AJS & Matchless Owners Club

Hi im running a 21" off road front wheel with alloy mudguard
. Is it neccessary to run a mudguard brdge piece between the fork legs to act like a brace? Im already using front and rear stays. If so are they anything that can be bought or easily enough made?
Thanks Peter

Club spares list them but it is showing low stock, AMC Classics have stocked them in the past, you may have to fettle to suit.
Part No 014737

Colin

Yes, you should make a bridge piece - otherwise the front end will feel very floppy.

I would certainly want the bridge piece. It braces the sllders and helps make sure they remain correctly spaced. The front and rear stays will only brace the mudguard. The correct brace for an alloy guard has a u shape with holes for the slider bolts, to brace the sliders, and a top piece which rivets to the brace and supports the alloy mudguard.

Hi

In my opinion the bridge retains the mudguard in rotation, without it the mudguard could rotate forwards or backwards, and for that reason it should be installed.

It will also provide some torsional rigidity for the sliders, (over and above that from the front wheel spindle).

I don't think it provides much else in terms of rigidity to the fork assembly.

Regards Mick

You'd be surprised at the difference a strong bridge piece makes to the handling (especially under braking).
It helps reduce the tendency of the forks to "twist" under load, so the bike feels much more stable.

Here's the (very substantial) bridge I fitted to my Lightweight:

Thanks lads great advice as usual.

Without a bridge fitted you'll experience what is known as fork walk! This is when under braking the forks twist from left to right, especially more so as there is only a drum on the one side. The fitting of a fork brace reduces the effect dramatically. As an experiment try this, wedge the front wheel in between your legs and move the bars left to right and see how much twist you get without a stiff brace. Try the same again with a brace fitted and you'll find the twisting reduces significantly.

Clanger won't have any problems with that mudguard bridge. Lovely job. Did you make it yourself? Cheers. Bruce.

Thanks! Yes, I made it by bending a suitable piece of steel using a scaffold pole (!) The bend came out lovely - classic bit of metal-bashing.
It does steer surprisingly well, so I like to think the brace is helping somehow...