- Sept 1954 Enthusiast
- oneinch.jpg (92.88 KiB) Viewed 13750 times
For 1955, the factory changed from the "raked" triple trees to the parallel ones. Actually, this occurred in late 1954. The change in angle pushed the front of the frame up, so to keep the bike level, they shortened the fork tubes. Unfortunately, I don't know the actual measurements - the advertising "one inch" might not be an actual 1.000". There are only two tubes for 1952-1969
49953-52 Fork slider tube 1952-1954 K and KH; 1958-1969 XLCH; special 1" more road clearance 1957-1969 XL and XLH
49953-55 Fork slider tube 1955-1969 KH, XL, XLH
BTW - more trail means more high-speed stability (chopper). Less trail means it's easier to turn the wheel (via handlebars or bumps in the road - motocross). It's confusing - raking the frame causes an increase in trail. "Raking" the triple trees causes a DEcrease in trail.