Doing the Fork Seals

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1Oldman
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10ldman
PostPosted: Sun Aug 21, 2011 8:15 pm Post subject: Doing the Fork Seals
Well, awhile back I did the fork seals on the salvaged '94 and after looking thru the Maintenance Topics I saw that there wasn't a real good post on doing the fork seals so as I was doing the seals on the '93 I said I'd do a write up on it, so here goes. First of all, I don't want to insult the older hands on the forum as seals are fairly easy to do, but to encourage the newer guys, who might be hesitant, to have at it.

Tools Required;
1/2 inch impact or breaker bar with 3/8th adapter
3/8th ratchet
several 3/8th extensions
3/8th x 19mm socket
14mm socket
12mm socket
8mm Allen wrench
6mm Allen wrench
3/8th torque wrench
1/4 ratchet
1/4 x 5/16in socket
8mm combi wrench
medium stubby flat blade screwdriver
small flat blade screwdriver
seal pick
bent nose pliers
soft mallet

Special Tools Required
Seal Driver, aka 1-1/2in sch40 PVC pipe 15 inches long, $6
Damper Holder, aka 5/8th inch Allthread 20 inches long, 4- 5/8th jam nuts, 20 inches of 5/8th inch
vinyl tubing, $8.
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Fork Spring Compressor, aka 1 inch x 13 inches square perforated tubing with ½ hole in center, $18

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Materials
Fork Seals and Wipers, I chose Pyramid Parts , code 009 and 069 because they come with a tube of Red Rubber Grease, $29.30.

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Fork Seal Snap Rings, All Balls Racing PN 38-3010, $1 ea, Ask for Kevin. They also sell seals and I was trying to get them to include the snap rings with their seal kit but don't know if they have yet, ask about it.
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3/8th inch copper crush washers, 2 rqd, at your local auto parts store.
http://www.google.com/products/catalog? ... CCgQ8wIwAQ
Loctite thread lock, medium, or equivalent.
Fork Oil, SAE 10W, at least 26 fl oz.
Automotive heater hose, ¾ inch, about 4 inches.
Beer, good quality of your choice, to use as bait to get assistance in compressing the fork springs, and to celebrate a job well done.
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The Procedure
(fairing removed)

1)Put the bike up on a rear swing arm stand and lift the front wheel off the ground with a floor jack under the engine. Use a board between the jack and exhaust pipes. For increased stability it would help if you have a set of small jack stands to put under the frame.
2)Remove the front fender, wheel, and brake caliper. Hang the brake caliper from the fairing
stay so that it's out of the way and not on the brake hose. Stick the loose end of the speedo cable
up under the gages.
3)Remove the handlebars from the mounts and lay them forward on the gages.
4)Loosen the fork tube caps, 19mm socket
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5) Remove the lower fork tube pinch bolts and using the medium stubby screwdriver as a wedge tap it into the slot in the lower triple clamp.
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6) Loosen the upper pinch bolt, 6mm Allen wrench. Hold onto the fork tube because it will just drop right out. Do the second tube likewise.
7)Get an oil drain pan, take off the fork tube cap, Be careful because it's under spring pressure and the spacer and washer underneath the cap are going to want to fly away. Once you have the cap off and various parts collected, remove the spring and set it someplace safe to drip, I use the trash can. In a good place that you can prop up the fork tube, turn it over and let the oil drain for a while. Same deal with tube #2.
Cool With the tube relatively free of oil, believe me, they are never completely free, keep plenty of rags handy, insert the damper holder into the damper, turn it upside down and hold the protruding nut in a 23mm box end wrench or large crescent wrench, use your foot. Now, take the 8mm Allen wrench and insert it into the allen bolt in the bottom of the tube. Using the impact wrench remove the bottom Allen bolt. Pick up the fork tube and the damper holder and damper assembly will fall right out. Put the damper in a safe place, I use a large ziplock bag to store all the smaller pieces.
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9) Using a seal pick or small flat blade screwdriver, remove the dust seal.
10) Use the small flat blade screwdriver and bent nose pliers to remove the fork seal snap ring.
11)Now, using the lower fork leg as a slide hammer, knock out the fork seal and upper slider bushing.
12) Thoroughly inspect the upper fork leg for signs of wear and pitting. Inspect the upper and lower slider bushings for signs of wear, The lower bushing should have a good teflon coating on the outside and the upper slider bushing should have a good teflon coating on the inside. Clean everything thoroughly. If your going to paint your fork legs, now is the time to do it.
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Reassembly

13) Inspect the lower fork leg once more to make sure the old copper crush washer has come out of the bottom bottom of the leg.
14)Assemble the components of the damper assembly and slide it into the upper fork tube. Hit it with some lube first. Lube the outside of the upper tube around the lower slider bushing and slide it into the lower fork leg. Put a new copper crush washer on the bottom Allen bolt. Clean the bolt with some parts cleaner and put some Loctite on the threads. Using the damper holder to hold the damper screw the Allen bolt into the damper. Stand the fork tube up, hold the damper holder with your foot again and torque the bottom bolt to 22 foot pounds.
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15)Lube the upper fork tube and slide the upper slider bushing on followed by the flat washer. Take the seal driver and soft mallet and tap the slider bushing into it's seat.
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16)Take one of the new Fork Seals and lube it up with the Red Rubber Grease making sure to get plenty around the inner spring. Slide the new seal onto the fork tube, spring side down. Tap it into place with the seal driver.
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17)Take one of the the new Seal Snap Rings and lube it up thoroughly. 90% of all the snap rings I've pulled out have been corroded to some extent. Slide it onto the fork tube and start it into the fork leg. Tap it with the seal driver and it will snap right into place.
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1Cool Lube up the Dust Seal, slide it onto the fork tube and tap it in. Wipe off all excess grease.

19) Stand the tube up and add 12.8 U.S. oz. Put the fork tube cap on hand tight.
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20) Put the wedge back into the bottom triple clamp if it's been removed. Slide the fork tube up in the triple clamp, align the top of the tube with the top of the top triple clamp and tighten the Allen bolt to 17 ft pounds. Knock out the bottom wedge and install the bottom pinch bolt. Torque it to 28 ft pounds.
21)Remove the top cap, extend the lower fork leg all the way, clean off the fork spring and insert it back into the tube, tight windings up.
22) Break out the beer and call a friend, preferably a large one. Cut the heater hose into two 2 inch pieces. Stuff the heater hose sections up into the top caps snuggly. This will keep the top cap from sliding off the spacer when you're trying to compress the fork spring. Assemble the fork spring compressor assembly putting the perforated tube between two 3/8th inch extensions with the 3/8th ratchet on top and the 19mm socket on bottom.
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23)Loosen the top triple clamp pinch bolt if it has been tightened as it will distort the fork tube and make the top nut hard to get started. Place the top washer on the spring, place the spacer on top of the washer. Insert the top cap into the 19mm socket. Set up the top cap and compressor assembly on top of the spacer. Using one hand, guide the top cap into the tube while your friend compresses the fork spring. With your other hand work the ratchet to start the top cap into the threads of the fork tubes. Be careful, the aluminum threads of the top cap can get cross threaded fairly easily. Once you get the top cap on, torque it down to 17 ft pounds. Drink a beer. Do the other fork tube. Drink more bear. All the hard stuff is done.
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24) Put the handlebars back on.
25) Put the front wheel back on, the brake caliper, the fender. Hook up the speedo cable, reinstall your fairing and your done.
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Better to be over the hill than under it.
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