| Author | Message | ||
     Dr_greg |
I promised someone pictures of my homemade fork tools; well, here they are. 1. Spring Compressor. This is just a piece of 1/2-inch plywood cut as shown, with two 1/4-inch bolts with heads cut off then slotted. Screw the bolts into the two holes in the fork "collar" (FSM Figure 2-72) and you can compress the spring by grabbing onto both sides of this thing and using your weight.  2. Locking Device. This is just a piece of 1/8-inch aluminum plate cut as shown (ignore the small holes). When "person 1" (with my tools this is a two-person job) has the spring sufficiently compressed (my part), "person 2" slips the "locking device" around the "damper rod assembly" just above the "preload washer" (FSM Figure 2-71). This is "Mrs. Greg's" part. Then one can release the spring tension, unscrew the fork cap assembly, recompress the spring, remove the locking device, and get on with it.  3. Weighted String Then you dump out the fork oil into a pan, and watch the spring come zinging out (catch it!) Work the damper rod in/out to pump the oil out. At this point I grab hold of the damper rod, orient the fork vertically again, and attach a string to the damper rod with a slip knot just below the damper locknut. Then when I reinsert the spring (and add 9 oz of oil), I can pull the damper rod up and down to circulate the oil. Without the string attached it's hard to grab the damper rod from its fully bottomed position with the spring in place. The nut tied onto the string makes it easier to thread down through the spring.  4. Fork Oil Level. I use a high-tech measuring device, shown below. I line up the left-hand mark with the top of the outer tube; when oil level is correct the level is right at the right-hand mark. Keep adding oil till it's correct. Once I had to suck some back out (yuck!)  Then you gotta recompress the spring to get stuff back together; basically the reverse of taking it apart. I think there are other much more thorough accounts of the process; with better tools, too! But mine work. Changing fork seals and bushings isn't much harder than the above; XBimmer taught me how to do that... --Doc | ||
| Strmvt |
Nice Doc what is the length btwn the two marks on the stick to measure the oil level? I got the materials to make the tools as I have 15.7k on the original fork oil she is way over due for a change. Another question would the oil level be the same for my 12r as your x? | ||
| Brucen |
Here is my homemade oil level gauge. I use a mityvac, but any suction device should work. I just fill the fork with more than enough oil, stick the end of the tube in until the ruler shows the right level, and pump until the oil stops coming out.   | ||
| Dr_greg |
Oh heck, you would ask...  The distance is 4.45 inches (113 mm). Don't get too carried away with hundredths of an inch here... just get fairly close. Re the other question: dunno about the 12R vs the 12X...anyone else? I would think the 12X would have longer-travel forks, and hence perhaps different fork oil level requirements. But...? --Doc | ||
| Bosh |
Lol... Heres my high tech solution to adjusting fork oil level:  |
