| Author | Message | ||
     Court |
I put plates on a heavy beam in the basement and use ties downs to suspend the entire bike.  | ||
| Court |
NOTE: Move riding jackets first! | ||
| Road_thing |
Court: What is this thing you call "basement?" r-t | ||
| Bomber |
that's no basement, that's the stockroom of a clothing outlet! I'll show you a basement, by golly, and it don't look like THAT! sheeeesh | ||
| Seeeu911 |
With 25k miles and 2 oil changes its time to rebuild my front forks. In the manual it seems fairly straight forward. The dealer wants 3hours @ $75.00 plus seals and oil. $350. is the estimate. What are the pitfalls for doing this myself ? | ||
| Blake |
Donn, Pitfalls? You will need to thoroughly document and report here on the entire ordeal. ![: ]](http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/clipart/proud.gif) | ||
| Bomber |
See -- I've done my M2 (and a buncha other scoots with "rightside up forks"  , and 4 or 5 upside down forks, like yours (although, I'll admit, none of your specific model) . . .. no real pitfalls for even a beginning wrench (which you are clearly not) . . . . my only suggestion is to make a set of wooden vise faces to grip the forks (each face with 2 45 degree cuts, so there's a nice place to grip the fork tube) . . . .be careful to grip the forks tight enough to undo the fasteners (some are reallllly tight), but not so tight that you run the risk of collapsing the tube (I've got a pretty darned strong vise! remind me to tell you sometime) . . .. other than that, follow the manual carefully, do the work in a fairly clean environment, and go slow . . . .. really not a whole lot to it . . .you and replicate many of the factory tools (seal installers, for instance) by making something out of appropriately sized PVC pipe slit up the side (ping me if I've ceased making sense) . . . . . . . . | ||
| Bluzm2 |
Donn, Regarding the seal installers. If you use a slit PVC pipe, be sure to chamfer the inside edge enough to clear the inside seal lip. Next time I have to do seals, I'm going to turn the correct tool out of a hunk of nylon. I've dinged to many seals with makeshift installers. YMMV...... Brad | ||
| Seeeu911 |
Ok, Blake..I take the hint no long winded article this time  John, thanks for the vote of confidence and directions. The internals of forks just seems so intimadting, but with the experience of you guys to call on I'm going for it. Brad your suggestions are right in line with the info I got from Al Lighton via email..posted below Thanks Al ! "1) the forks are easy to work on. You'll need only two semi-special tools: a long socket allen wrench that you can fit into an impact driver (for the bottom bolt accessible thru the bottom of the fork), and a piece of PVC pipe about 8"long. I can't remember the exact diameter, but it's about 1.5inches or so ID. It'll be obvious when you go to home depot. 2) Disassembly is a piece of cake with that long allen wrench and an impact driver or air wrench for that bottom bolt. Without an impact driver, the internals will want to spin and you'll fight it. But with an impact wrench, it'll spin right loose. 3) Fork install is also a piece of cake. You split the PVC pipe lengthwise, CLEAN AND DEBURR IT THOROUGHLY, and put it on the slider tube, hold it very tight so that it doesn't move relative to the slider, and use the lower fork leg as an impact driver. If confused, we'll talk on the phone. 4) Buy new copper washers for the bottom fork screw prior to starting the job." I'll post a pic of the adventure. | ||
| Renter |
Just for general price reference: I just had my WP USD forks rebuild by WP over here in Holland Costs: 155 Euro overhaul incl. seals and oil etc.. Guide bushes are approx. 45 Euro per 4 pieces (was not required for me) Additional job, black anodising of forks and axle holders. Costs: approx. 200 Euro (because it was combined with overhaul they took 65 Euro off because forks were allready dismantled for overhaul, real price if no overhaul involved 265 Euro. Regards, Renter | ||
| Bluzm2 |
Donn, Renter had a very good point regarding the internal fork bushings. Last time I did my M2, I replaced both bushings. They were cheap, around 5 bucks each. Cheap insurance in my book, besides, you already have the bugger apart. From now on, the bushings get replaced along with new seals. Brad | ||
| Firemanjim |
