Odd forks??

I have a 82 550 Seca, wanting to lower the bike, the front forks seem to be sealed at the top under the rubber plug? According to the Clymer manual there should be a wire spring clip that retains the spring seat? There is no clip and really looks like it is sealed, do the forks disassemble from the lower legs? Any help would be appreciatted! One more thing, the forks have a KYB logo on the lower legs. Thanks

 

push down hard on the center the wire clip will appear

 

Those plugs can be rusted in, soak them in WD40 or Kroil & tap them down with a drift, just to get some movement.

 

Takes so real pushing to get the caps to go down far enough to get those wire clips out. Be careful once you do. The top cap can really shoot out from all the force from the fork springs. Keep your head out of the way.

 

It can take some tapping to get those caps (what look like sealed tops) to move.

Don't hammer them in too hard; the fork is tappered, you might pound'em in far enough to never get'em out.

Once you get one loose enough to move, use a long bar to push it in, using your shoulder with a towel around the top of the bar for padding (takes a bit of force to press it in and you'll bruise up bad if you don't pad it up).

Push the cap in enough that you can pry out the retaining clip out, I use 2 small flathead screw drivers, one to pry out one side out and the other on the other end of the clip to stop it from spinning. The clip has a tendancy to shoot out so wear googles and make sure you don't loose it.

Once the clip is out, SLOWLY release the pressure on the plug, try to not let it shoot out, keep your head out of the way and make sure you can find it if it does shoot out. I've almost injured myself and lost a plug before so watch out, theres a lot of force on those thing

 

This, and Kroil, are the most important parts of the advice given.

I fought with stuck fork plugs on my '81 for nine months until another forum member suggested Kroil. http://www.kanolabs.com/google/

(Tried every other brand of penetrating oil out there, too.)

I may have hammered them down a tad too far, too. Luckily they were so rusted it kept them from getting completely stuck.

And go ahead and lose the clips; you need to use new ones anyway.

 

Thanks alot for all the advice, will try it out this weekend! Appreciate all the help, this site is a great help!

 

Also check the top clamp on the fork is not over tightened. This can crimp down on the plug.

 

+1 Also important. Loosen them prior to the attempts.

 

If you have reason to suspect that the Front Forks aren't Stock 550's, ... there is an outside chance they could be off a Bike that had "Air Assist".

Then, the Front Forks would have Wire Spring Clip ... On the OUTSIDE of the Upper Tube ... PREVENTING the Tube from being Lowered.

You see a Air Valve and Connecting Pipe, though.
Slim chance.
Might as well look, though.
Looking is free.