front forks

just been reading the post on front forks strip down and was wondering what the forum would do with my fork

i managed to get one fork stripped down and a new seal and oil in but the other fork i could not get the stantion to come away from the lower section and ended up having to pick the seal out the seal is now leaking again badly , the stantion has signs of wear in the chrome so i was thinking of sending them to pitted forks who will strip them down straighten and rechrome to original thickness rebuild with new seals and oil for £250 inc pick up & deliverd back but if i strip them down it would only be £150 but i would need to strip them down (which i cant do with one)

any advise would be a great help

Sometimes takes quite a bit of force to get the stanchion from the slider. Way I do it is to put the stanchion in a vice (padded jaws, of course) and jerk the slider down as hard as I can to get the stanchion through the top bush. Even then it takes a few pulls to separate the 2 parts.

Is it the allen screw on the bottom of the that won't come out? Way round this is to put a length of thinnish wooden broom handle down the empty stanchion and put pressure on it while undoing the allen screw. There's a plate on the bottom of the damper in the stanchion that sometimes turns round and round, and the wood will deform and grip this.

Hope this helps to save you money and get the job done.

no chromedome the allan key bolt comes out ok but the top brass bush under the seal is siezed in to the bottom section . i have had the fork in the vice (which is attatched to ametal bench) and jerked it but still it would nlt budge

Right. Sorry to hear that, but I had to cover those bases, as I wasn't sure what you'd tried already. Bit of a loss now

Have you tried heating up the bottom slider to expand it a bit after using some releasing oil?

thats ok chromedome : i have tried soaking it in wd40 oil but never put any heat near it as i tend to go over the score with the heat and would end up melting the alloy

Know what you mean about getting over-keen with the blowtorh (done it myself lol) but sometimes wrapping towels soaked in boiling water round the outside of the top of the slider might expand it enough. You might have to repeat the process a couple of times.

Done this to remove head race bearings in the past, and managed to do in 5 minutes what it took 2 hours of grunting screaming and swearing with a hammer and drift to do before

chromedome wrote:but sometimes wrapping towels soaked in boiling water round the outside of the top of the slider might expand it enough.

now there is a good idea that i have not heard of before !!!

i will give it a go ;; i will strip them down tomorrow night and give it a try

thank you!!

If that doesn't work, you could generate some real heat using a paint stripping heat gun or a wallpaper steamer, without risk to the alloy.

Heat gun has always worked well for me in the past.....

thanks LI & eternaly_troubled

i now have the front forks off the bike and will have a go at seperating them tomorrow (if not then the weekend) i will post up how i get on

regardless wither i get them seperated or not i have decided to send them away to pitted forks to get rechromed

Another idea which has worked for me in the past is to slide the axle into the leg, stagger your feet either side and give it a bloody good bashing (ooer!)
Just be careful that you don't smack yourself in the jaw if the stanchion suddenly comes free!

smokiewazhere, any joy on getting the fork leg stripped yet?

chromedome wrote:smokiewazhere, any joy on getting the fork leg stripped yet?

not had time due to family and work getting in the way so have taken the plunge and sent the forks (complete) away to pitted forks and they have been picked up and on route to luton. (return eta 2 weeks)

thanks for the interest

I know what it's like getting time to do jobs on the bike

Ah well, hope the forks are a lot better for you.

ye ta they claim that the stantions should be better than new

http://www.pittedforks.co.uk/

used them 2 yrs ago when i restored a 1972 honda cd175 and they did a good job of them

HI,

I've changed fork seals on my cb5's several times now and no probs...until now! I can't get the fork leg and the stanction apart, tried the pull apart and vice/mallet options, the fork seal stays put and the legs lock together so I have to use the mallet to get them loose for another attempt. I reckon the internal bush is getting stuck but any advice/fixes will help.
The damper rod etc is out.

Btw, forks off, seals changed = vfr clip on's on!

muttley1

You could try the water method here. I've not needed to try it myself as yet but the theory is sound.

further update

forks were picked up on monday morning at 09.30 next day at 10.00 got a phone call from pitted forks to tell me they had received the forks and had them stripped down and examined to find the top bushes was scored, worn and should be replaced and could i get them and send to pitted forks asap so got on the phone to david silver and asked if they had them in stock answer i got was yes they are in stock so i asked if it was possible for david silvers to send the bushes direct to pitted forks and was told that was not a problem and they should be there within 2 working days so back on the phone to pitted forks to let them know to expect the bushes

brilliant service so far from both companies

Hi,

water technique sounds messy and not sure it'd work if the bush is getting wedged each time I pull the slider/fork leg apart. It takes several hits with the rubber mallet to get them loose again so something in there is catching. Any idea's?

m1

My guess is the two bushes are getting caught up with each other instead if the one on the stanchion pulling out the one in the lower.

Not sure what to advise though other than keep trying what your doing in the hope it finally frees itself.

smokiewazhere, nice to see things coming together seamlessly there.

Ashroc, good write up there, and thanks for the info.

muttley1, I agree with Ashroc. Sometimes that slider top bush can be a bit reluctant to shift.

Although I discovered the hard way that forgetting to remove the oil seal retaining circlip in the slider can complicate matters. Only excuse is that I was very, very tired at the time......

Hi,

and an update then...the leg and stanction are parted ! Both bushes were indeed knackered, new ones from Wemoto ordered Sat afternoon, here 1st thing today so I can get the bike back in one piece tomorrow.

m1

Thats good to hear. With the price of the bushes as low as they are, I tend to replace them as standard anyway. If I have the forks apart, I figure I might as well do a full service on them.

Hi,

all back together, bike looking good, 10 miles into roadtest...1st couple of blobs of leaking fork oil, definitely a leak after 50+ mile round trip so argh!

I reckon it could be the seal itself, I got a pair of fleabay ages ago and used one, its lasted 3000m, used the other this time.

Tomorrow I'll mainly be redoing the fork seal. Will check for any dings etc in the stanction but it looked fine a couple of days back.

m1

That's a bugger after all that work!
Hope tomorrow goes smoothly, I'll be mostly getting my brother's triumph daytona mot worthy