| Author | Message | ||
     S1w222 |
I brought a fork seal kit online, consisted of 2 x fork seals, 2 x dust seals and the fork oil, i'm hearing from a coupe of sources that theres a washer or sirclip that I need for the job also but I cant find anything online about this, I'm offshore right now and would like to order everything I need to get the job done asap once back on land, anyone know anything about this? Thanks | ||
| Brother_in_buells |
Isn't that the circlip and washer that's behind and front of the seal!? Those are normally reusable. | ||
| 651lance |
There is a retaining ring and a washer. The washer is thick and doesn't need to be replaced and the you can reuse if you don't bend it taking it out. The clip is no longer available from HD or Vintage.  | ||
| S1w222 |
Can anyone recommend anyone in Florida that could rebuild my forks correctly and quickly? I'm only back on land for a couple weeks and i'd rather be riding than fixing | ||
| Upthemaiden |
When I rebuilt my 97 S1 forks I didn't have to replace any clips. The manual did state that you should replace the thrush(I think) spacer, which I believe is number 2 in the picture. It's the big thick one. Mine looked ok, and even though I'm sure I could find one somewhere, I'm sure it would've cost way more than I wanted to spend, so I left it, and everything has been fine. That being said, I thought I had always heard on here that the 98 forks were slightly different from the 96-97 forks, so I can't be 100% sure mine were exactly the same as yours, but when I mentioned that on here at some point after I rebuilt them a few people jumped on me and swore they were all the same, so who knows. (Even though mine only had the fork seals and did not have dust seals) | ||
| Brother_in_buells |
I say it's best to do them yourself! It's easier than it looks ,take your time and pus some tape or a plastic bag around the sharp edges of the legs when putting the seals on. The first one takes the longest time! Also check twice before putting things back together! It saves you money when doing it yourself ,and there is more enjoyment afterwards. | ||
| Upthemaiden |
If you have the freedom to sacrifice a Saturday afternoon, it's definitely a 1 day job as long as you study the manual and watch a couple youtube videos in advance. If you have kids and that time is at a premium, any shop should be able to rebuild them for you, one that works on KTMs might be the most familiar with them though. I think I usually see people on here saying they paid about $300-400 to have theirs rebuilt. | ||
| Andy350 |
Working on mine right now!   | ||
| Gmaple |
If u rebuild your forks yourself you the cost is about $60 for seals and fork oil. You can inspect your bushings etc for wear but probably are ok. The image above is the way to do nice clean work area and organized rebuild. | ||
| Andy350 |
Thanks for the compliment Gmaple. FWIW I inspected the upper and lower bushings on each fork and they are all acceptable to reuse. This is good news because the lower bushing is very expensive and the upper is discontinued! The KTM number for the wp fork seals is 40541034, they are also known as 40 x 50 x 7/10 (40mm id, 50mm od and the stepped height is 7mm tall lip and 10mm overall height). If you look around you can find them for much cheaper than oem buell parts. | ||
| S1w222 |
Thanks for all the info guys, genuinely appreciated. I picked up a manual of Fleabay and am gonna have a go at it myself in the next day or so, ripping her around today first but going easy on front brake lol. Got the deals and oil of eBay for 30 bux, hope everything fits | ||
| Upthemaiden |
The only other thing I did, which I took pictures of but don't have on this computer, was to make a tool to compress the spring to get the retainer washers on(not numbered in the picture above, but it's the 4th part down on the fork with #1 and #9. I took some steel angle, about a foot long, cut a notch just big enough to fit around the fork internals, drilled a hole in each end. Then I used a ratchet strap on each side, to a metal rod through the axle hole, and then just ratcheted it down enough to be able to remove and install the split washers. If that isn't coming across clear, I'll find the pictures of it so you can see what I meant. | ||
| Oopezoo |
Did any of you guys respring them while you were rebuilding? If so, is there anything else to worry about besides swapping in the new springs? I thought I had read somewhere about cutting down the spacers? I'm about 240lbs and have a ton of nose dive on my S1. I know a rebuild will help, but I'm curious if its worth the extra cost for the stiffer springs? I keep eyeballing a heavier set of racetech springs on Ebay. Currently, the seals are weeping, and I'm sure they have never been touched. I was thinking about knocking it all out at once. | ||
| Gmaple |
Cutting down spacers wont stiffen spring rate. Race tech will sell you the correct spring rate that will help the fork dive problem. Racetech also has the correct fork seals for all Buells so u dont have to go the KTM route. | ||
| S1owner |
The rebuild should solve it once you set your forks up I am your size. | ||
| Oopezoo |
I understand simply cutting the spacers doesn't help anything. I just thought I had read somewhere that you needed to cut the stock spacers down if you installed the racetech springs. I don't remember where. Thanks Ken....I figured the difference after a simple rebuild would be dramatic, as they are like pogo sticks currently. Just wanted some confirmation. Not like I'll be flogging it around a track anytime soon. Its never going to be more than a weekend play toy. I was just nervous about rebuilding them and then wishing I had done the springs after the fact. | ||
| Upthemaiden |
Maybe try a different weight fork oil while you're changing it, before you dump the money on springs. Swapping the springs at a later date if you still wanted would be a pretty simple process once you've been in there once and are familiar with them. | ||
| Buellbum |
what he said.... |