Seeu911,I just had the forks on my KTM done by Aftershocks here in Ca.After getting price from dealer of 69.00 per side for seal kit and not finding after market ones I called them.200.00 to revalve with new seals and oil.I had them do my S-2 several years back(don't remember the cost) and they did an excellent job. | ||
| Renter |
Received my overhauled forks today, turned out very nice.  Rgds, renter | ||
| Homemade |
I am trying to get a Buell S1 rear rim to fit into a FXR swingarm. As you know...the Buell has about a 1 inch axle, the FXR a 3/4 inch axle. There is no way to modify the FXR Swingarm to accept the larger sized axle and axle adjusters. My only other option would be to reduce the axle size of the Buell. Has anyone got an idea of what is necessary or has actually gone to a different swingarm? | ||
| Seeeu911 |
Brad, thanks makes great sens to just not do a service but full overhaul revalve/bushings springs sized for me etc. Looks great Renter. I'm torn between powder coating or anodizing. FiremanJim, I called and spoke to the Aftershocks folks great info and excellent prices. Thanks for the link. Homemade is there a good machine shop close to you that you get some consultation from ? | ||
| Blake |
Homemade, This is a Buell forum. Try a Harley Cruiser oriented forum for a better chance of getting a meaningful answer. | ||
| 1320 |
I've adapted the XB rear wheel to the tube frame Buell and the XB has a HUGE axle...I just had some aluminum combination spacers/sleeves made that gave me the proper centering space for the wheel and were sleeved down to fit inside the the XB bearing with the ID hole the same as the tube frame axle..should work for your FXR also...I'll try to get a pic... | ||
| 1320 |
Homemade..Here is a pic of what they look like.  | ||
| Vr1203 |
Whats the diff besides the length of the spring? What can I expect? Different ride or height?  | ||
| Vr1203 |
The upper (original)shock was removed from my 1996 S1. I want to use the one below it. | ||
| Henrik |
From the picture it looks like they are different lengths, with the one in the front being longer. Longer shock would lower the ride height in the rear. If it's a WP shock, be ware of shaft breakage. That's why that shock was recalled. According to Max at Traxxion the beginning crack in the shaft may make the shock seal start to sweat a bit before the shock snaps. Not much of a warning - be careful. Henrik | ||
| Phat_j |
hey homemade.... real easy fix for your fxr... and yes this is a buell forum, but i like harley's too... all you gotta do is get diff bearings.... real easy fix... just make sure to use proper spacing, ie custom spacers to align your brake disk | ||
| 1320 |
Hey Phat_j, did you get that box of parts? | ||
| Vr1203 |
The shock on the bottom of the picture was off a S2? It is 3/32" longer than my old one. | ||
| Rippin |
1320, Any pics of the wheel combo? I've been wanting a set since day one! for my M2 Ryan | ||
| 1320 |
Rippin, it will be a couple of weeks for the pics as the frame is at the powdercoaters right now...but to give you an idea...try visualizing this bike with XB Front end and wheels..  | ||
| Henrik |
Jim; depending on which bike that shock was made for, damping or lack thereof could make a big difference in how your bike handles - for better or worse. My original S2 WP shock is buried somewhere, so I can't easily go take a look, but from memory, it looks similar. Don't remember it having a progressively wound spring though?? Henrik | ||
| Court |
If it helps, this is what the ORIGINAL 1995 S-2 Shock looked like...I happen to have one parked next to the desk.  | ||
| Vr1203 |
The original (the one above)S1 shock's spring has "90-185" printed on it, The other one ,the progressive wound spring, has "30-150-215". Are these spring rates? | ||
| Renter |
The short one is the original S1 shock that is completely different from the S2 shock due to single passenger seating/riding intention on the S1. It is a completely different shock with single rate spring instead of dual rate spring and different damping characteristics as compared to on S2. Same counts for the front forks, different internals on S1 than for the S2. This was purely done to optimize the bike's suspension for the intended purpose. S1, mostly 1 person ride. S2 full blown touring bike capable of passenger ride. Regards, Renter |
