Raked Triple Trees

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lankeeyankee

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I remember seeing a VMAX with a raked front end also someone made new triple trees with a rake in different degrees. Does anyone know of a resource of a triple tree raked a few degrees, nothing radical like a chopper but a little more rake I think would add to the stabilty at high speeds.
 
Do NOT buy the Mad Max raked triples..you're just asking for trouble

I heard bad things about him , isnt it something like Rockymountain?

I have a good motorcycle engineer here local that does rake dragbike chassis, I may just have him do it. Any idea how many degrees. I am just looking to move the front wheel out a little bit so it doesnt look so cramped up.
 
I heard bad things about him , isnt it something like Rockymountain?

I have a good motorcycle engineer here local that does rake dragbike chassis, I may just have him do it. Any idea how many degrees. I am just looking to move the front wheel out a little bit so it doesnt look so cramped up.

John Furber is Blue Ridge (Rocky Mountain) Sport Max. Mad Max is ... well Mad Max.
 
There is not enough trail as it is. Raking the triples only worsen this and makes it harder to ride in a straight line. The only way to get what you want is to rake the actual frame.

Sean
 
Thanks for bringing this subject up. Because i was going to buy the Mad Max triple trees. But i guess now i won't.
 
I asked Paul[madmax] about his raked triple trees he told me "No! not if your going to ride it,only guys that just show their bikes get them"
 
I've always wondered this, as I hear and see a lot of things about the handling of this bike.

I am seriously contemplating the raked triples. I don't ride hard into corners, drag knees, act like the Max is a sport bike, as the bike is far from a sport bike. If I want to do all of that, I'll go buy one that does it light years better than this 630lb tank does.

This being said, I do like to cruise out on the highway, in town, and have the occasional blast in a straight line.

What is the downside to the triples raked vs. the neck of the frame and why is this the case? If it were so dangerous wouldn't he quit selling the triples?

Serious questions because I really don't know and would like to hear facts, not opinions.

Thanks fellas.
 
There is not enough trail as it is. Raking the triples only worsen this and makes it harder to ride in a straight line. The only way to get what you want is to rake the actual frame.

Sean


Hey Sean
Makes sense what your saying. If I was going to have the neck raked how many degrees would you do it.
Have you ridden a max with a raked chassis?
I am looking for more top end stability plus more so the longer lower look. I know it will make the bike worse in turns but I have already accepted the VMAX's poor handling. Its no where near a sport bike nor will it ever be even after 3K dollars worth of rims, shocks, after market swingarms and frame braces. I have accepted this. I love the VMAX for its style and sound.
 
First, don't buy the raked triples if you are going to ride the bike at speeds better then 30mph.

Second, I have raked 6 degrees with excellent results. I am sure a couple more could work just fine but I wanted to be able to turn the bike too. There are pics of the 2-Face bike on here somewhere. It also had 3" over swingarm. I have moved the swingarm to another chassis now and will be building a 6" over arm for 2Face when I get time.

Cutting and raking the frame on these bikes is pretty challenging task. I've seen it done a few different ways. We cut the entire head stock off of mine and reworked it. I've seen it done by just cutting the stem area and pushing it in at the top and welding it back closed. Either way you want to use a frame jig to keep it aligned.

Sean Morley
 
Google rake and trail and you'll get lots of info on how raking the tree looks like you've got a lot of rake but also decreases trail or sometimes gives you negative trail.

If you look at some the properly built custom choppers that have huge amounts of rake in the NECK you can see where they used raked triples to get trail back to an acceptable range.

It's impossible to really explain without the pictures tho'

Rusty
 
First, don't buy the raked triples if you are going to ride the bike at speeds better then 30mph.

Second, I have raked 6 degrees with excellent results. I am sure a couple more could work just fine but I wanted to be able to turn the bike too. There are pics of the 2-Face bike on here somewhere. It also had 3" over swingarm. I have moved the swingarm to another chassis now and will be building a 6" over arm for 2Face when I get time.

Cutting and raking the frame on these bikes is pretty challenging task. I've seen it done a few different ways. We cut the entire head stock off of mine and reworked it. I've seen it done by just cutting the stem area and pushing it in at the top and welding it back closed. Either way you want to use a frame jig to keep it aligned.

Sean Morley

Sean
Good info there I thought you may have played around with the rake and trail on the VMAX
My guy does have a frame jig here its just hard to get him to work on a VMAX welding and fabricating he basicaslly now just works on drag bikes and busa gixxers
I was lucky to have him fix the front of where the spin on oil filter goes
After the first test ride I was pulling up in to the shop and I guess it bottomed out and caught the bottom part of casing and cracked it off from the case :bang head: He tig welded it back up and saved me a motor cost 250 but his work is solid and right
Hell I only paid 500 fore this motor and it screams
 
If you look at some the properly built custom choppers that have huge amounts of rake in the NECK you can see where they used raked triples to get trail back to an acceptable range.

It's impossible to really explain without the pictures tho'

Rusty


Here is a pic of my old chopper. It has 45 deg of rake in the neck and another 7 in the trees.

She wasn't the best in cornering, but real stable at speeds in the straights. 6 speed gearbox, was made to cruise at 75-80
 

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