Philly Riders

Thanks Iwingameover and Oldschoolotter for letting me come along on the ride. Had a good time, learned more about my bike and other XJ's, and learned about riding in a group.

Not sure if I can make next ride, but I have been on route 100, very curvy and hopefully fun road.

Will let you know.

 

Any of you guys done fork seals before? If all my parts get here next week I'll be doing them next weekend. It'll be a first for me.

 

Never done them but let me know when you're doing yours; I'd like to give a hand/observe.

 

So my parts box is sitting in front of me on the coffee table.

Plan is to work on them on Saturday. If anyone besides Otter wants to join in and see how it's done, watch me break several bolts and chuck the wrench at the wall you're welcome to stop by. I'm hoping to skip those last two steps.

If you know where the shop is I'll be over there around 10ish. If you don't PM me and I'll tell you.

 

so i sold the XJ
she went to a really cool guy. The dude is a writer/mma fighter and works on a farm. Maybe you will see him on the forum some time.

It was nice "knowing" you guys, and yes I do plan on going on rides with the philly area group whenever possible. So just let me know.

 

Hey iwingameover, I just found an AMAZING way to remove the old fork seals. An alternative to using the inner bushing and washer as a slide hammer.

You basically take all the hardware out of the inner tube. Extend the inner tube fully, fill to the brim with oil, and put the fork cap back on.

Park you car next to a wall, so that there's enough room for the fork and a jack, and compress the fork with the jack. The hydraulic pressure easily forces the oil seal out (just don't forget to remove the circlip)

 

Neal, make sure you stick around to see all the XJ fun you're missing out on without carbs and having a warranty... :lol:

manbot... I had no problem getting the fork seals out. A large screw driver levered them out.

Getting the cap out of the right hand tube took a propane torch, Otter, and a large wood block. The circlip came out with little issue but the cap would not budge. I even tried Kroil.

Thanks again Otter for the help. Bike is back in one piece. Brakes are great now and the ride is much improved over the old, probably original, springs.

And if anyone is in need, I now have a bolt with a 19mm head welded to a long steel pipe for the inside damper bolt. My good small spark plug socket was no where to be found and the crappy set I keep around in reserve didn't have the 3/8 square machined all the way through so it could not be inverted to work as the holder.

Long story short, some much needed updating and maintainance is now done and I haven't had time to ride it father than the gas station down the street. It's going to work with me tomorrow.

 

Had similar time with the forks on my SR250 (long neglected maintenance by PO). Took the circlip out but plug didn't move. Soaked in LiquidWrench for weeks but I doubt it went further than the first "O" ring on the plug. Finally just made a driver from a small diameter galvanized pipe nipple and end cap. Wacked real well until the plug broke free. Then sprayed more LiquidWrench and worked the plug up/down until it came out under fork spring pressure (wheel off the ground). Afterward I lightly sanded the inside of the upper tube and plug body to remove surface rust and coated both with grease prior to reinstalling plug to prevent further rusting.

 

yea, i miss the character and heart of the XJ but starting up instantly and the EFI were easy to get used to.

I definitely will check up on the forum to see when you guys are doing rides. Also, I hope the dude i sold it to will be active here too. I told him about the site plenty of times.

 

hey guys, wanted to see if anyone from Philly is still riding? im rebuilding an 81 seca and would love some knowledge and eventually riding buddies

 

I'm out of northern delaware. I have met some other guys out of jersey and pa on here.