Fork JOB from YAMAHA dealer NO GOOD

Hello All,
I have a question concerning my front forks ,
Just had my forks redone by the dealer .sent the forks out off the bike .
Just put them back on the bike the other day ,
There is a lot sag ,about 2-1/2 " Ive road the bike a few hours and dont think they did a good job our perhaps missed a step. not sure what the procedure would be for changing seals and adding oil while off the bike . before I go and complain ,I thought Ide better get some facts . .
I sent them in because one of the forks had a slight seal failure and the other one was OK . costed $150.00 Now that the work has been done , The forks seem droopy and the bike will take a little dive during exceleration. sucks!! There not right . Prior to the work ,the forks seems strong ,No problem with anything other than a small leak ,
Perhaps They didnt add enough oil . either way,I will go back to the shop
Just wanted to get your thoughts . EBAY ALERT !!FYI:: I picked up a replacement carb set for my XJ 700N on Ebay a week ago . The seller lied and said "the carbs have beened cleaned and checked out" The idiot painted the carbs with silver paint and didnt mention the broken float post .They will do . Buyers beware . theres quite a few jokers out there .
The stinky,fauled up carbs costed me 150.00 I have yet to free up the float bowl idle / low speed orfices . I tryed various size guitar stings ,soaking poking, blowing , Fu@@k!!Im almost at a loss . It pisses me off but on the other hand the carbs will do .since I have some other 33mm carbs to help with my project . FYI: I have a pretty nice set of Hatachi 32 carbs I will be letting go .By the way ,I am very happy with all the items I recieved from xj4ever.com . ALL GOOD/ fast delivery.
Sorry for the rambling and incorrect sphelling.
Hope some one out there can advise me on how to deal with the
Yamaha dealer
Thanks for reading
Wayne

 

I am unsure of the NON-X model but my 85' maxim X has air assisted front forks there are two covers on top of the forks that unscrew and you addd air into them. In the book I have it says standard psi 5.4lbs nto to exceed 17psi. measured and filled when bike is on the center stand with no wieght on the front wheel. A bicycle hand pump is the best way to do this. Try adding air if you can they probably didn't add any since it is an adjustable feature.

there is also some really strong carb cleaner sold in most auto stores it comes in a gallon metal can with a dip basket. DON'T PUT ANY PLASTIC OR RUBBER IN THERE!!! it will dissolve. I don't remember the brand name of the stuff but it is in a kinda plain labeled gallon jug usually under all teh spray carb cleaners and is reallllyy strong stuff. It works alot better than spraying carb cleaner in a bowl.

 

there may have been a preload spacer on top of the fork springs that someone put in that the dealer didn't put back because it's not stock
or it could be the air like Mr XX said
sag should be about 1/3 total travel or a little less
the dive is most likely a different weight fork oil than your used to

 

I dont believe the XJ 700n has air assist forks , I'll check the manual
for sure

I blieve the carb cleaner your refurring to is at auto zone
good call .
Thankyou

 

I can pick the front end up about 2.5 inches before it it stops ,
and easily push them half way down .when I release the folk at about the halfway point ,It seems like I have to pick them up and help the fork back to its original positon sometimes .They dont fight back at all. Real mushy. In the past ,the forks would pop back to its original postion in a fraction of a second . Last night I was gowing around an S turn with an incline .Doing about 40mph .Durring the bend ,it was time to shift to 3rd . Keep in mind , Im aggressive ,Im leaning and throttling up into the turn .While this is all going on I pull in the cluch to shift to 3rd and suddenly the front end drops as I try to shift . That shit give me the willys
something is wrong . Polock .I think you might be right about the spacer
and the oil change . I'll bring that up with the tech.
THe bike always seemed to handle pretty freakin good around turns,bends.

Thankyou

 

Just a thought, did the dealer even put oil in the forks.
If they were sent out to be overhauled probably were not shipped with oil in them.
If the dealer didn't fill them up on return, not good.
See if the bill has a charge for oil.
My shop list parts, fluids seperate from labor costs.

 

Im lookin at the invoice
parts
fork seal 21.98
hyper oil 1 lt. 10 wt 13.99
--------------------------------
labor 1.5 hr 107.00

Im going over to the dealer tommorw with the bike .

 

We''ll see how they deal with me .I havnt delt with bike dealerships
before , In the past Ive always been able to deal with most machanical issues myself win our lose .however I am new to forks maintanence.
Once again ,"Im just gonna have to do it myself" , Its always somthing
new . I will tell you this ,With in the last month Ive read many threads and got great imformtion . the bike is quik now . Its gottin stronger out of the hole with a good carb cleaning and complete fuel system rehab .new plugs ,wires.inline fuel filter ,K&n air filter . Its running alot better
Thank you

 

I'll pipe in on the fork oil weight. 10 weight has been too light an oil for good damping characteristics for most folks. I would use a 15 weight or more (depending on how much damping you may care to have). I've used 15 weight without any problems. I'm 175lb and run the fork valves on my Seca at the setting just before maximum damping. I don't carry passengers and have been quite happy with the behavior of the machine. Good luck with the dealership.

 

hey if your handlebars forks look like this -the temp guage the caps under the red circles is where you add the air.

 

hey if your handlebars forks look like this -the temp guage the caps under the red circles is where you add the air.

 

Just a word of caution. Make sure the bike is on the center stand and ALL the weight is off the front forks. When you remove the cap, be sure to hold down on the plug and release the pressure slowly. The spaing and rod inside can really give you a headache if you do this step incorrectly.

 

That measured sag you have is the same length as the Factory pre-loads.

It happens.
Maybe they forgot to re-insert the pre-loads.
If that's the case ... I'd bring it to the attention of the Shop Manager.

Go back and get it done right!

 

Just got back from the dealer ,talked to tech that did the job .
He was able to check the bike out and take a quik spin.
OK ,so its lower than it was, but resting at the correct position.
tech says no additinal pre-load device was found and says
basically everything seems to be ok . "the old oil level was low and black.
no way of telling what type of oil was used last "
He pushed the forks up and down as says the spring are a little weak and
new aftermarket springs would be required if I was after a stiffer ride .
He said he would charge one hr labor plus parts .
Ok , thats fair to me. also he recomended to try going with heavier oil, up to 30 wt oil. and stated "that would not take care of the spring load .
I asked him about shimming with an additional pre loaded spacers and he replied not to try it because of the force needed to assemble would be a problem . Rick ,it looks like getting it done right will be to go an order the
after market spring kit and do it myself . I dont trust these guys .LOL
Rick, I read an older post of yours , you mentioned replacing fork oil at the drain screw .I like that idea. I'll have to read that thread again if I can find it .
I thank all of you that have responded
Wayne

 

wayne:

Preload is an owner "Option".
When you do the springs, you can add some preload to stiffen the front.

If you are going to do the springs; drain the forks and replenish the fork oil when you have the forks apart.

That would be the easiest way to do it.