changing fork seals (again?)

[Clifford]

Hi all,

I sent a message out regarding changing fork seals but I don't see it on the forum, so here it goes again.

Does anyone know how to change fork seals for a 1983 GS1100ES?
I have the forks drained, preload, spacer and springs out. I know there is an allen bolt at the bottom of the fork legs (outside), but is there something inside that will allow me to separate the tubes from each other so that I can change the seals? Your help is greatly appreciated!!

[Billy Ricks]

The allen bolt has to come out. You are supposed to hold the damper assembly inside with a tool to loosen the bolt, but I got mine out without holding the damper. Simply loosened the allen bolt and kept outward pressure on the bolt as I unscrewed it. Once the bolt is out and the circlip above the seal is removed the tubes will come apart.

[qslim]

I just went through all this not two hours ago myself (just got back from a test run, and it's good to go).

According to my manual ('81 850G) there is a special factory tool needed to do this. In absence of this tool, it says you can fashion a tool by welding a 19mm hex bolt head to the end of a rod, inserting it down the top of the inner tube to lock into a recess and prevent the bottom of it from spinning.

My solution (after lots of bad words) was to wrap a load of electrical tape around a 12mm hex head socket. I put it on a four foot locking extension and tapped it gently into the bottom of the tube with a plastic hammer until I had enough interference to hold the damn thing still while I got the hex head out of the bottom of the outer fork tube.

Using an impact wrench helps greatly, too. I used a universal chuck 12v Makita cordless impact wrench from Home Cheapo, and I will never part with it.

Hope that helps.

[mark]

I bought the right sized bolt along with two of the same sized nuts and a couple of lockwashers and torqued it all together good. Then my long extention could fit on one end while I took out the hex bolt. Worked great.

[Clifford]

Thanks!

Thanks guys for the info. I can now tackle the tubes on Sunday.
Thanks again!!!

[Sandy]

What works good for this is to get a 24 inch piece of 1/2" threaded ready rod from your local building supply center and double nut each end of it. The nuts will be 3/4" outside measurement (same as 19mm) and will fit the top of the damper rods allowing for easy removal of the lower allen bolts.

[Clifford]

19mm bolt head into the tube

In order to insert the 19mm bolt head into the fork tube, do I need to remove more than just the top spring? it seems there is more "stuff" down there to come out(?!?!?)

[Billy Ricks]

Have you tried unscrewing the allen bolt without holding the damper? Everyone and all the literature says you have to hold the damper but I got by without using anything.

[mcconnell]

If things get too bad trying to get the allen bolt out, it is possible to change the seals without taking the forks apart. In a nutshell, remove the circlip/wire keeper, drill/punch a hole in the seal, pry it out with a narrow blade screw driver. Clean and lube the fork tube and seal (inside and out), slide the seal into position, hammer into place with the correct sized pipe, reinstall the circlip/wire retainer.

I successfully did it to one fork leg 20 years ago, then to both forks 1 year ago. It was a lot harder to get the seals out last year.

Good luck.

[spchips]

i like the "quick replace, no disassemble johnny-5" idea. however, it's a good time to clean all the crap out of there so i say take it apart. i think the problem being referred to is how to seperate the two tubes once the bolt is out. what is supposed to be easy with a few quick, hard pulls became a nightmare for me. one came out fine. the other... 2 HOURS LATER I was sweating, screaming, standing on top of the workbench pulling with all my might. i went to my local bike problems savior and he did the same thing, but he got it. one thing he did different was once it started a little, he worked it in circles (this seemed to help). anyway, he said sometimes they can be like that, but that was the worst he'd seen.

[Tv]

Hey I can feel your pain from here! I can't even unscrew the caps from the top of the fork tubes and now I got the hex things to look forward to. Tomorrow I'm getting a rattle gun system to make things easier (I hope)

Good Luck with your project
REgards
Tv

[Tv]

Here is a pic of the end of the Damper Rod where the special tool is inserted.

http://www.icover.com.au/temp.htm

Hope this helps

[Clifford]

TV pic

Tv,

Thanks for the pic, nice and clear. My model must be different or it's me. I went and bought a compressor and impact wrench(!!!) I was able to remove the allen bolt from the bottom of the fork legs (outside) and was also able to get the Suzuki service manual for all GS1100 models. For 83' it mentions a special tool, it looks like a T handle wrench with a 8X10mm hex allen head. I bought a slim 10mm allen head socket with the hex head part about 6" long (automotive part) and it still doesn't go past the top of the damper rod. I just don't get it. I can see what looks like a allen head socket at the bottom of the leg, but damned if I can get anything down there to reach it, it's so tight! Any thoughts?

Clifford

[Tv]

The special tool is supposed to fit into the top of the damper rod (as pictured) to hold the damper rod in place while you unscrew the hex bolt at the bottom of the outer tube.

If you have removed the hex bolt (holding the Damper Rod in place) from the bottom of the outer tube and its come out OK you should be able to remove the inner tube from the outer tube. First remove the circlip and washer holding the oil seal in place then give a cuppla good tugs and inner tube should come out with oil seal and all. That's what I did.

Good Luck and happy swearing [grin]

[Anonymous]

I used the right sized spark plug socket, the kind that have the hex end to allow turning with an open end wrench. By 'Right size' I mean the external hex end.

I put the socket BACKWARDS on a series of ratchet wrench extentions so that the hex end goes in first down into the fork. Keep adding extentions until they entire assembly is long enough to stick out the top of the fork tube.

The hex end fits the damper end in the lower fork leg (if its the right size), which sort of looks like a giant modified Torx bolt. You can see it if you shine a flashlight down in there, providing the fork oil has been drained.

Then you can put a ratchet handle on end of the last extention and you have something to pull against when you use the allen wrench at the bottom of the fork leg. It worked for me and didn't need to buy any special tools or other hardware.

One other note, if you are constantly replacing fork seals, you may have some nicks in the upper fork tube(s) that are prematurely wearing out your seal edges. These can be caused by small stones, or even caked on bugs. I used a neoprene fork protector kit to protect the new (to me) tube I bought from a GS Resources member to replace my nicked one.