The Hodaka Club Forum

Anybody here have experience using 32mm Ceriani forks on a Combat Wombat? If so, what is your opinion? Much better than stock for intermediate skill level MX and trail riding? Worth doing?

Thanks.

-Stever

I don’t know about the 32mm Ceriani forks but I put 34mm forks from a SL250 on my model 94 Wombat and it made a difference. Noticeable Stability improvement. I would expect that the Ceriani would also be a noticeable improvement.

Although the 32 fork stanchions would only theoretically be about 20% stiffer, the lowers should be a lot lighter. Less unsprung weight is always a good thing when it comes to keeping your tire on the ground. I haven't used the 32s on a Hodaka but liked them on other light bikes.

The weight advantage of an alloy rim is another consideration, especially considering that it's also rotating.

My experience with the smaller Cerianis was not good in that they were prone to bending under hard use. I liked the lowers and the triple tree.

Do you have to change the triple trees to put on the 32mm Cerianis? Or can you just open the bolts on the trees and make them fit in? Just curious. Don’t have a set. Victor

For Victor,

If you try to open up the stock 30mm triple clamps to accept 32mm forks, two things will happen. The bottom clamp (cast steel) will bend and not close properly and will probably damage the fork tube. The top mount, being aluminum, will snap. If you have them bored out to 32 mm's, the top one will be too thin and probably break on the first big landing. The lower one might work, but will probably flex too much.

Good info. So what 32mm triple tree fits which can be used with the Hodaka steering head? Victor

03 Wombat (the holy grail), 250ED, maybe modded SL250, come to mind

Victor, what I have is are standard Ceriani triple clamps and steering stem from an early Penton. The steering stem is separate from the bottom clamp, it fits into the bottom clamp and is held tight by a pinch bolt. There is a slight groove for the pinch bolt in the steering stem so that it can't rotate or move vertically. There may have been different lengths, but the steering stem that I have is good for the Combat wombat. The upper threads are the same as the CW, I am guessing 25x1mm, so the stock Hodaka top bearing race for the CW is a correct fit. Below those threads the stem was turned down on a lathe just a bit accept the bottom stock Hodaka bearing race, so with that it bolts right up to the CW steering head using stock ball bearings and races.

My real question for this thread was whether these Cerianis would really upgrade the performance of the front suspension enough to warrant the swap. For my skill level the stock CW forks are good enough, but not great. By the way, the best forks I ever lived with for lots of riding were the Betors on my MK6 175 and MK7 250 (Pomeroy Replica!) Pursangs. If the Cerianis gave a similar performance to those old Betors I would be ecstatic.

Any former Penton riders out there who can speak to how these Cerianis did?

Many thanks,

-Stever

I have Penton 32mm Ceriani forks on my Ace 100B+. The bike has been highly modified. It's more 98 Super Rat than Ace 100.I got a good deal on Flea Bay. They came with triple trees,but no axle. It was a direct bolt on . The only thing I had to make was stops to keep the forks from hitting the tank. The Penton triple trees are wider than the Hodakas, so you need a Penton axle.
I'm an intermediate rider. There is a lot of "tuning" involved. Get a pro to tune them for you.
Then there is the cool factor. No one remembers Betor or Metal Profile, but everyone knows Ceriani.

Larry S