I had read in a bike mag somewhere, where the interviewer asked a builder what the stretch on the forks were & the builder said "0 up & 0 out", & he was going to build a revised frame where the fork stretch was "2 up & 2 out". How do you measure stretch & what do those measurements pan out to?

 

2 up should be an extra 2" in the downtubes from stock and 2 out should be an extra 2" in the backbone tube. This moves the neck of the bike. Stretch can also change the angle of the head tube so that the rake angle changes Stretching the frontend OUT so the front wheel is farther away from the bike frame. And BINGO you have a chopper.

 

I was laughing my *** off @ the "Bingo....." close. Funny, man! The explanation makes a lot of sense, but just tell me one thing- what's the backbone tube? Is that the tube @ the end of the frame where the forks come through? Sorry, bro, still in the beginning stages on rake & stretch.

 

Don't be lazy, read this...

http://www.knucklebusterinc.com/tech...abrication.pdf

 

Will do. Checking it out now.

 

Now the term "Chopper" comes from the Indian word "Cheoper" meaning to scalp Posers

 

No kidding??? You definitely learn somethin' new everyday! Thanks, man! & I'm not being sarcastic either.

 

This probably explains it better and in a more technical way than I did. I was just being quik.

As for your question about the backbone tube, it is the part of the bike frame the the gas tank straddles.

 

That's awesome! Thanks, man!

 

One more thing: when they tell you the stretch in magazines, it's only one measurement. What's this measurement from?