Fork You.....Fork Me.....

1982 XJ750J Maxim:

I am removing my front forks to change seals ( oil & dust )....Can I drop them out the bottom as one piece.....each fork is being stopped by the ridge for the air rings and catching on the lower sterring arm

or

do I have to separate inner tube ass'y from outer tube ass'y and pull the inner tube ass'y out the top due to the ridge ???

See pic





Thanks in Advance,

Five

 

Oh just fork it all, man.......... 8O

You need to remove the retaining rings from the chrome tubes, you just lift/pry a bit of the ring (from the gap) and then wiggle the rest out of its groove, then the tubes can come out of their clamps.

 

That was funny....expect order soon
too.....rubber is 30 years into dry-rot....

I didnt realize that was a c-clip in there....I guess I didnt look close enough...thanks for the heads up....

now I will go fork off......

 

Just like you said.......Went outside to go Fork off....

Thanks



Dried Out rubber...however somewhat intact after 30+ years...

 

It looks just forking beautiful now........

 

rubber seals inside Air rings look good.....also the o-rings on air line between the 2 forks look good......

is it suggested to replace these seals & o-rings while I have it apart....I believe I already know the answer but they look good.....they are still pliable....

Thanks,

Five

 

Forking awesome! Sorry, couldn't forking resist it.

 

And how forking old are those "still pliable" seals and o-rings? Fork yes, replace them.

 

Don't your neighbors complain about you forking out on the driveway?

 

Fork you... Fork me
Fork it forever naturally...

As we tear down , this lonesome XJ
Seems the hardest thing to do, is to find a part or two.
A helping hand, from Chacal, our man.
When you feel you've spent you pay,
You'll have members here to say.... "we told you.."

 

You sir deserve a gold star.

 

Ok, now that we have the answers, we can all shut the fork up......lol

 

Gotta love this forking forum

 

Now comes the task of ripping this fork forking apart.....

 

Hey, you all forgot about the hit song from Abba...

Forking me, Forking you
There is nothing we can't do
Forking me, Forking you
We just have to face it this tiiiiiiiiiiiime, weeeeeeeeee'reeeee throoooooooouuuugh....

Forking up is never easy, I know
but I haaaaaave toooooo goooooo....
Forking me, Forking you
Is the best I can do...

 

Ok....ready to start disassembly...I have service manual....but it says to remove cap bolt assembly.....

Question is: How to remove cap bolt assembly without the inner fork tube turning on you ? I am a little reluctant to stick this in a vise to keep the inner tube from turning while I loosen the cap bolt.....

Any ideas are appreciated .....

 

Put it back into the tree (the perfect fork leg clamp), or wrap it in a thick towel befrore clamping it (snug, not tight) into a bench vice.

 

K-Moe, I thought of the same thing, putting it back into the bike & clamping it to the tree just to loosen the cap bolt......& then removing again.....thanks for suggesting....

I am just forked up right now.....not thinking straight ........lol

 

Or pad the "pipe jaw" portion of the bench vise I hope you have with a half-dozen layers of duct tape with a layer of cardboard in there. A towel will slip.

 

Advice taken.....will try the tree method first...then vise second.....with duct tape & cardboard.......

Thanks guys.....

 

That's just Forking Wrong.

 

Fashion some wooden jaws for the vice. Much better than forking about with duct tape and cardboard!

 

Ok, tree method work fine.....cap-bolt assembly, spacer, spring seat, & fork spring are out........thank you....

Now for next step.....

the service manual indicates:

Remove the damper rod bolt from the bottom of the fork. ( Using special tool ). Without it.....the damper just keeps turning inside....

Without having this special tool, what can I use ??? Someone mentioned a socket reversed on a bunch of extensions or a certain size bolt head ???

Please explain......

Thank you.....

 

Have a look at these
www.xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=4356 ... +tool.html

www.xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=4462 ... seals.html

 

So am I correct here.....

a 5/8" spark plug socket which measures 19mm at the hex base of the socket...turn it upside down & put a 2' or 3' extension on it......

& of course an 8mm allen socket on the damper rod bolt at other end.......

& this will work......

I guess a second person would help also.....

 

Making the "Special Tool" is a cinch.

Weld a 19mm Hex Bolt to one end of a 3-foot Steel Rod.
Weld a "T-Handle" on the other end.

 

Piece of electrical conduit, a 1/2" bolt, and a cotter pin.

Drill a hole through the bolt and conduit, use the cotter pin to hold the bolt in place. (No welding required.) Use a pair of vise grips to hold the thing in place while you break the allen bolt loose on the other end.

 

Or Use the front axle

http://www.bronyaur.co.uk/xj9003.htm

 

You are correct there.

 

Does the upside down 5/8" socket trick work or not ?

Seems simpler......no welding , no drilling, & I already have items in toolbox....except for 2 foot or 3 foot extension....harbor freight for that....

 

It has for me, more than once. And I ended up just plugging every extension in my toolbox together and came up with the needed length.

 

So this method worked on your 550 as well as your 650......???

So the same size 5/8" hex socket will work on the 750 as well ???

Just checking......

I have seen advice on 19mm ( or 5/8" spark plug socket ) & 22mm ( or 13/16" spark plug socket ) bolts as well..... I would it varies from model to model....some are 19...some are 22

Thanks for the heads up....

 

I think the 22mm hex showed up in the later bikes.

