Fork'ing Hell !!! Fork Rebuild Questions!

[BobA]

Seal driver tool!!??

Whazz dat??

Never done the fork thing before, so any other advice would be helpful.

Do they come apart easy? I'm sure I read somewhere that you need to grip them in a vice and give a good hard yank to get them apart.

Once they're apart, what I don't want to do is end up not having a part I should have ordered, so should I just be replacing seals, or is there other bit I'm likely to need???

Any extra advice on getting them apart/together, or tips using the fiche reference numbers would be helpful at this point.

Thanks again everyone

Bob

[Northy]

Bob,
Before you yank them apart give the outside tube (fork leg - a and bit of gentle heat (rubbing its vigorously with your hands will work ! )

Seal driver tool ..... tool for clubbing seals with
No its merely a tool to push the seals into the hole, basically its a tube or drift that allows to to push the seal in place without resorted hammering it in a bit at time and getting it pissed or buggering the seal up. Up can make one up .....using plastic tubing

Don't be clever and think you can put the seal in before the leg (shinny bit ) goes in or you will rip your seals in the bushes (rip seals bleed ... and all that blood on the floor messy )

Go for it

Northy

[smiffyracing]

Hi,
I've just rebuilt my forks this weekend on my RD04, they are a very easy fork to work on, I've done many bikes in the past for friends who are scared to strip them because they think theres loads of mechanical magic inside. Theres not.
Just remember to loosen the top yoke first and loosen the fork top cap before taking the leg out as you'll find with a set of soft jaws in a vice, its almost impossible to stop the stanchion from turning.
My advice is always to buy gunuine seals. I raced a CBR600 for several years and found I was changing £7 wonder seals every 3 meetings, once I swapped to genuine (£30 ish) no more problems, I had similar issues with an EXUP.
Seal drivers are expensive, i have a tool steel bar, nicely ground to fit in the gap. Just gently tap round evenly until you get that positive sound that tells you you can go no further. Dont hit the lip seal, just the outer case of the seal and dont hit the stanchion with the hammer!
Fork oil for an RD04 is 5w and the quantity is 635ml / leg.

Regards,

[africatijn]

what I don't want to do is end up not having a part I should have ordered

Sorry to frighten you, but with my bike, a complete slider bushing was missing.... Took bl**dy ages to get this ordered/delivered....

T.

[BobA]

OK, parts on their way, so fingers crossed!

I hope I don't have anything missing, but wonder how Tijn's forks worked properly with a bush missing?

Gonna be doing an oil and filter change at the same time, and intend to use "fully synthetic".

Also intend to overhaul the exhaust system, with new head to downpipe gaskets, for which I was offered either copper or alloy. Anyone know why? I chose copper, and was also surprised to hear that the gasket for front and rear cylinders are different sizes!!
I'm doing this work to hopefully try and eliminate the backfiring on overrun (which doesn't happen incidentally if I slightly feather the throttle!).
I also intend to repair some corrosion holes in the outer skin at the end of the silencer with metal putty. Anyone used this stuff to good effect before??

Hopefully I'll get a chance to do it this weekend.

Bob

[BobA]

P.S.

Thanks for all your input, particularly Smiffy' who's just done the same job and really boosted my confidence.

Cheers

Bob

[africatijn]

wonder how Tijn's forks worked properly with a bush missing?

The top slider bushing, which sits just beneath the oil seal, was missing. This left the oil seal working as a slider bushing. Not a big problem, only that the oil seal wears out quite quickly.

Still, I don't know what the previous owner was thinking when removing the top bushing.... Maybe something else was wrong, which I don't want to know...

Goodluck!
T.

[Wingnut]

Thanks for the replies, but keep them coming, as they're boosting my confidence to do it myself.

I contacted David Silver spares by email about fork seal prices. They quoted £12.59 per fork plus VAT, which surprised the hell out of me as WEMOTO quoted £8 a pair.

I will obviously have to speak to each to find out exactly what's included, and what I'm likely to need.

Thanks everyone

Bob

Bob

Ive got oil leaking on both forks , not a mechanic ! I was wondering would oil and dust seals and of course oil be all thats required , the forks are in good condition not pitting etc.
wHAT DO YOU THINK?

Jonny

[BobA]

Johnny

I've done a few fork rebuilds since starting this thread and can tell you that it's a fairly easy job to do.

Even if the seals aren't damaged, as yours are, you will notice a difference once you've replaced the oil in the forks (I did).

My advice if you decide to rebuild...

1) BEFORE you slide the forks out of the yokes, slacken the bolt on the underneath of each fork leg.

2) Remove the drain bolts at the bottom of each leg, pump out the old oil, and leave to drain overnight.

3) Dismantle ONE fork at a time.

4) Use the Haynes manual for disassembly procedure, and lay the springs washers on a clean rag in the order you remove them.

5) Replace all the seals, but consider replacing the bronze bushes if they're worn, or if your budget allows.

6) Measure the new oil as accurately as possible into a jug, then put it on a level surface and mark the level with a pen or tape. This way you guarantee that when you fill the second fork you have added EXACTLY the same amount, even if it is +/- a few CC's of what it should be.

7) Adding upto 6psi (max) of air to each leg after the rebuild does make a bit of difference to the ride.

8] If your seals have been leaking, consider new gaiters as well, as they'll be really manky inside and out.

9) Oh almost forgot! Find yourself some tubing (PVC if poss) which slides nicely around the fork, and use this, with the old seal, to drive the new seal squarely into place.



Good Luck



Bob

[Wingnut]

Two things bob "bloody hell - that bird needs new overall's" and secondly thanks for the response . Pity I hadn't read it before I went down to the shed.

Had a good result with a stud extractor this evening . Last owner knew less than me about bikes and sheered a fork guard stud .

Dot punched center of stud and drilled firstly with a 2mm drill bit-nice and slow.

Soaked it with WD40 for an hour ,then applied the extractor 3mm (Full Set Halfords- €6.99).





Forks need a good going over.



Thanks bob for the info . You am the man.

Jonny