Originally Posted by
jimc101
4.9 pounds of cheap suspension fork? No thanks. I've used cheap new forks and they suck. They're heavy and they feel terrible. OP would be better off with a rigid fork and fat ~2.4" tire up front.
Better yet to give it a shot rebuilding the Judy fork first. I rebuilt an old Mag21 and it came out fine, but there was nothing wrong with it to begin with other than needing air and an oil change. Google your fork, you may get lucky and find the original rebuild manuals.