| Author | Message | ||
     Thefleshrocket |
My right fork seal is leaking. (I've read that fork seals are covered under warranty, but I'm going to do it myself because it's not worth 4+ hours of drive time to drop the bike off at the dealer, pick it back up, or wait for them to fix it.) I've worked on quite a few non-inverted forks with no problems but have never done an inverted fork. Is there anything out of the ordinary that I might need for working on an inverted fork? | ||
| Stirz007 |
Seal driver - 41 mm. Spring compressor. That should cover the disassembly/reassembly. Other nice item would be fork oil level gizmo of some kind or other so you get the levels right. Service manual will walk you through the process pretty well. Takes maybe an hour after you get forks off bike, if you have all the stuff you need. Did I miss anything? Oh yeah, might as well do both while you're at it - the second one always goes faster than the first. (Message edited by Stirz007 on June 30, 2011) | ||
| Dcmortalcoil |
47mm driver. Replace both dust and oil seals. just changed mine with the ebr cartridge. Dust and oil seals are pita to remove. Don't use screwdriver to pry the seals. Use a metal scraper or thin sharp chisel to pry the dust seal. I used a motorcycle tire lever to pop out the oil seal. The manual has wrong info on the oil seal. The metal wire spring side should be facing the metal shim and not the dust seal. Just look how the original oil seal is placed. | ||
| Stirz007 |
47 is correct - must have fat-fingered my earlier post. | ||
| Thefleshrocket |
Thanks, guys. What would I need the spring compressor for? Every time I've disassembled a regular fork, the spring is only under a tiny bit of load when I unscrew the fork cap. Also, what's the recommended oil level? I do have a fluid level tool and it is very handy. | ||
| Thefleshrocket |
Also, I did order seals and dust covers for both tubes. Thanks, AS B! | ||
| Two_seasons |
These springs have more preload. Talk to AmericanSportBike for help. | ||
| Duphuckincati |
Any competent local Japanese line shop or suspension set-up shop should be able to do the job if you don't want to bother. Showa forks are used on lots of bikes. | ||
| Rodrob |
FYI - A 1 1/4 inch PVC slip coupling works perfectly as a fork seal driver. | ||
| Zane_t |
Quote: The manual has wrong info on the oil seal. Leave it to my local HD dealer service department to do everything correctly "by the book". Early last Spring, I gave them my left fork leg to have a new seal put in because I figured it wasn't worth my while to purchase a fork spring compressor. I reinstalled the fork leg and sure enough, it leaked like a sieve. Just recently I purchased a cheapy fork spring compressor and disassembled the leaky fork leg, to find out the HD service technician did the job correctly "by the book" and installed the fork seal backwards. | ||
| Thefleshrocket |
Rodrob, thanks for the idea for the fork seal driver. I'll definitely pick up a PVC connector. Twoseasons, how much preload could they really have? More than can be compressed by hand? Regarding the fork oil level, I've always measured it with the fork intervals installed but the spring not in. Then after setting the level, I add the spring and spacer. Is it different for the 1125? Thanks! | ||
| Daggar |
You'll need a spring compressor. I got an inexpensive one from Traxxion. Works great. http://www.traxxion.com/ForkSpringCompressorKit.as px | ||
| Two_seasons |
I was doing fork seals back in the '70s. You don't want to do this job without the spring compressor. Talk with Al or Joanne at American Sport Bike. They have everything you need. (Message edited by two_seasons on July 02, 2011) | ||
| Thefleshrocket |
I removed the leaky fork tube and unscrewed the cap. I now see why the spring compressor is required--the spring preload spacer actually covers the nut that holds the fork cap onto the internals. The preload spacer will need to be lowered at least an inch in order to loosen the fork cap nut. I could maybe rig something up, but buying a spring compressor tool seems like the way to go. | ||
| Dcmortalcoil |
The spring compressing is not bad for 1125 fork. You can use $37 tool that has two opposing spindle that you screw onto the spacer tube that has two holes. See the pictures at http://www.traxxion.com/ForkSpringCompressorKit.as px The only drawback is you need another person. One person to compress, another person to pull up the cap and insert the third hand tool. You can also jury rig with a strap with a ratchet to compress. That leaves you with free hands. | ||
| Zac4mac |
If you cut an inch or so off the hooks on a ratchet strap it makes a good, free compressor that's easy to hook-up. I also added a piece of inner-tube from a 10-speed for the axle hole, so it doesn't chew up the strap. one hook in a top-hole, hang the ratchet on the other side. Pass the strap thru the axle hole and inner-tube and connect to the ratchet. I'll get some pix of the kit I made, all easy and cheap/free. Zack | ||
| Rodrob |
Here is how I did mine. http://badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/290431/ 559809.html?1272601481 Since then I got the fork spring compressor from Traxxion Dynamics and use that instead of the little hooks. Much better. | ||
| Daggar |
I was able to use the Traxxion Dynamics tool, one handed, and slip the other tool in with no problems. | ||
| Thefleshrocket |
Daggar, what's the "other tool" you mention? I ordered the Traxxion fork spring compressor tool yesterday. | ||
| Zac4mac |
Here's the kit I put together, still need to make the seal tool. The kit -   This one is for fishing the damper rod out. It's a brass tube soldered to a basketball filling tip, so it "breathes" when you pull the rod up.  This is the fork tube clamp. I put rubber in it so I don't mar the tube.  Two different size tubes for the fluid height gauge.  And finally, the modified ratchet-strap  Zack | ||
| Daggar |
Flesh - Sorry, I didn't communicate that well. The other tool comes with the compressor. The spring hold-down tool. Sorry for the confusion. | ||
| Thefleshrocket |
Well, the fork spring compressor tool is DEFINITELY a necessity. It took a fair bit of pressure from me, with both hands, to compress the spring low enough to insert the spring hold down tool. (Which, like the instructions said, had to be done by a "third hand".) I forgot the "don't use a screwdriver to pry the dust seal loose" advice, and guess what I did on the first fork tube. Yeah. I put a bunch of tiny little nicks around the lip of the tube. They wouldn't have affected the functionality of the fork seal, but I sanded them down anyway. It didn't take much effort--that aluminum has the consistency of butter! On the second fork tube, I used a putty knife and that got the seal removed without scratching the tube. I bought the recommended PVC pipe piece but then left it at my office. When installing the new fork seal, I used the old fork seal to tap it into place. It worked nicely, with no damage to the new seal. (The old seal was pretty beat up from removal--I used a big flat head screw driver to pry it out.) |
