What's the trick to gettin the forks apart?

[Ken Talbot]

Make sure you bleed of the air pressure before you loosen the drain bolts.

Oh, and BTW, if the oil seems to be coming out too slow, and you grab the front brake to you can push forward and compress the front end to help it along, you'll want to have six or eight feet clear in the direction the drain hole is pointing.

DAMHIKIJD..

[mack]

couple things

Make sure you bleed of the air pressure before you lossen the drain bolts. Crack the allen bolts while the springs are under pressure. It will help holf the rod from spinning. There are three seals in the forks. One small one under the air pressure valve. Annother under the top fork cap and the the one that usually leaks under the lower fork tube dust cap. Look closely at the bushings at the bottom of the upper fork tube and inside the lower fork leg. They're cheep and if you have felt a slide grind/rubbing. This will show signs of wear. Swap them out as well.

[11Rider]

Thanks so much - you guys are the BEST

[fredintoon]

Hi 'Rider,
betcha those forks ain't been apart since new so there's gotta be 30 years-worth of crud inside them. Could be that a complete tear-down and thorough cleaning would remove the nasty noise without needing to "fix" anything. If not, the forks needed to be dismantled anyway, right? And as the tear-down has already given you access, now is the time to replace the fork seals before the old ones leak oil onto the front brakes and to install Progressive fork springs to replace the sagging originals.

[bikerphil]

The fork tubes on the Special forks should come apart without the need to hold the damping rod from spinning, at least every set I've worked on, YMMV.

[tinman905]

My "grind" is when I pump the forks up and down so I'm pretty sure there's something I need to check out in there. As far as removing the bottom bolts, mine came out and went in with no problem at all with the bike on the sidestand.

If you are going to take your forks apart you will need to put your bike on the center stand. Just in case you didn't already know

[tinman905]

With your forks apart you should replace the seals too. Install the seals after you have reassembled the fork tubes, with out the oil and main spring of course. Just use a long pvc pipe to slide over the fork tube to tap the seals in place.
Many people damage their new seals when sliding the forks into the tube with the seal already in place. Putting your seals in the freezer for a while will also make them slide in easier too.

[11Rider]

My "grind" is when I pump the forks up and down so I'm pretty sure there's something I need to check out in there. As far as removing the bottom bolts, mine came out and went in with no problem at all with the bike on the sidestand.

[DGXSER]

Yes, on the special models there a piece to hold still in there, a nut I think. IIRC Biker Phil or Diver Ray, have posted pics of their version of a tool to hold this.

Find member Catatonic Bugs post, he has a link to his personal site that host the manuals on these bikes. The manual does not show the tool described though.

[tinman905]

If you feel a "grind" turning your front forks that would be related to your bearing in the "triple tree" and not to your fork tubes. If your fork seals weren't leaking and you say the fork oil look good just replace your fork oil and leave it at that.
You can take the tubes out without removing the circle clip that is above the fork seal.

[natemoen]

I tried with the spring in and even compressed the fork with a ratchet strap and still could not get the bolt out.

[BigRed]

That's a good tip if your allan bolt is stuck. I was lucky and didn't have that problem. Did you already have the springs out when you were trying to take the allan bolt out? I took the allan bolt out while the springs were still in there, so I guess they applied enough pressure to hold the internals in place.

[11Rider]

I saw that circlip under the dust covers and I was wondering if that would have to come out too. Thanks again!!

[natemoen]

I just pulled my forks apart the other day for the first time and i found that you need to have something to hold the internals of the fork still while you take the allen bolt out. I used 3/4 inch nuts jammed together on a piece of threaded rod. I think someone said specials need something like an 18 or 19mm thought.

So I would say go to a hardware store get a peice of 5/16 threaded rod, 2 5/16 nuts for the threaded rod, and a 17mm 18mm and 19mm nut. Then when you get home figure out which nut you need and then put one of the 5/16 nuts on the threaded rod then put the metric nut needed on the rod and then put the other 5/16 nut on and tighten the two 5/16 nuts together to hold the metric one and just hold it with a pliers as you turn out the allen bolt on the bottom.

[BigRed]

Nope; the drain bolt (if you've got one) is on the side of the fork (in line with the axle). The allan bolt that's in line with the fork tubes holds the innards in. You'll also find a circlip under the dust covers that holds the oil seal down. I'm pretty sure you'll need to get that out as well before you can separate the tubes.

Good luck!