Help me out--fork plugs badly rusted in place (XJ550)

Resurrecting my new ('81 Seca 550) foundling, pulled the fork caps to find rust, worse on one side but...plugs won't "push" down, a gentle SMITING moved the plugs down far enough I COULD pull the circlips out--but the plugs stayed down. My immediate solution is to fill the area with PB Blast put the caps back on and ride it (as soon as the seat gets back from being redone) and wait for them to pop back up, tap down, repeat...except the forks have very little damping right now. I have all necessary fork rebuild bits on the way, but...how to get the !@#$%^&* plugs out? Can I drill and tap them (in the hope the drill bit gets stuck and I can use it to pull the plug out) and put in screws (w/gaskets) so the forks can not only have their oil changed without removing the damn plugs the next time, plus I can use the self-same tapped holes in the extraction process for the initial fork rebuild...???

 

Try putting some rust remover in there and let it sit overnight. Wondering if its really rusted if some heat might also help. Next morning or afternoon find a piece of wood that will fit inside of fork tube. Gently tap until it will slide down and should pop back up under spring pressure. When that happens lift the front wheel up, remove the circlip and you should be able to remove the fork cap. Hope that helps!!

Sean

 

Did you loosen the fork tube retaining bolts located in the upper triple tree?

 

Filled 'em up with rust remover (PB Blast) and they have not yet "popped back up" since I had to rather savagely whack 'em to get them to move down in the first place. I'm going to try riding it a bit and see if the hammering/vibration pops them loose. Once they pop up, I'll whack them back down, more PB Blast, etc., until they're free. Didn't try loosening the upper clamp bolts (shouldn't have to in a "normal" situation) but I will try that...I'm still leaning toward drilling holes in the center of the plugs and then fitting them with gasketed screws to negate the need for this disassembly every time. The forks GOTTA come apart this time, they need seals, etc. Thanks, I'll keep trying and let you know...

 

I've dealt with this myself.

Beware, do not try to get them loose by driving them further down. The bore in the fork tube has a taper and you will stick them worse.

The one I didn't stick by driving too far down I was able to unstick using hydraulic pressure. I removed the lower socket head bolt that holds the damping rod in place and filled completely with 80w90 gear lube. I mean completely - pumped and got all the air out. After replacing the damping rod bolt I squeezed the fork in a bar clamp. Spring seat popped out.

I chose gear oil because it is inexpensive and less likely to leak quickly leak past the fork seals.

The one I drove the spring seat too far down into only blew out the fork seal. That removal required much whittling of the seat - heat was unsuccessful.

 

I had the same problem, I just kept pumping the forks up and down and then they flew out. Be careful, mine went onto my roof from ground level! There is a crazy amount of force behind them and it missed my face by inches!