Checking out forks

Want the specs for a valve adjustment? Can you provide tips for bleeding brakes? Please use this section.
Post Reply
silver
Help!!! I need a LIFE!!!
Posts: 849
Joined: Sun Oct 09, 2005 10:07 pm
Location: Wartrace, Tennessee, USA
Contact:

Checking out forks

Post by silver »

Just wondering, if you were to check out a pair of forks what would you look for other than leaking seals ?
Invalid Session. Please resubmit the form.

Yoniboi
Help!!! I need a LIFE!!!
Posts: 850
Joined: Thu Aug 11, 2005 6:24 am
Location: Madrid, Spain

Post by Yoniboi »

Any kind of scarring, pitting, or wear on the sliders... particularly nearer the seals. Look for dings or scratches both on the legs and the sliders. If at all possible, pump them to see if the action is smooth (ideally take out the springs so you can really feel if they're smooth, it's not so easy with the springs in.. but most people aren't that friendly/helpful) at least back off the preload.

Make sure compression /rebound dampling screws turn freely and do what they're supposed to do.

Can't think of anything else but I've prolly missed something, someone else will fill in if I have.

Cheers,
John
If you're going to take a shot at me let me know so I can duck...!

sickle44
Help!!! I need a LIFE!!!
Posts: 3519
Joined: Thu Jan 26, 2006 6:35 pm
Location: Edmonton, Alberta

Post by sickle44 »

and lastly the most important thing to look for John is whether they're straight or not. If you can get a look at the fluids inside, it should give you and excellent indication as to what kind of care the owner kept it in?
Michael
Yes Yes I know, I said, I'm building a project YZF1070

Basement is done now, 850 finished and gone...
Gotta get the new siding up on the house.
Fixing the FZ1 up, cleaning up garage and then I might even begin

Yoniboi
Help!!! I need a LIFE!!!
Posts: 850
Joined: Thu Aug 11, 2005 6:24 am
Location: Madrid, Spain

Post by Yoniboi »

What comes next a tongue in cheek, OK, Sickle???

I didn't say straight 'cos I didn't want to offend the guys inteligence, but anyways, if they ain't straight they won't slide smoothly, they tighten up as they compress; but yea, if you hold the leg and turn the slider it should swivel, not swing.

I could've also said make sure both legs are a pair, same length, same model, not both right hand or left hand legs, that they come with triples, or if not that they suit the triples you've got, that if you're running twin discs that each leg has a caliper mount....

Good tip about the oil though... dark is OK, but if there's any iron filings in there, turn around and walk away.

John
If you're going to take a shot at me let me know so I can duck...!

sickle44
Help!!! I need a LIFE!!!
Posts: 3519
Joined: Thu Jan 26, 2006 6:35 pm
Location: Edmonton, Alberta

Post by sickle44 »

Not sure if you're pissed at me John or not, but..... Holy!!

No offence intended, was just tryin' to help the other John really.

If there were metal filings in the oil, it wouldn't be terrible, just a bargaining chip as now you'll definitely need to replace bushings and any other metal sliding thinga-ma-bobbers. To be honest though, for the cost of bushings/metal sliders, which ever, I'd replace them anyways on an older set of forks, just cause really.
Michael
Yes Yes I know, I said, I'm building a project YZF1070

Basement is done now, 850 finished and gone...
Gotta get the new siding up on the house.
Fixing the FZ1 up, cleaning up garage and then I might even begin

Hooligan
Site Admin
Posts: 1857
Joined: Thu Dec 11, 2003 10:28 pm
Location: Cleveland, OH, USA

Post by Hooligan »

easy guys, i don't think anyone meant anything by any of the posts!
Jason, aka: Hooligan
1994 YZF750-R
1996 YZF750-R
2003 Bonneville T100

hotcam
Help!!! I need a LIFE!!!
Posts: 1487
Joined: Fri Sep 22, 2006 6:29 am
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Post by hotcam »

If you get to see them in the bike or with the upper in a vise, then you can jiggle the lower and see if it slops side-to-side or front-to-back. Most obvious when fully extended.

Have a look up the bottom (of the forks silly :) ) at the main retaining allen bolt. These are often butchered and can be a right prick to get out. Not a deal breaker, but just a warning sign...
-------
'95 FZR1040 '09 FZ1-S
"And they had a machine, a dream of a machine, with wheels and gears and perfect in every respect, and they lived on it..." -Stanislaw Lem, "Cyberiad"

vinsanity69
Veteran Poster
Posts: 120
Joined: Fri Apr 13, 2007 5:55 am
Location: Cumming Ga

Post by vinsanity69 »

:good
That's a excellent tip......I got to spend five hours on a set one time thanks to not looking at them first.
89 fzr 1000 dragbike
94 foxeye street bike

Yoniboi
Help!!! I need a LIFE!!!
Posts: 850
Joined: Thu Aug 11, 2005 6:24 am
Location: Madrid, Spain

Post by Yoniboi »

Hey there, sorry about that, just catching up after some time away and seen how I went off the handle on poor old Sickle there. My apolgies. Can't remember now, it's been a while but I guess that was one of those days my ex was (and still does) get to me, that or I was burned out with house move and new contract at work, and fighting to get the Spondon legal in Spain (f**k*in' Felipe II's got so much to answer for). Been a bitch of a year really, odd things like this site are enormously chilling, so I'd be an absolute dingbat to shit in the bathwater, as it were.

Once again Sickle sorry about that, oh and Hotcam, excellent tip about the bolt heads... right on there.

John
If you're going to take a shot at me let me know so I can duck...!

sickle44
Help!!! I need a LIFE!!!
Posts: 3519
Joined: Thu Jan 26, 2006 6:35 pm
Location: Edmonton, Alberta

Post by sickle44 »

Thanks John,
Not to worry, and thanks for the amends. They say communincation is 7% words and 93% accounts for the body language, tonal flection, eye contact, and all that other shit. Sure is hard sometimes when all we're working with is the 7%.
Once again, not to worry and thanks
Michael
Yes Yes I know, I said, I'm building a project YZF1070

Basement is done now, 850 finished and gone...
Gotta get the new siding up on the house.
Fixing the FZ1 up, cleaning up garage and then I might even begin

Post Reply