Fork Failure on Vintage Steel Tandem Bikes - Any insights? I'm wondering if you guys can share any knowledge regarding fork failure on old steel tandem bikes. 

I just bought a 1988 Santana Elan tandem. It's in beautiful condition. I contacted Santana to ask if they can give me any extra info on the bike, and they told me "replace your fork which is long past it's 10 year "best by" date. your bike NEEDS A NEW FORK TO BE SAFE TO RIDE."

I'm not saying I don't believe them, but surely they have legal and financial incentives to recommend I err on the safest side. I bought a used tandem to save money, haha, but I also want to make an educated decision. Any insights?

Could the fact that it's a tandem expose the fork to greater risk of failure? (2 people on only 2 wheels) On the other hand, you've got to figure that a tandem would have been ridden less over 30 years than a solo, so could that reduced usage give me better odds?

I'm planning to take this bike on our first ever cross-country tour. I'm trying not to be an idiot and risk a catastrophe out in the wild. Just how risky is riding on this 30-year-old steel fork (which seems to be performing well)?
I'm not saying I don't believe them, but surely they have legal and financial incentives to recommend I err on the safest side. 


Yes, but now that you've asked them and they've instructed you to buy a new fork, if it fails on you and you try to sue them, they'll laugh you out of court. So they've covered that base already.


  you've got to figure that a tandem would have been ridden less over 30 years than a solo


Perhaps, but they recommend replacement after 10 years.


  Just how risky is riding on this 30-year-old steel fork (which seems to be performing well)?


If you read the page linked to above by Daniel R Hicks, you'll see that A) the point of failure is hidden inside the head tube, and B) "Tandem fork failures nearly always cause an accident which puts both riders in an Emergency Room."


  I'm trying not to be an idiot and risk a catastrophy out in the wild.


Then don't rely on equipment that the manufacturer has told you is prone to catastrophic failure.