86 TRI-z 39mm fork tube alternatives.

[adcotton]

I have a 86 tri-z

I had my tubes re chromed but it did not work, came out wavey and seals still got chewed up.... I bought 39mm extended sportster forks ( on eBay from dbi industries. its a oversized sportster kit ) thinking I could use the tubes but unfortunately the inside diameter is smaller and dampeing rods are way shorter. and its going to cost me 225 or so to have my machinist extend and modify the sporster kits dampening rods to give me the travel of the original 86 rods.

Are there any proper tubes available? Can 250 r forks slide right in or do a need a complete 250r front end assembly ? How much does it cost for the special inverted forks triple trees by the time they are all on and done?

My poor bikes been legless for a month and tonight I find put the bad news about the tubes innards being so different. Trying to explore my options.

[Bryan Raffa]

I would have slid a 250 R front end in ,,, if I couldn't find them... new style the tripples alone are $500... you still gotta buy the forks and Brakes... the 250 r route you could run a 11" or even a 10" rim ... endless tire possibility's what do you want to spend? lol

[Tri-Z 250]

Yeah Raffa's got a good point there....I priced new tubes from the dealer a yr ago...$275 a leg, no shipping and not assembled. They claimed it would be special ordered and could take 4-6weeks to be machined and shipped. If you do your homework the 10" rim is $125+ship....which leaves $150 for forks,hub and brake 85-86R. Very possible,IMO and actually a pretty hot setup for an alternative.

[adcotton]

Do i need the triple calmps and stem from the 250r or just the fork tubes, wheel/hub rotor and caliper?

Do the 250R forks offer better performance or are they about the same?

Thank you Guys.

-Ashton