XBR forks.

[pete]

Hello to all you thumper lovers.A bit miffed on the forks.When changing the front tyre after a puncture i noticed a leak from under the right fork, the bolt inside the bottom of the leg.The forks bottom out on sharp bumps and are a bit squidgy?I am going to change the front tyre and tackle the bolt at the same time.Is there a easy way to bleed the forks as i am thinking if i release the top nut it will shoot off to some obscure place.I don't really want to remove the forks if i can help it.No one i have asked have ever undone the top nut on their forks before. I draw from your wealth of knowledge and stand by with a keen eye for flying objects.

                                                                                   Regards to all,Pete.

[Fuzz]

Hi Pete.
To change the seal , you need to remove the leg from the yokes.
Loosen the top nut while the forks are still in the yokes.
Then remove the leg, after slackening upper & lower yokes.
And then removing the front mudguard.
Carefully remove the top nut, better with a socket , keeping pressure onto the nut.
Turn the fork upside down remove all of the parts & place down in the order & position they came out !
then pump the leg in & out to remove the oil, into a suitable drum.
I then wash everything in a parts washer.
The allen bolt underneath is best removed with an air gun & suitable socket drive for allen ....
Remove the dust seal & the wire clip that holds the seal in.
Then when the bolt / copper washer has been removed, grab the fork tube & the lower & pull apart in a quick jerky movement.
They will eventually part.
Slide the seal off & the metal washer.
If placing the lowers into a vice for reassembly , ensure that you have plenty of packing to prevent damage.
NEVER , NEVER place the chrome sliders into a vice , I have some here that have been DAMAGED by this.
Clean everything again, inside the lowers to remove any sludge.

[Fuzz]

Reassembly.
Everything Clean.
Hold the slider ontop of your shoulder.
Using a small flat screwdriver gently ease the metal bush back into the holder on the lower.
You will feel it click, do one side then the next so it goes in equally.
Then the washer, then seal, again ease it in carefully with a drift / screwdriver.
You DONT want to damage the slider , a few winds of insulation tape around the slider can save you damaging it.
Make sure the seal is 'Home', then fit the clip ring , a smear of grease on top  & then the dust seal.
Refit the allen & washer underneath.
all the internals in the order they came out, refil with 285 ml medium grade fork oil, screw the top nut on .
Refit to bike, & then tighten the top nut while the top yoke has been tightened.
No point doing just one side, sods law , the other will start leaking..

ALSO.
If the bike has been standing for a bit , try moving the forks up & down for a while as sometimes the forks will re-seal themself !

It CAN be done, just take your time , & if you are not confident , take to a REPUTABLE workshop....

[pete]

Cheers Fuzz,very comprehensive and spot on.The fork seals have no leaks just the bolt on the bottom of right fork.I just want to bleed and refill the legs without dismantling.Just wondering if this was possible?My idea was to undo the the small bleed nut pump the oil out by bouncing up and down,when empty undo the nut and refill to the spec.Never that easy is it.May have to take the forks off and ask a REPUTABLE bike fixer to sort them.I have no work shop,just my drive and a handful of half decent spanners...etc.There are some forks on eBay but say they need servicing.Back to square one.

                                                                                                    Thanks for your thoughts,Pete.

[Fuzz]

Do both , so that they are the same !
A handy thing is a large syringe available on ebay , they have ml measurements on them ....used for Vets

[SteveC#222]

If you can find a bit of old scaffolding pipe it makes a perfect slide hammer for driving the new seals home - internal diameter is just big enough to slide down the fork leg and the external is just the same as the seal.

If you just want to change the oil, there are drain plugs on each fork leg make sure you pump the bike up and down to get all the old oil out - be warned the oil WILL shoot out sideways about 6' !!. To refill remove the top nuts, preferably with a socket spanner the nut will probably 'pop up' a little bit but it shouldn't be under enough pressure to shoot right off -WARNING when you do this cover the tank with an old anorak/fleecy/ old blanket as it's very easy to chip the paint when if you don't catch the nut....trust me I know this...

Top up with 283cc / 9.8 oz of ATF ( Automatic Transmission Fluid - available from garage for automatic car gearboxes - it's usually red).

[Dick Scratcher]

Do both , so that they are the same !
A handy thing is a large syringe available on ebay , they have ml measurements on them ....used for Vets

You can buy (sorry) these big syringes from any agricultural mechants.

[pete]

Ahhhhh!...Cheers Steve.Just what i wanted to hear,it is possible to do a quick bleed and top up without a strip down. Going to go for that after fitting a new tyre and tightening the fork bolt.

                                                                                     Thanks for all the replies, Pete.

[guest295]

Oh, and remember to use ATF, not fork oil.

[guest833]

Maybe these have a dual use?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1000cc-Large-Glass-Enema-Colonic-Irrigation-Syringe-/320582785284?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4aa4391904

Why would you want 2 pints of anything up your @rse?  

If i did i'd find a way of not spending £180.00 to get it up there!!!!!!

[pigafetta]

Hi Pete

If you're leak is coming from the allen bolt that screws up the very bottom of the fork leg it'll be the copper washer that's the culprit. You need to take the allen bolt out with the top nut fitted as it needs the spring tension to stop it spinning the gubbins around inside the fork leg. If you drain the goo out first you can just pop the allen bolt out, shove a new washer on it then pop it back in.

Them top nuts can come out with a fair bit of gusto, particularly if someone's put a spacer under 'em. When I rebuilt my CB900 I fired one right across the garage with a socket still attached to it 

Dave B

[el vencejo]

Oh, and remember to use ATF, not fork oil.

Why is that 
ATF is formulated for transmissions.
Fork oil is formulated for forks.
What is the viscosity of ATF compared to 5W or 7.5W fork oil? It really is important as with non-adjustable forks the only way to "tune" the damping without messing with metalwork is to change the weight and/or the level of oil in the forks..

[guest295]

Honda specifies ATF for the forks. And it's way cheaper than fork oil. Buy the stuff for Toyotas and the like, ordinary ATF. Because it's relatively cheap, you can afford to pump out the old oil, fill it with new and pump that out to clean out the rubbish in there.

[el vencejo]

Perhaps in the 80's ATF was as good as it got.. I'll stick with fork oil, 12€ a year isn´t too much to pay.

[guest295]

You may be disappointed. I tried that - thought I was smart - and regretted it. ATF's the goods.