82 gs1100e fork disassembly

[Anonymous]

There are many posts about making a tool to unscrew the damper rod on other GSs. Would these work for an '82 GS1100E?

I'm doing my first fork rebuild on this bike so I don't know what the top of the damper rod looks like. I had a look down the tube but can't tell. I don't think it looks like a 19mm hex.

I might not worry about doing an entire rebuild but the oil that came out looked, and smelled, like swamp water... 8O

[Anonymous]

The easiest tool to make is a broom handle, with the end cut to a point at a shallow angle. You take this and jam it down onto the top of the damper rod (inside the fork tube), then use your hex key on the bottom socket head screw. An even easier way is to use an impact wrench to unscrew the screw on the bottom of the damper rod. Usually it will come right out with nothing holding the damper rod on top.

The damper rods I have seen have all had two wrench flats milled onto a round bar, no hex shape at all. They were not from a GS, however.


Mark

[Anonymous]

I have the actual suzuki part for the top of the damper if you guys need the number I will post. cost was $25 USD when I bought it 6 years ago at the dealer.

[Anonymous]

My 850's damper rods had what looked like a 12-point 19MM socket on the tops. By the way, 3/4" is the same size as 19MM, and SAE sizes are cheaper than metric nuts & bolts.

I don't know if jamming a broom handle into mine would have worked, because the the allen screws were pretty tight. I made a tool by welding a 3/4" nut on one end of a steel rod and a "T" handle on the other.

If you check a service manual, it will tell you what you need. My Clymer manual even described how to make the special tool.

[Mr. Jiggles]

When changing fork seals on my 82 1100E I just used a 1/2" or 5/8" (don't remember which) dowel rod and hammered it into the end of the damper rod. Worked fine for me.

Jeff

[G man]

Just finished doing seals and Progressive springs in my 850. A while back, someone on this board suggested using a spark plug socket inverted. It works like a charm.

You'll notice that a spark plug socket has a hex on the square drive end and a rubber insert inside to hold the spark plug in. The hex on a Craftsman 5/8" spark plug socket is 3/4" - perfect for the 19mm hex on the damper rod.

Looks like this:

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?BV_UseBVCookie=Yes&vertical=TOOL&pid=00943327000

Pull out the rubber insert and stick it on an extension upside down. A couple more extensions and a 3/8" drive ratchet and you're good to go.

A BIG thanks for whoever first posted this trick (sorry I don't remember who.)

[Anonymous]

Be wary of the impact wrench. I tried this approach on one of my forks, and unless I drill, I won't be getting in to that fork anytime soon. I was using a near new bit, square and all the way in. It never budged a milimeter.

Oh well. I just flushed the fork and pulled the seal using the sheetrock screw in the seal as a handle trick.

[Anonymous]

When replacing the fork seals on my 82 GS1100E, I used the back end of a spark plug wrench which has the 'nut' area on top where you can apparently turn it with a wrench if needed. I checked with an open end wrench and it was 13/16" in size.

Invert it on a 3/8" ratchet drive extention so the reverse part of the socket goes into the fork first. Then use a a series of extensions until the unit is the right length to fit a ratchet handle on it. Then stick that 'nut' end down into the damper rod from the top of the fork. This tool fits the damper rod great and held it in place so I was able to remove the damper by loosening the allen wrench at the bottom of the fork.

I used the same setup to reinstall the damper rod on re-assembly.

[mcycle-nut]

Just finished doing seals and Progressive springs in my 850. A while back, someone on this board suggested using a spark plug socket inverted. It works like a charm.

You'll notice that a spark plug socket has a hex on the square drive end and a rubber insert inside to hold the spark plug in. The hex on a Craftsman 5/8" spark plug socket is 3/4" - perfect for the 19mm hex on the damper rod.

Looks like this:

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?BV_UseBVCookie=Yes&vertical=TOOL&pid=00943327000

Pull out the rubber insert and stick it on an extension upside down. A couple more extensions and a 3/8" drive ratchet and you're good to go.

A BIG thanks for whoever first posted this trick (sorry I don't remember who.)

I did this too, works like a hot damn!