Dropouts, what is their purpose ?

[cheap ride]

I am building a bike at the moment, It's a cross between chopper and lowrider styles, and i am doing the front forks at the moment, i have salvaged some dropouts from a chopper bike my son found on curbside collection , Can someone please tell me what effect do dropouts have on the steering/handling of a bike? Also, Tripple trees, some of the tripple tree plates are triangular in shape, with the headstem going through the bottom of the triangle, this is therefore the axis point, if the forks are further away from this point(further forward) would the resulting range of movement of the handlebars be greater than that if they were in line with the head tube?Is there a corrective effect on the steering if using dropouts? sorry about how i've written these questions it may seem a little confusing, thanks in advance, Adrian.

 

[ocscully]

Information on Trail

What you are asking about in so many words is what is known as Trail. the following link will get you a simple explanation of Trail and then there is a link there to a very detailed discussion of Trail. http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gloss_tp-z.html#trail Hope this helps answer your question. As for drop-outs they are pretty much just for holding the front wheel. Although if they are mounted to the front of a straight fork leg the do increase the trail of the bike/fork.
Scully