Front Disc Caliper placement ?

[harronek]

Just a quick question that hopefully the knowledgable members may be able to help me with .
The front Disc Caliper position on my Aerox is like most others - its behind the left fork leg .
Is there a engineering reason why the Caliper is behind the fork and not in front of it ?
On my General Grievous Aerox build I'm trying to lower and increase the wheelbase of the bike .
If I was to swap the forks around and position Caliper on the front of the fork leg I would get an immediate lowering and lengthening of the bike due to the axle position on the lower fork leg . It would mean the brake is now on the right instead of the left but that wouldnt cause any headaches for me .
Is there a reason That I shouldnt do this ?

This is how the standard setup is 



This is what I'm proposing if you can imagine the wheel and Caliper in place .
 


Ken

['O'Verse]

Preference probably. As far as stopping power goes I'd say minimal as long as your caliper still grabs your disc while being supported. A lot of rims are designed to be one sided. Hence the disc and caliper on the non cosmetic side.

[FrankenMech]

There may be some engineering reason. I don't know enough about scoots to tell you.

All of that 'mechanism' sticking out in front wouldn't be as clean looking. The brake hose would be on the front side where it could be damaged easily. The fender mounts would be reversed also.

[spaz12]

Fender mounts like Frank mentioned, speedo and center of gravity raised slightly are a few things I see right away. The caliper would then pull away from the fork instead of pushing into it, which might be a problem?? The no fender thing would be a deal breaker right away for myself.

[harronek]

Thanks for the replies .
The fender issue is a no issue for me because remember this bike is a race - drag - fun bike and was never going to have a fender anyway .
The hose out the front I can live with , if it gets damaged then I suspect I will have bigger problems to deal with
The looks dont worry me .
It isn't going to have a speedo , so thats not a problem .
But I have a nagging doubt as to the strenght - engineering of reversing what very qualified engineers and designers created at the factory .

Ken

[ThomasTPFL]

You'll be changing the trail.

[90GTVert]

www.motorcycle-superstore.com/4125/mngr/rake-and-trail-explained.aspx

[bluegoatwoods]

In fact, it'll turn the 'trail' into a 'lead'.

My current scooter has a trailing link front suspension. It's the first one of those I've ever had. And it took a bit of getting used to. It does act, or at least feel, a bit different from telescoping forks. But after getting used to it, it seems perfectly normal.

My only other concern is the possibility that those welds will be taking forces 180 deg opposite to what they were designed for.

I'm inclined to think that neither of these issues are too serious. I'm thinking that that your front end ought to be able to handle it. But we are talking about your front end here and a mechanical failure could be a horrible thing. So I just don't know whether to recommend proceeding or not.

If it were me, I think I'd do it. Figuring that the welds are probably up to the task. But I would drive it like a Grandma for a bit while I learned the new handling.

[FrankenMech]

My old cruiser bicycles had forks that curved forward. That pushed the wheel out frontwards and reduced the trail. They rode quite well. I could ride no-hands for a mile to school. I never could ride a unicycle but I could ride my bike all the way to school through traffic and turns on the rear wheel though.

The end of that fork tube looks like a casting so I would not worry about any welds.

[harronek]

Thanks for he replies .

One last question .
If I do try this the direction of disc/wheel rotation will be reversed , can anyone see and problems that this could create with the pads , wheel bearings etc .

Ken

[190mech]

The old drag scoot "Skeedr" had the same flip done to extend the wheelbase and get some weight forward as it was very wheelie prone during drag starts,,ended up fabbing a wheelie bar,but the front end remained flipped with no issues during 2 seasons..

[ThaiGyro]

It is a simple solution...and yes there are engineering "load" reasons that make the rear of the leg a better choice. That said, it means very little on a light weight low speed scooter. (Low relative to big bike)

Another method used for many years, is to have two steering head shims fabbed up, with angled and offset holes for the steering head stud. Top one mounted with the hole to the rear, bottom with the hole to the front.

On eBAy they are called "Neck Cups":



Maybe you can find them online for your steering neck ID.