'70 sl350, shorter fork tubes?

[shane_lxi]

I just bought a '70 sl350, and I'm not too fond of the super long front fork tubes. Are there any shorter fork tubes I can swap into my stock triples and retain my factory wheel/axle? They are the internal spring style, not the external spring forks like on the cb/cl350s.

 

[piranhasattack]

I have a 71 sl350 and I swapped my forks with a 76 cj360. As long as the forks are the same diameter and they have a place to attatch your break stay you shouldn't have any problems. You might be able to swap your lowers on to the other forks.

 

[shane_lxi]

Are the cj360 forks any shorter?

 

[eyhonda]

I would think any street fork (CB, CL) will be shorter than it's off road brothers (SL, XL, XR). My CL175 forks are 2" shorter than the XL100 forks.

 

[shane_lxi]

I've got a line on some cl360 forks. According do the diameter guide they are 33mm, same as the sl350. Think they'd work in my triples? The triples look waay different.

 

[eyhonda]

Don't worry about the triples they are coming off of. If the triples you have now are what you want, just bolt up the new forks. The width of the triples will determine the wheel spacing. If you're using the same wheel (which you are) as the sl triples, it will fit the width. Then, you'll need to make sure the cl forks will fit the sl wheel axle. There should be an axle guide somewhere out there too. If the axle doesn't fit, you'll have to swap the lowers. I'm not sure if that trick will work though.

 

[piranhasattack]

Yes they are a little over 2 inches shorter, the lowers are a little shorter to than the sl forks. Should fit your triple tree. I picked up my cj forks on eBay for 11 dollars. they are in better shape then the sl forks.

 

[shane_lxi]

I'll just buy them and try them out. I can't find either of these bikes on that list. I found the cb360, which I am assuming uses the same axle as the cl/cj360's, but no cb/cl/sl350's. Worst case I can buy a cb360 wheel/hub/axle.

 

[piranhasattack]

I'm in the process of swapping the lowers on to the cj forks, ill let you know how it goes... If not the axle diameter is the same, I just like the look of the sl lowers.

 

[piranhasattack]

I looked for cb/cl 360 for a while but couldn't find any cheap forks on decent shape just got lucky with the cj, I have a pair of cl360 forks, I put them side by side and they are exact. Id give you the cl forks but the tubes are rusted through. Us sl guys need to stick together!

 

[shane_lxi]

Thanks for the help guys! I found these forks locally for $20, might as well go for it. Super excited to start tinkering with this bike, just got it home today. I need to make a build thread...

 

[piranhasattack]

Better late then never here is a pic of my 71 sl350 with a 21" tire and the cj360 forks/sl lower tubes. It was not an easy swap fyi.