very bad fork seals stuck not budging at all

[rampimpin]

man o man i finally.got my bike running good its a 82 gs1100g this bike has been a struggle.since day one. so i thought when i got the bike running decent i was on the home stretch and now.......

ive tried the air pressure method,the sheet metal screw method,heat,a little prying not much tried taking the tune apart no luck.

any suggestions would be great i already have new seals so the olds got to come one way or another help me with my stuck seals im going crazy

[rampimpin]

yea i dont no what the deal is ive never done fork seals so im out of ny wlement here but it doesnt seem hard but no i see why people pay aomone do so it

[hampshirehog]

Take the forks to bits (undo the allen key at the bottom). The seals will pop out easily. Trying to pry them out with the tubes in place stands a strong chance of ending in disaster.

[rampimpin]

i downloaded a manual for my bike, but i cant seem to see how to really take them apart ive watched a ton of youtube videos. i no i have to hold the insides so they will not turn while romving the allen bolt correct? then its a matter if getting the damper out and taking the forks apart. not really sure if thats the correct procedure but thats what ive seen on the videos. any idea how to hold the insides from not turning.

[chuck hahn]

Can we all assume you took out the retainer clip and the washer spacer? Ive never had one that I heated up ever give much resistance at all. They darn near remove themselves after a good heating.


As for that allen in the bottom...again heat to soften the loctite. If you dont have an air driven impact ( or electric one ) use the old fashioned hand held hammer style and SMACK the bolt out..it WILL be tight and give up a good deal of resistance till the loctite is broken up, but it will come out. Leave the fork completely assembled, blow a good deal of heat up into the bolt head with a propane torch, snap that bolt loose. Wrap the fork uppers in a few layers of cloth or put boards on each side of the vice jaws so they can not scar the fork tubes. Clamp it in real tight and get at it.

Once the bolt is out, the two halves will seperate. Remove the retainer clip and heat the top rim of the lowers a bit to soften the seals rubber and they will pry right out. Be carefull to just hook the inner ring of the seal and dont let the pry device scrape the tube wall where the seal sets in. I like the suggestion of useing a big wood dowel to pry the seals out..wood wont marr the seals seating surfaces.

[mike_of_bbg]

For the bigger forks like the 1100 most make a home-made tool with 3/4" (I think) nuts on a threaded rod - just lock two nuts together. In this guide Mr. Matchless did a little welding and made a tool, but you'll get the idea:

http://www.mtsac.edu/~cliff/storage/gs/fork_seal_replacement_by_matchless.pdf

Try a few forum searches this has been discussed several times.

i downloaded a manual for my bike, but i cant seem to see how to really take them apart ive watched a ton of youtube videos. i no i have to hold the insides so they will not turn while romving the allen bolt correct? then its a matter if getting the damper out and taking the forks apart. not really sure if thats the correct procedure but thats what ive seen on the videos. any idea how to hold the insides from not turning.

[chuck hahn]

19 MM and heres mine.....Make the shaft at least 22 inches, weld in the bolt and make a handle. I used simple tubing and welded this up in just a few minutes.

[chuck hahn]

Once it locks into the top of the drive rod, you simply invert it, stand on the handle, and youve now got both hands free to remove that bolt.

[Tom R]

If you've scored the fork tube trying to remove the seals, you may have ruined them. I tried removing seals like that once - it's a bad idea, especially since they're so easy to disassemble with the help of a threaded rod and a few 3/4" bolts. I'm guessing you don't have welding equipment.

[chuck hahn]

Tom..I have seen people use Ultra Black RTV around some pretty bad scars from not knowing HOW to do the job safely and with good results. Granted its a 50/50 proposition..but when all else being already torn up and no pocket cash..youve got very limited choices at that point.

[rampimpin]

i downloaded a manual for my bike, but i cant seem to see how to really take them apart ive watched a ton of youtube videos. i no i have to hold the insides so they will not turn while romving the allen bolt correct? then its a matter if getting the damper out and taking the forks apart. not really sure if thats the correct procedure but thats what ive seen on the videos. any idea how to hold the insides from not turning.

[rampimpin]

alright looks like im headi g to the hardware store to see what i can fab up i appreciate i guys thanks for the help

[mike_of_bbg]

Some spark plug sockets have the right size hex on the drive side. If you have one you can put on an extension backwards and enough extensions to reach you can use that...

[Frank Z.]

Have seen folks use a hardwood broomstick (in lieu of proper tool) to jam the drive rod while removing the allen bolt. Takes another pair of hands tho. Good luck!

[rampimpin]

finally i got them out holy hell that was a pain. now to get my fork oil and im golden thanks to all with suggestions.