Ugly Forks

[fredintoon]

- - - The fight I'm having with my alter ego is: do I go deeper and check out the steering bearing? - - -

Hi Rick,
of course you do. ~80% of the necessary teardown is already done. NOW is the time to dismantle, inspect, replace the headraces if needful and repack them for sure.

[vileneeds]

Chrome on the forks.

IS it pitted with rust at all? Mine look the same as yours and I am cleaning them up like you did but my uppers have a small amount of pitting. Any ideas on what to do with that?

[crazy steve]

IS it pitted with rust at all? Mine look the same as yours and I am cleaning them up like you did but my uppers have a small amount of pitting. Any ideas on what to do with that?

Not a whole lot you can do with rusty fork tubes. Clean them as best you can with chrome polish, maybe using a fine scotchbrite pad or some 0000 steel wool to apply. If the pits are down where the fork seal will go over them, watch for leaks. New seals can help, but if you still have leaks with them, there's seal brands (Leak Proof is one that some listers have used with success) that are designed to work with less-than-perfect tubes. Still leak? You need better used or new tubes.

And before you ask, no, you can't mix fork parts between standards and specials...

'78E original owner