Bomber headset help

[mikethebike]

My Bomber resto has come to a halt because of a problem refitting an original pair of forks and a headset and I need some advice.

Now my bike is being reassembled on proper Bomber forks it's proving impossible to refit the front lamp bracket (my bike was on old MTB forks before).

The guy that's doing my restoration says "Once I get the top threaded race on there's no room for the Raleigh dynamo bracket, there's only just enough thread for the top nut. Generally fork steerers have enough thread to get a washer in under the top nut so I'm surprised the dyno bracket (which is the same width as a washer) won't fit in there. The main issue as I see it is 3mm to 5mm too short - the same width as a washer plus the dynamo mounting bracket.

So my question is, are there headset differences between Mk1 and 2 Bombers? (Mines a Mk2 frame) or are all Raleigh headsets of that era the same (including Grifters and the various racers etc?)

Any advice would be really appreciated.

Thanks

mikethebike ;D

[mushroom]

I shall head to the shed in the morning and compare between the 5 bombers and let you know

[mikethebike]

Cheers Mushroom.

We are now thinking that the forks may actually be from the 24inch wheel version as it's coming up so short - we've also subsequently discovered the steerer tube has a very slight crease, indicating the donor bike may have had a front end impact at some time in the past (I bought the forks as a separate item on the bay last year so no way of telling). The slight abnormality is making the reassembled steering notchy.

Contacting a specialist who deals with fork straightening on motorbikes reveals that the tube isn't repairable, so the forks would only be any good for use on a show bike. A bit of a bug*er as they had already been refinished by a local powdercoater before we discovered the prob

Following up a lead on some more originals early next week but, meantime, if you know of anyone with some 26 inch forks with an undamaged steerer tube that is 150mm long can you point 'em in my direction?

Ta.

Mike

PS. Option 2, if we can't find any undamaged originals after all, is to fit a pair of Project 2 straight bladed Kona mountain bike forks. So, if you hear of any of these around can you do the same and point me in their owners direction? Thanks. Would prefer originals if poss though.

[mushroom]

I've got a 24" and some 26" bikes in the shed I'll compare on monday ( which is when I'll probably be next down there)

[mikethebike]

Hi Mushroom. Think I'm going to save you the need to look at yours in the end, thanks for the offer though. I've measured the forks and steerer and frame head tube that I have on my 26 inch wheel Mk1 and the measurements come out exactly the same as my Mk2 that's with my restorer! So, they must be 26 inch forks that he has after all.

Quite what's happening to stop the forks from fitting still remains an as yet unsolved mystery though.

The bike is being restored in Manchester and I'm 20 odd miles away, so if there's no joy fitting the originals by next weekend I'll probably transport my Mk1 over to swap the forks out from one bike to another in a effort to allow us to find out why the others didn't fit .

Still on the look out for 26 inch originals to replace the current ones though, due to the slight crease in the steerer

[mushroom]

All I can think of is the bearing race is not fitted right or the caged bearings are the wrong size ?

[mikethebike]

Alex, my restorer, says:

"so weird, bearings are correct size for the cups & races, both bottom cup and top race are fitted right as is the crown race on the forks???"

He's also lightly filed the frame before powdercoat and after - still no joy

'Tis a mystery for sure. Hopefully, if we manage to track down another set of 26 inch forks. we might be able to finally see what the prob is