Front Fork Rebuild

[Anonymous]

I have a '78 Gs750E. I am blowing fluid out of the boots on the top of the fork. It is definately time for a rebuild. What are your suggestions? How hard is it? Where can I get an aftermarket rebuild kit?
Thanks,
Josh

[SqDancerLynn1]

Probably just need to replace the fork seals $20-25 plus labor, clean internals and check for excessivly worn parts, but normall just need seals

[Anonymous]

Seals

I plan on doing the rebuild myself. I was wondering where I can get the seals. Do I have do go thru a dealer?

[Anonymous]

Watch e-bay. www.oldbikebarn.com has many oem parts too.

[Anonymous]

Suggestions

I just finished rebuilding my 1979 GS1000S front end. Since I live on the tundra it was easy for me to drive up to Dennis Kirk in Rush City MN. They had everything I needed and it was inexpensive to boot! Look on this web site for the link and go from there. I would suggest that you get a good jackstand and keep the kids and dog away! ( yes, it happens!! ) If it has been some time since the forks were rebuilt you will more than likely need to fabricate a holding tool for the damper rod as well. Good Luck! Just a thought, you may want to give Competetion Cycle in Springfield OH a call to see if they carry the seals.

[Anonymous]

Just looking through old posts and came upon these words of wisdom.

Watch e-bay. www.oldbikebarn.com has many oem parts too.

NOT!!! Old Bike Barn screwed me on a set of fork seals, end of story. These cats also go by the name of Bike Barn Brothers. Ebay banned them.
If you're bidding on anything out of Montreal, Quebec, especially if it may have anything to do with these guys, be forewarned. Bob

[Anonymous]

To get the forks apart you'll need to make up a tool to hold the damper rod in place. first you take off the cap, take out the spring and drain the fluid. Next you will need a 19mm male ended tool to fit into the top of the damper rod. Fortunately 19mm is the same as 3/4 inches. Take a 3/4 inch nut and find a way to jamb it on the end of a 3 ft long threaded rod. you can probably use a smaller size nut to jamb it. Next jamb a couple more nuts on the other end that you can hold with a wrench. You should be able to put the 3/4 nut end down the fork tube into the damper rod. you should be able to also find a 5 or 6mm allen bolt on the bottom of the fork. Hold the top of the threaded rod with a wrench and loosen the allen bolt. The rest is easy. You'll need a flash lite to look down in the internals to make sure you clean out all the sludge. I recomend getting a fork seal driver to put the new seals in. I didn't use one and I think one of my seals may not be seated all the way. Its holding but I have my doubts about it. Good luck. Chris.

[Billy Ricks]

While you are at it check to see if your fork has any teflon coated bushings in it. There are generally two per fork leg, one inner and one outer. These wear out, especially if fork oil changes weren't done on a regular basis.

[Jay B]

Dont go jamming any nuts into your forks. Get yourself a SPARK PLUG socket that has a 3/4 inch hex head at the top. You will have to find one that has the 3/8 inch drive sqaure all the way thru or it wont work. Turn it upside down and use several long 3.8 inch drive extensions and that will do the trick. The hardest part is finding the spark plug socket with the 3/8 drive square hole all the way thru.

[mcconnell]

If you only want to replace the seals and not disassemble/inspect the rest of the internals, it can be done without taking the fork apart. In a nutshell, remove the cap and spring, compress the fork (to protect the chrome the seal slides on), remove the seal retainer, punch a hole in the old seal (may have to use a small drill bit coated with grease), force a long thin screwdriver into the hole, and pop out the old seal. Clean and lubricate the whole tube real well so as not to damage the new seal as you push it down toward its seat. Then using the old seal to cover the new seal, carefully drive it in with a punch. After the new seal is in place, reinstall the retainer, making sure it's seated in its groove.

Also, inspect the chromed area the seal rides on to make sure there aren't any burrs that would damage the new seal.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for all the helpful info fella's. I am still planning on rebuilding the forks as soon as I get my carbs all ironed out. A crankcase full of gas changed my priority a bit. I hate messing with these carbs too. I am doing a complete rebuild on them. I measured the float level on carb 1 and the height was at 17mm's. I just want to get her on the road. Working 80+ hrs all summer has killed my work time on her. I have put 310 miles on it since may. SUCKS TO BE ME EH???

Thanks again

[Anonymous]

The upside down 3/4 plug socket sounds like a winner

I actually didn't use a threaded rod. But i have seen others on this site say that they have. If you can rig up a 3/4 plug socket with enough extentions that would be the way to go. You could also use a reg 3/4 socket with a 3/4 nut sticking half way out of the end. What I did was took A 1/2 deep well and a 3/4 bolt. I stuck the threaded end of the bolt into the socket. I drilled a hole through the socket and bolt. Next I stuck a nail through and cut off the end. I left the head on the nail so I could pull it out when I was done.
I have a hole in my 1/2 deep well but I dont think its going to fail on me.

The point is you can rig up lots of stuff to avoid paying for that special fork damper rod tool.