Fork Disassembly Problems

[Surly]

I hoped to change my fork seals last night but can't get the guts out of the forks on my 78 GS1000E. Apparently age and lock-tite have taken their toll and firmly secured the bolts in the bottoms of the legs to the damper rods. I used my impact wrench to try and break them loose to no avail.

My Clymer manual says I can have a tool made by welding a 19mm bolt to a long t-handle. The tool apparently then locks into the damper rod somewhere inside the fork. I have no welder or ability, so I was thinking I could use threaded rod and jam two nuts together on each end. Trouble is, when I look inside the fork, I can't see where the 19mm head would go. So before I start spending time to fab a tool, I need to make sure this will work.

How are you enterprising folks taking your forks apart? Are you using said tool? Maybe I'll need to just have the dealer change these.

[first timer]

put your springs back in and screw the caps back on, the presure should be enough to hold the dampener rod well enough for a impact gun to spin the bold loose. if not you idea with the threaded rod and 2 bolts should work as well to hold the dampener rod to use a impact gun, also find a friend, 2 people make the job easier too. Then make sure to remove the rod and the rebound spring (they just slide out) so you can clean everything well.

back to your question, the dampener rod top has a star like pattern that the nut would lock into to keep it from spining.

-ryan

[rustybronco]

take a 19mm "head" should be a 12mm thread bolt, double jam nut it at the other end away from the bolt head(crank them together real hard) put new TOOL into a 19mm socket on an long extention with a rachet attached, insert into tube... ,got mine loose that way!

[Surly]

How long of a bolt?

take a 19mm bolt double jam nut it at the other end away from the bolt head(crank them together real hard) put new TOOL into a 19mm socket on an long extention with a rachet attached, insert into tube... ,got mine loose that way!

Thanks RB. How long of a bolt do you need? I was thinking threaded rod just because it is easier to find, but if the 19mm bolt isn't too hard to come by I'll do that.

[rustybronco]

see that i edited my post...
a 40-50mm is about the right lenght to use, 19mm is the "head" size to go into the dampener tube double nut it with two 12mm (19mm outside) nuts.
to get a strong enough threaded rod it would have to be a large diameter, a 3/8' extension with a 19mm socket would serve the same purpose.

[Surly]

Thanks for the tip!

I'll give this a whirl tonight. If I put every extension I have together I might just have enough to get into that fork tube.

Many thanks.

[rustybronco]

remember TIGHTEN those jam nuts.

[ruddy]

A cheap trick

Take a 5/8" spark plug socket and turn it upside down when you put it on a rachet extension. The hex top end should be 19 MM (which is 3/4") and will fit into the damper rod. Not all plug sockets will allow this, but if yours does, you're home free. :-D

I learn this trick on this site a couple of years ago AFTER I had gone to the trouble to fabricate a tool by welding a nut to the end of a steel rod. My tool worked, but I could have saved myself the extra work. :roll:

[rustybronco]

and i thought mine was cheep...great idea

[Surly]

Sah-weeet

Fantastic idea. This just keeps getting easier.

[8trackmind]

Take a 5/8" spark plug socket and turn it upside down when you put it on a rachet extension.

Sweet! I'm doing my 78 1000 forks this week. Great tip! :-D

[Sandy]

Use a piece of 1/2" threaded ready rod with 3/4" (across the flats) nuts on each end, also cheap and works great. If it's long enough you can even put the tool in a vise so you don't need three hands if you've already removed the fork assembly from the bike.

[Steve]

I just made a tool to work on my son's Yamaha Venture Royale forks. They also need the 19mm wrench.

I searched through the hardware section at Lowe's to find a size that would work, it happened to be a 5/8" American thread, which is easier to come by than large metric stuff around here. Got an 18" length of all-thread and 4 nuts, so I could jam 2 on each end. Works beautifully! I think the total cost was about $6.


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