The 550/650/750 ('81~'83) should all be the same as far as I know.

 

Fitz,

Thanks for the idea....worked great.....borrowed neighbor's 18" extension + mine with 5/8" socket turned upside down & it worked great....was able to get damper rod bolt loosened without it turning inside....

Great idea.....& simple tool....

So now my question.....the actual damper rod is still in the inner tube....however there is no reason to take it out right ??? It is being held in place by a retaining ring...looks like.....

But I see no reason to screw with it.....

Dust Seal has been removed along with retaining ring for oil seal.....

Another question:

What is the easiest way to pry off oil seal....??? Seems it is pressed in there pretty good......

Do I use a small or large screwdriver to pry or pop it out of there ?? I don't want to gouge, nick or dent this area....

Any suggestions......almost there...

& A big Thank you.....

This forum is great....

 

replace the springs with progressives while you're at it, you'll thank me later!

only ~ 75$ tops too!!

 

Is Progressive are more heavy duty spring or a Brand Name....

Took in to local motorcycle shop...they popped out the oil seals in less than a minute.... they said, go home, put them back together, bring back & we will drive the new oil seals home for you........

All free of charge.....I slipped the guys a $20 & told them to go have a few beers at the watering hole across the street....

Muchappreciated their advice.......

My bit of advice per the motorcycle shop....put new oil seals dry...do not silicon grease them on the outside of seal nor the inside of outer tube....they need to go in dry....better & tighter fit per the mechanics.....

Thanks guys for all of your help...

 

Every mechanic has his own way of doing things. A smear of fork oil to keep the outer surface from seizing up and possibly "galling" when being pressed (not DRIVEN) into place doesn't hurt anything. OK, some gentle tapping maybe.

"Progressives" in this context is a brand name, Progressive Suspension. The original springs are progressive in that they are progressively wound; but metallurgy has come quite a ways in the past 30 years and the original springs were pretty much crap to begin with. They are often "sagged" on bikes as old as ours, and replacing them does make a world of difference, even compared to not-sagged stockers.

Both Progressive Suspension and Works Performance offer under-$100 fork spring sets that are an immense improvement over stock. I was the most surprised in the increase in front brake effectiveness when the front wheel is more firmly planted.

 

So what about these for $58.

http://www.powersportsuperstore.com/Pro ... lick=35177

 

Exactly. Except visit Progressive's website and get the correct ones for your bike. http://www.progressivesuspension.com/

While you're on their site, might wanna go rear-shock shopping too. The 14-series are a little too "original" the 12-series are no-frills versions of the 412s, etc. Or you can do air shocks. They have a good "product selector." I had no problem finding all of the options for my bikes.

 

Thanks for the suggestion....I will check out their website....

On Progressive's website, their price is $92 for 11-1107

on

PowerSport Superstore they have them for $58......

Seems to me like the same spring but lower price....

Now onto steering races & bearings....may go tapered bearing route.....

 

Correct for what? they're a "one size fits all" band aid fix, no doubt they'll be better than the original sagged out springs but they wont be as good as it could be if you took the time to measure sag and find the correct rate spring going by rider weight

 

Of course. I was only suggesting a visit to their website to confirm the part number rather than trust the on-line retailer.

 

Just received my Progressive fork springs:

Question now is how much oil to add:

for the original stock springs, it was 257 ccm or 8.7 fl oz.

According to Progressive instruction, it states:

"Fork oil level/ volume should be checked according to the steps outlined in your authorized shop manual. Measurement of your fork oil by level is the preferred method. However, due to the design of a progressive wound fork spring, it will displace more oil thus requiring a maximum oil level of 5.5" ( 140mm ).

Caution: This is not a recommendation, it is only a precautionary statement. If you manual specifies an oil level higher than 5.5" (140mm) set the oil at 5.5" (140mm)

Oil level is the distance from the top of the fork tube to the top of the oil with the fork tube completely collapsed and the fork spring removed."


So I guess, I collapsed the inner tube and fill it with oil to within 5.5" of the top of the tube.....measured with a tape measure....

Does that sound right....???

Also, I can use my original spacers according to the instructions......but their springs came with a piece of PVC tube......is the PVC tube better than the original thin walled alum spacer......seems it would be easy to cut to the length of original spacer. Seems PVC pipe has much area to push on new progressive springs as it is thicker-walled.....

Just curious......or doesn't it matter.......it is OK to say, Hey Five, just throw the original spacers back in & be done with it.....

There is no need for me to calculate pre-load as I am using my stock spacers.....

Interesting is that the new progressive spring is the exact length compared to the original stock spring......except just wound tighter...

Any advice is greatly appreciated.....

Progressive spring is at top of photo along with piece of uncut PVC and washers; Original Stock Spring at bottom of photo..........

 

notice it says maximum oil level of 5.5". so why not just do 6. here's why. you have your tape measure out and start putting oil in, your not going to get 5.5, what if you get 5. it's a real mess to pour it back out, trust me. leave yourself some wiggle room, then add a few drops to even them out.

how are you going to cut the plastic pipe square on the end? if it's not square it'll push the spring sideways. if the length of the original spacer suits you just use it
after it's filled pump it a few times till you don't hear bubbles then drop the spring in while it's extended, that's real important unless you want a big mess

 

http://www.xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=44635.html

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See also

http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=1 ... level.html