensive than $126 each...

[Lannis]

Haven't heard back yet from Frank's Forks, but didn't really expect and answer so soon. But I did give them a call - the phone rang and rang and rang. No answering machine. Finally hung up. Are they closed Fridays? Why no answering machine?

Forking by Frank is a good, honest place that sells beautiful fork tubes at a fair price.    They build their forks to order, they don't keep any in stock, but since they keep every size of tubing and fittings that anyone ever made a fork out of, they can do them in a day.

21st century downside is that they're really phone-only (or paper), and they only ship COD, they don't accept any sort of payment there.   That part's a bit of a pain since someone has to be at home or work to sign for it.

If it's a Guzzi fork, one of our Guzzi vendors will probably have it, maybe slightly cheaper, although Frank's prices are good ....

Lannis

[Rough Edge racing]

Forking by Frank is a good, honest place that sells beautiful fork tubes at a fair price.    They build their forks to order, they don't keep any in stock, but since they keep every size of tubing and fittings that anyone ever made a fork out of, they can do them in a day.

21st century downside is that they're really phone-only (or paper), and they only ship COD, they don't accept any sort of payment there.   That part's a bit of a pain since someone has to be at home or work to sign for it.

If it's a Guzzi fork, one of our Guzzi vendors will probably have it, maybe slightly cheaper, although Frank's prices are good ....

Lannis

  You need to be updated   ...The original owner is long gone. Franks now has a Website and Facebook page...They took my credit card info over the phone before shipping my fork tubes.... They charged me $70 to shorten and rethread the 41 MM tubes, not including my cost to ship to them...They do very nice work but new tubes are not inexpensive...

[guzziownr]

I had tubes done by them years ago. I needed 1-year-only 1975 disk Eldo tubes so I mailed them one crusty tube to make sure they got it right. Came out perfect, fast service.

[Lannis]

  You need to be updated   ...The original owner is long gone. Franks now has a Website and Facebook page...They took my credit card info over the phone before shipping my fork tubes.... They charged me $70 to shorten and rethread the 41 MM tubes, not including my cost to ship to them...They do very nice work but new tubes are not inexpensive...

Duly updated. Hard to believe that they changed after all these years.. I have dealt with them since 1972 but last time was three years ago....

[Diploman]

Fast From the Past carries a large selection of Tarozzi fork tubes.  It looks like they have sizes to accommodate nearly every Guzzi.

http://www.fastfromthepast.com/fork-tubes

[wirespokes]

Been a couple weeks now and haven't heard back from Franks. No answer on the email request form, and my call never went to voice mail. So I guess my options are Tarozzi or the ones from SD or other German suppliers. Anyone have experience with the SD fork tubes?

[huub]

Anyone have experience with the SD fork tubes?

i bought a set , they turned up with pretty lousy chrome.
i returned them , the second set was just as bad.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Hv2CfVRfIgSU6QEXWRhy2ipfeoRMq4KA/view?usp=sharing

tried another dealer, as far as i can see everybody in europe sells the same , so i ended up having the old ones rechromed locally
ask a shop doing hydraulic cylinders for a contact, they are dealing with this all the time

[wirespokes]

Thanks, huub! Sorry for your bad experience, but thanks for the warning!

Supposedly the Tarozzis are good, so that's another possibility.

Seems like I checked into having some tubes re-chromed fifteen or twenty years ago and the service wasn't available here in Portland. All the work was sent up to Seattle, and it cost around $100/tube.

Where did you have them done, and how much was it? 

[huub]

Thanks, huub! Sorry for your bad experience, but thanks for the warning!

Supposedly the Tarozzis are good, so that's another possibility.

Seems like I checked into having some tubes re-chromed fifteen or twenty years ago and the service wasn't available here in Portland. All the work was sent up to Seattle, and it cost around $100/tube.

Where did you have them done, and how much was it?

i live in europe, so a local contact is not going to help you much , but i spent a bit more than new SD stanchions would have cost.
typically the 100$ per tube sounds about right
if properly done the chrome is indestructible, and should outlast the rest of the bike

they might have had a bad batch when i ordered from SD, but when i found the same quality at my local ( dutch) dealer i gave up , and decided to spend the extra money

[wirespokes]

Thanks huub! Appreciate your help. Now I'm thinking of calling around locally. See what I come up with this time. It's either that or try Frank again or the Tarozzis.

[guzzista]

Teo Lamers ( TLM) in the Netherlands or HMB in Germany most likely have fork tubes ready to go. As per Frank as in fork tubes supplier, Frank passed away years ago and Franks wife kept the business running. At this point in history that might have changed  so perhaps one of our forum folks close to Evanston Ill.,can check in with them  and  post an update ?

[troyhamilton]

Frank passed away about 10 years ago and i think his family still run the business

[huub]

Teo Lamers ( TLM) in the Netherlands or HMB in Germany most likely have fork tubes ready to go.

teo lamers (TLM) is my local dealer. , see my comments earlier.

[wirespokes]

Yeah, I sort of remember Frank passing a while back. Ten years already??? Where's the time go???

So Teo Lamers didn't have any good quality tubes either. Scratch that one.

[guzzista]

You could try this:
https://hmb-guzzi.de/Fork-Tube-40mm-Cali-1100-1994-1997

[wirespokes]

I wrote them a couple weeks ago asking if they were hard chrome plated. The answer was yes.

But I'm leery - they're the same price as SD, so I'm concerned they're the same. I'm hesitant taking a chance on parts from the other side of the Atlantic - shipping being what it is. Huub - do you have any experience with those guys and their fork tubes?