hi, ive snapped holding clamp on my left fork leg, can it be welded or repaired as I cant find replacement. model fm301,403,or 266 all ideas welcome,thanks.jon

not sure exactly what material your forks are constructed of but I will assume it to be aluminum.

Not sure if yours is broke where the clamp would "flex" or where the bolt passes through. but I will share my experiences.

On a Sherco I once owned it had a broken off bolt for the pinch clamp. I was unable to remove the broken bolt. So off to the great welder guy that I found. I had to completely dismantle the fork and only take the lower fork tube to him. He then cut a channel where the bolt was and lifted out the material/bolt. Then he filled it in with weld, this also welded the "split" part of the clamp. He drilled a new hole and tapped the hole back to the original sizes. The "split" was recut and the bore for the axle to pass through was smoothed out. I had zero problems after the repair, the repair held with regular torque etc.. of course there was some heat discoloring.

I also had him repair my top and bottom fork clamps on the same bike. Where the bolt passed through the clamp portion had broken off. He removed the broken piece and placed a correct size rod of brass (I think) into the threaded hole so the threads would not be affected, and basically rebuilt the end of the clamp for the bolt to pass through using only weld. Then he had to recut the split, smooth out the bore for the forks and bore the countersink for the bolt. This repair (both times) held up beautifully after it was done. It would hold normal torque when clamping the forks and the forks never slipped.

So depending on how odd/technical the repair, I would say it probably can be fixed.

or you could buy a new one on that there ebay where they are regulars..

I have 2 sets of 34 mm Marzocchis fitted to 2 early SWM´s these have both got a crack where the pinching bolt goes through. I´m hoping to get them welded at some time.

The later 35 mm forks don´t seem to have this problem and the pinching bolt is much smaller diameter.

the 35mil forks do split just the same

leg on ebay today a tenner..

yes I just seen them thanks.day off tomorrow so im having a day working on the bike so I will compare them before bidding as the bike has a drum brake,i think its a mixture of a few bikes put together by last owner,thanks for the link thanks,jon

On both sets of 35mm Forks I've got for my 240 there is a very thin plate that inserts into the pinch gap to prevent distortion and cracking of the fork leg , I'd bet these are missing on most bikes by now ...

Glenn

never seen them on any of my fantics .. nor the parts diagrams...

Yeah it should have the thin bit of plate fitted , this stop's the leg from cracking . Very easy to make one , it's about 1mm thick with 2 x 6mm holes in it , and fit's in the bottom fork gap . Totalshell , your right about it not being on parts diagrams , maybe missed out , or was a late mod ....

Yes they can be welded by someone who can weld aluminium not a problem, I know people in the North Wales area if you around their.