Fork dampener bolt really stuck

[mike_of_bbg]

Atta boy, BC!

I used one of those cheapy 12V tire pumps, but neither of mine took hours to pop; one was almost instant and the other just a few minutes. Sheesh. Good patience.

I've heard of people burning them out - but not desirable because of the smell. Plus cleaning any melted crap out of that groove might not be easy if you're trying to keep the fork together and just replace the seals.

[Darin Jordan]

So, just curious... I've read your tutorial on changing Fork Seals, which describes completely disassembly, special tool, etc...

Is replacing these something that can be done effectively WITHOUT tearing the forks completely apart??

I'm preparing to put in new springs, and will replace the seals and oil at the same time, but if I could do this without having to tear them completely apart, that would be great.

Thanks again for all the info. Really helps us out here!

[mike_of_bbg]

I'm preparing to put in new springs, and will replace the seals and oil at the same time, but if I could do this without having to tear them completely apart, that would be great.

It is possible. Tearing the forks down is not particularly hard though; it just so happens that the one bolt which must be removed in BC's case was being a bugger - much more so than normal. It's better to disassemble so you can thoroughly clean and inspect all your parts, and be certain all old oil is gone. But if you have air forks blowing out the seals (AFTER you drain the fork oil ) is not hard to do without damage. If you have to go digging or burning the seals out it might be less risky to go ahead and disassemble.

If you're not leaking fork oil, you may not need to replace the seals at all. It's certainly not necessary for replacing the springs. Some will just flush them out with solvent to get them as clean as they can. If you don't disassemble you should set your oil level by height, not volume, because you can't be sure how much old oil was left behind.

What bike do you have?

[Darin Jordan]

What bike do you have?

It's a 1980 GS850G... Has 21,000 on it... picked it up for $400.00. Needed the carbs gone through and a good cleaning, but is otherwise in really nice shape (new tires, etc...)

I think I'll take the time to tear them down completely then. The seals are leaking and I'd like to replace them when I replace the springs (have Progressives on the way).

Looks like I need to make myself a "special tool" to remove that bolt. Not a problem... I own mig welder and can certainly fabricate.

[BassCliff]

So, just curious... I've read your tutorial on changing Fork Seals, which describes completely disassembly, special tool, etc...

Is replacing these something that can be done effectively WITHOUT tearing the forks completely apart??

I'm preparing to put in new springs, and will replace the seals and oil at the same time, but if I could do this without having to tear them completely apart, that would be great.

Hi Mr. Darin Jordan,

That's just what I did. I wanted to completely disassemble the forks to inspect the bushings and everything. But since I couldn't I just used compressed air to blow out the fork seals so that I could replace them. You should have air forks on your bike too so it should be pretty easy to do what I did. It's not necessary to completely disassemble the forks just to replace the seals, only to inspect the teflon bushings (which seldom wear out) and damper rod parts.

For those without air valves on the forks, some shade tree wrenches will fill the fork with fork oil and then compress the forks to blow the seal. You can put the fork between your garage door and the tire of your car, for example, and use a hydraulic bottle jack to compress the fork until the seal blows. It can be a little messy so be prepared.

I'll be writing up another guide to demonstrate how I replaced the seals without completely disassembling the forks. Of course, then I will follow that up with how to extract a stuck dampener bolt from the bottom of your forks.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[afholderman]

"some shade tree wrenches will fill the fork with fork oil and then compress the forks to blow the seal. You can put the fork between your garage door and the tire of your car, for example, and use a hydraulic bottle jack to compress the fork until the seal blows. It can be a little messy so be prepared."

The set up and clean up involved in that process sounds like WAY more work then simply unbolting them

[BassCliff]

Hi,

Yes, filling with oil and compressing the forks can get messy. Here's the procedure explained...

http://www.motorcyclecruiser.com/tech/replace_fork_seals/index.html

I've put together a PDF file documenting my experience replacing my fork seals last weekend. It's up on my little website, or click below to have a look.

Fork Seal Replacement

It turned out to be pretty easy. But next time I'll want to disassemble the forks and will have to deal with those stuck damping rod bolts. Bother.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff