Forking by Jack. Warning, Could Be Boring

[jacksf]

Whether you want it or not, you WILL be getting a blow by blow of my
very first fork swap. The main reason being if I start screwing
something up you good people can put me on the right track.

Now I do have to first admit something. This is the first fork
service ever on the bike. I should be ashamed of myself for never
thinking about it. Engine oil and filter was always changed every 3k
but the forks just never came up on my screen.

So, 1 fork off the bike, dust cap removed. Went to pull the circlip
and realized that my dinkly little circlip pliers won't pull that big
sucker together. Have to see if a neighbor has a set of heavy duty
ones. When I drained the oil there was about 3 - 4 oz in the forks.
No cap on the springs and oil was a dark brown. I promise it will
never happen again .

So, thats it for now. Have to wait til tomorrow for the pliers or go
to Sears if absolutely necessary. Don't want to ruin them.

Jack

[Ken Talbot]

If you want to go cheap, just grind down the points of a low-budget set of needle-nose pliers to make your own circlip plier.

[jacksf]

Ken, you're fantastic. This is just the reason I was posting as I did. My thought processes don't see these ways of doing things. I have 1/2 dozen of old needlenose that could be used. I owe you a 12pk of your choice.

Jack

[Ken Talbot]

Might have to take you up on that, Jack! SWMBO and I are heading down your way in July, tentatively planning on spending a couple of days in San Francisco as the south end of our trip.

[jacksf]

So, found out one thing today as I was dismantling the fork. I don't have that 19mm nut inside the fork. Just break the allen head in the end loose, thats it. No special tools needed. One less thing I have to worry about.

That internal nut must be unique to the XS's?