Sachs G3 Forks (trial fit)

The XK forks that were on my Magnum had to go. They were less rigid than a wet paper bag full of Twizzlers and I spent almost as much time straightening them out as I did making excuses to my friends about why this bike wasn't done six months ago. I wanted a set that was inexpensive but beefy, and that looked similar to the way nicer MKII forks.

Around that same time, I was working on a Sachs G3 for someone and it's forks caught my eye. They had the look and the quality I was after and (after a quick ebay bid) the price too. Fortunately the measurements were super close and they went on with only a little bit of hassle.

The biggest issue with them is that the brake stop is on the wrong side of the forks and too high up. There are a couple ways around this. You could mount the wheel the opposite way and modify a rear brake plate to catch the stop, or you could do what I did and really test your luck by just welding on a new stop where it's supposed to go.

The new one is on the right, and is shiny. I can't weld that well. I just started on Tuesday. I'll be lucky if this doesn't break off and send me flying over the handlebars and straight into the hospital with a concussion and a broken collarbone or arm or something. I beat on it with a hammer pretty good though and it didn't budge so I might be okay.

The lower bearing race is built into the G3 forks and is fortunately the same size as the Magnum one, so the cups and bearings are still useable. The threaded head tube is longer on the G3 forks though and will for sure need to be cut, but has the same thread pitch and diameter as the Magnum so again, the stock hardware is good. Due to the G3's longer head tube, I had to use this spacer up top, but other than that everything is clean.

I also just scored a legit LTD dash (#073) so I was forced to use the XK top brace. The Sachs top brace has a different style handlebar mount, and the hole spacing is different so it wouldn't work. I had to grind the two holes on either end out so they'd meet the fork tubes, but other than that it went right on.

All in all, the end setup is way better than the XK forks. Granted they aren't hydraulic but at least these won't bend if you look at them the wrong way and they look stock. Pretty clean for a cool $50.