What is an inverted fork?

Question

I read about the "inverted fork" on the tech sheets in bike mags. I really don't see a big difference in looks of a regular fork. What is it? How does it work? What are the pros and cons? How is the look different?

Answer 1

It still amazes me that some people can take a guess at answering questions though I do admit that a few were very close. The reason that inverted tubes were inverted was that a group of suspension engineers (the guy's at Whitepower come to mind) suddenly had the inspiration that the wider the diameter if the tube the stiffer it was. "Then why don't we put the stiffest part where the most flex is" (which is at the bottom of the triple clamps) they said. Thus now most high performance machines have them. Motorcycles may be metal but they will flex if you give them a hard time. This changes the handling dynamics of the bike especially in high speed cornering where you do not want this to happen.
All suspension parts have to be maintained and all early suspension seals sucked to varying degrees though these days they are much better. Also most inverted fork designs tend to cover the exposed part of the sliding tube better so you are less likely to suffer from stone chips to the tube. These will cut into your seals. If you are on a chook chaser (off road bike) the seals will have a tendency to be more directly in the line of fire an may wear quicker.
So if you riding a high powered sports or off-road bike to its limits they are a good thing. Otherwise it does not really matter.

Answer 2

On traditional forks the thick end is down. On inverted forks the thick end is up. they're a little more stable and react quicker because of less moving mass and bigger tripple clamps. The down side is the (thinner) inner tube is vulnerable. That's why all the new bikes have fork guards. The inverted forks shed mud better but the old style would take a flexible boot that kept them very clean.

Answer 3

A fork is a pair of pistons that travel in and out of piston housings. They are suspended by springs and dampened by oil that must squeeze through holes of selectable size when the piston travels up and down.

If the pistons are attached to the triple clamp and the housings are attached to the front wheel's axle, the forks are conventional.

If the housings are attached to the triple clamp and the pistons are attached to the axle, the forks are "inverted."

Inverted forks are stiffer. But, they put the piston down by the road, where grime and water tend to trash the seals, which will then leak the oil, which reneders the fork useless.

If you see the shiny pistons near the axles, you are looking at inverted forks.

Answer 4

An inverted fork is 10x stronger then conventional forks and are almost impossible to bend in an accident. They're much stronger and don't flex at high speeds, increasing the handling abilities of the bike.
A regular fork - the wheel is bolted to the casing and the exposed tube (about 2 feet long is bolted into the triple clamps.
An inverted fork (or upside down forks) - The casing is bolted into the triple clamp.
The exposed tube is about 1 foot long (less exposed area to flex or bend) and the wheel is bolted to it.

Answer 5

the sliders are at the bottom on inverted forks,it helps to reduce unsprung weight and takes some of the unwanted flex out of the steering.it all helps with handling.con's, seals and sliders are more exposed to damage but this hasn't been to much of a problem.

Answer 6

I'm sure costs come to mind when your considering this too. Kill two birds with one stone. Go to ebay.com and type in inverted forks. They look kick *** on OCC type chops. They are not too bad on the pocket book either. They are often cheaper than gay a** springers.

Answer 7

The forked metal stem that holds the front wheel.

Answer 8

Its a Kama sutra technique.