Stripping Down XJ900 Forks - 26 Pics

Excellent pics. They are the same forks as on my XJ900. I rebuilt mine with parts from Chacal: new bushes, Progressive springs etc. The old springs were so sagged they sat about 25mm below the top nuts.

To reach the damper rod, I made a tool with a hexagon nut that was 22mm across the flats and welded it to a long piece of 20mm RHS.

 

Got one of those tools coming, only wish I'd found it before I bought the two Allen Keys I needed.
My 85 XJ 600 forks are the same construction type as these.
The images were very useful,

Thanks Alive

 

You're welcome

 

Great information I will be ordering that hex tool here shortly. I have forks to rebuild thanks for everybody being so helpful and willing to share

 

Polock once again thanks for posting!!! I think now I will go back and read your post on the forks

 

Did you notice she carried out the compleete operation without getting her gloves dirty, amazing. 8O

 

Alive, youare a genius, a life saver and a mind reader.

I am new to bikes and I have been lamenting about the forks on my XJ750s. I have been desperately looking for some new inner tubes in Aust without much success. On two of the bikes the inner tubes appear tobe salvageable and I was this very afternoon login in to ask for some pictures on how to dismantle the forks ....and presto, you have already done it. Great photos and it helps a lot.

Thanks.

Wiz, I take you point about the gloves, but I somehow missed it. I must have been concentrating too hard on other aspects of the pics

 

Gloves??? What Gloves?

 

Dookus, who did you order through. I looked at one which was $29 and would you beleive $49 for freight!!!!
Which part of OZ are you in?

 

I bought mine from a local bike shop

 

Hiya,

What size Allen Key do i need to undo the fork top cap bolt pictured below ??



Cheers,

aPoPhus

 

One that fits

Sorry, I don't have a top cap to hand nor can I remember what size it was, but what I used instead of buying a huge allen key I'd only ever have used for the fork caps, was a bolt with the right head size, turned upside down & slotted into the cap. with a couple of nuts locked together on the bolt I then used a spanner on the lower nut. Once it was loosened I just unscrewed it the rest of the way with the ball of my thumb (that way I had it under control when it reached the end of the threads...)

EDIT-: I have a feeling it was a 15mm headed bolt I used...

 

front wheel spindle fits with a couple of Extension drives, and your two locknuts. :wink:,or it may have been the rear engine bolt through the footrest casting,i'll check in the Morning.
EDIT
Rear engine bolt undoes cap with locknuts as you say ,with extension drive it will also remove damper rod assembly from fork tube if it rotates when you try undoing allen bolt at the bottom of the fork tube.i remember now......

 

ok guys, why did i not think of that lol

Cheers,

Rain Man

 

That'd make it 17mm then :? Hmm, I must check now, sure my top caps were 15mm and the damper rod was 17 as you say...

 

I've just discovered my fork legs are of uneven spring rates, so had to take them apart to find out what was going on. This thread was very useful, thanks.
Oddly, both springs are the same length, and when roughly floor pressing them they seem the same, but one was poking out the top of the leg by 15mm or so more than the other. Both legs contained 250ml of oil, and without springs slide freely and evenly. Looks like there may be an unexpected spacer down the bottom of one.
The mystery deepens.
Oh, for a top nut driver, I found a threaded rod coupler works fine. It's for coupling together two lengths of threaded rod, believe it or not. Basically, it's a long-bodied 10mm nut of 17mm across flats.

 

Well, that's the oddest thing - nothing found in either fork leg that makes it any different from the other. I put them back together and they're now both behaving identically. The fork seals aren't all that old and it's possible the PO (or whoever did the work) didn't properly fill the oil into one leg and as a result it had an air lock, although I can't see how it would happen as the oil should just displace air as it goes in. There was a good old gurgle in one leg when I filled it, and I made sure to work each one up and down to dispel any air before the springs went it.
All sorted now, back killing me, ride it tomorrow.