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I rebuilt my R forks over the last couple of days and I found that 2 tools were required to do this. Now I did not go out and buy the tools, rather I made them in my shop and I am making them available free of charge to anyone that needs them. As long as you pay the shipping to your door and you let them to anyone else with an R model that needs them the next time. They will fit into a flat rate USPS small box so I think shipping will be less than $5.00 if I remember correctly the rate on that box. I have included some info and pics of my rebuilding with some general interest help if you want it, read on.
I noticed that the R model forks are not made the same internally from the right fork to the left fork. This is why you need 2 tools. 1 tool for each side.
This is the set of tools I made. They are a round pipe with notches cut at one end and a socket coupler attached to the other end, the second tool is a set of 3/8 inch rods the fit into 2 opposing holes in a tube on top of the spring that you can grip the tube with and push it down to remove the spring cup washer. The last tool I made was a PVC coupler that I cut into 2 pieces and you slip them onto the lower slider and tap them with a mallet to push the seals into the races. One note, The seals are installed differently on each fork. One has the chamfer installed towards the top of the slider and the other installs towards the bottom of the slide. Not sure why they did this either but when you pull the old seals off make sure to look at them to get the orientation.
Pick of tools,
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Pick of Sliders,
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Now, as long as you have the entire front end torn off the bike you might as well regrease your steering head bearings as I did.
I am glad I did. If you look at these 2 bearings you will see them as they came out of the bike. ALMOST NO GREASE ON THEM !!
Lower bearing,
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And upper bearing,
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Those bearings were almost DRY !
This next pic is of my upper bearing cup. It has a very small amount of rust spots started as you can see. I am sure because there no grease. But the cups were in great shape top and bottom so I lucked out there.
Upper bearing cup,
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And Star nut,
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Last, I will show you a pic of how I kept my bars and guage out of the way by tying it to the ceiling to keep it off the bike and out of the way.
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And finally, the bike with forks removed,
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[/IMG]
To sum the rebuild up. All the work I did was very easy. You just need to take your time so you dont scratch the sliders inside and out and make sure you torque everything per the manual.
I noticed that the R model forks are not made the same internally from the right fork to the left fork. This is why you need 2 tools. 1 tool for each side.
This is the set of tools I made. They are a round pipe with notches cut at one end and a socket coupler attached to the other end, the second tool is a set of 3/8 inch rods the fit into 2 opposing holes in a tube on top of the spring that you can grip the tube with and push it down to remove the spring cup washer. The last tool I made was a PVC coupler that I cut into 2 pieces and you slip them onto the lower slider and tap them with a mallet to push the seals into the races. One note, The seals are installed differently on each fork. One has the chamfer installed towards the top of the slider and the other installs towards the bottom of the slide. Not sure why they did this either but when you pull the old seals off make sure to look at them to get the orientation.
Pick of tools,
Pick of Sliders,
Now, as long as you have the entire front end torn off the bike you might as well regrease your steering head bearings as I did.
I am glad I did. If you look at these 2 bearings you will see them as they came out of the bike. ALMOST NO GREASE ON THEM !!
Lower bearing,
And upper bearing,
Those bearings were almost DRY !
This next pic is of my upper bearing cup. It has a very small amount of rust spots started as you can see. I am sure because there no grease. But the cups were in great shape top and bottom so I lucked out there.
Upper bearing cup,
And Star nut,
Last, I will show you a pic of how I kept my bars and guage out of the way by tying it to the ceiling to keep it off the bike and out of the way.
And finally, the bike with forks removed,
To sum the rebuild up. All the work I did was very easy. You just need to take your time so you dont scratch the sliders inside and out and make sure you torque everything per the manual.
I appreciate the support
