A Forking mess. springs won't come out

[Guest]

So I started working on the forks today..
Fist the left leg won't come out of the damn trees..
I had to knock em out of the upper tree with a rubber mallet. After they were clear of the upper tree the came out easy.. No rust.. I'm thinking either the trees or the stanchions are bent..

Moving on.. I pulled the fork drain screw.. water comes out! gahh.. Pop the cap off.. the springs won't come out (rust?)..
I tried to buzz the damper screws out with the impact gun.. no dice..

I quit for the night..

Anyone ever had the springs not come out of the stanchions?

Also all the other forks I've pulled came out of the trees easy when the bolts were loose.. these things ya gota beat on em..

[Don-lo]

Water in the forks?? Springs rusted in place?? I've not seen that before. Sounds bad.

To see if the forks are bent, run each leg up through the lower triple, almost touching the top, and spin it: if it moves around, it's bent. To see if the Triples are bent (which they probably are), you need a straight fork leg .

I have a complete front end for your bike. where are you located?

[sschering]

I'm in Washington.. PM me with what you want for them..
A guy near me in Oregon might have some GS1000G straight leg forks I'm checking into but it never hurts to have options.

I'll take another swing at disassembling the forks tonight and inspect how the top of the stanchion fits in the tree... Good idea..

If I can get the forks apart I should be able to check the tree using the hopefully straight bottom end of the stanchion.

It was only a teaspoon or two of water but it was still in there.. My guess is someone trying to pump up the air forks with a wet air line..
There was very little oil left in the fork. maybe a tablespoon or two tops.

When I looked at the forks this morning I noticed on the left leg there is a groove that runs about 1/3 the way around. It's where the bottom edge of the lower tree would ride..

[bonanzadave]

Theres a follower on top of the springs with an oring on it. It must be corroded in. Ask me how I know . Start spraying all things WD, PB blast, Kroil, and Marvel at them. A couple days soaking. Make sure the bike is braced up with the front wheel off the ground. If not, when it does break loose it will shoot out like an arrow.

edit: Ok, I see the forks are off the bike.

[tkent02]

My guess is someone trying to pump up the air forks with a wet air line..
There was very little oil left in the fork. maybe a tablespoon or two tops.

The forks can pick up a little bit of water from riding in rain. On every bump, the stanchions slide into the seals wet, a tiny bit of water gets wiped off on the way back out. Not much on each stroke, but it adds up after years of using the same oil. Also parking in the rain, water can sometimes sit on the seals and eventually seep inside. Especially in a rainy place like Western Washington or Oregon.

[sschering]

Theres a follower on top of the springs with an oring on it. It must be corroded in. Ask me how I know . Start spraying all things WD, PB blast, Kroil, and Marvel at them. A couple days soaking. Make sure the bike is braced up with the front wheel off the ground. If not, when it does break loose it will shoot out like an arrow.

edit: Ok, I see the forks are off the bike.

I have the cap off.. spacer out.. washer out.. I can see the top of the spring.. I tried hooking it but it's not moving..
Compressed the fork with the cap off and it just bounces right back up..
spring never moved.. It's not stuck in the damper.. it's like it's stuck half way up the stanchion.. Wierd.. Not looking good.

[oldgrumpy]

removing front fork springs....

on my gs1000e.... i,ve just recently replaced the soft saggy,, shorter springs with new progressive springs ,,,,anyway,,, 1 leg was a little stiff and thick with gunk...i used a wooden dowl and plastic hammer to gentle get it to move,,,,then i hocked it with a 12 gauge welding rod bent on the end ,,,,and rotated it as i pulled it up ,,,, hope this helps you regards david from kaniva ...

[sschering]

To make it simple.. the Forks are bent.

I put a straight edge on the stanchion last night..
from the top of the lowers to the tip of the stanchion they are bent more than 1/4" inch.

It's not something you notice on the bike but it's easy to spot if you are looking for it.

I'm just going to assume the trees are jacked up too and replace the whole thing..

Anyone see any point in even trying to save the lowers and internals as spare parts? I doubt the dampers would even come out.

[tkent02]

Which bike are these forks for?
Someone would want the lowers to put on dual brakes, if it is the correct forks.

[sschering]

79 GS1000L
Leading Axle..

If I go with E or G forks I'll need to replace the caliper brackets or fab some up for the 4 piston Nissan calipers I have kicking around.

[Don-lo]

Yeah, triples are probably tweaked too. Get it all, but keep the old until you're satisfied with the reinstall. You never know what odd things you may need: for example, sometimes the fender mount ears are broken off.