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Post by Fujiwara-Ben on Dec 20, 2014 21:53:40 GMT
Finally got the SD put back together and got it out for a lovely test ride. Only problem is my forks are terrible. There is literally 0% damping going on and they often bottom out, and to top it all off my new right hand oil seal is leaking more than the old one it replaced :L
Any idea's about the forks bottoming out and not damping correctly? I thought it could be a problem with the inner seals on the plunger thing or me not putting enough oil in (i put 160ml of 15w fork oil in each one)
Thanks again guys, i wish i could answer questions on here instead of always asking lol
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Post by Deleted on Dec 20, 2014 22:11:58 GMT
Never be afraid to ask, Ben.
I've never known this sort of thing. Are you sure there is not a part omitted? Or a mixture of old and newer version forks?
This sounds really strange.
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Post by grahamb on Dec 20, 2014 22:31:43 GMT
Hi Ben
have you got any pictures of the components and order they were assembled in .
Did they bottom out before you dismantled them or were they just soft.
what is the length of the springs overall ..
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Post by Fujiwara-Ben on Dec 20, 2014 23:35:07 GMT
Well i did the forks one at a time (to stop parts getting mixed up) and put back everything in the way i took them out. I did clean out the bottom of the forks before putting new oil in just to make sure no old stuff was left in there. The only parts that were replaced were oil seals and oil, everything else was unchanged. My forks have never been very good always a bit on the squidgy side but now they don't really do anything (when i was testing them after i put them back together by hand they seemed really soft and when the weight of the bike is put on them they seem to bottom out as pushing down on the handle bars does very little). I have not checked spring length though, i suspect that could be part of the problem. (but when i tightened the inner nut the springs were compressed a little, if that helps with anything) Unfortunately i have not got any pics of when i was doing the seals. Thanks again guys, hopefully we can get to the bottom of this or in my case back up to the top  (Things like this always seem to happen to me, i always end up with problems no one else gets lol) |
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Post by scott on Dec 21, 2014 11:28:37 GMT
I'm sure you have to start compressing the springs before you even get the inner nut to catch on the threads? I didn't bother measuring my springs last time I had my forks out, but the bike used to dive a little when it was pushed off the centre stand and the forks took the weight. I put a few washers on top of the springs to compress them a little and this has helped, they aren't so bad now. I did measure my springs when I first had them to bits a few years ago and I'm sure the springs were actually longer than what was stated in the haynes manual.
I am right in saying 15w fork oil is thicker than 10w? so you shouldn't be having issues with them being so soft, I run 10w in mine. I have noticed though that different brands of 10w fork oil appear to have very different consistency, some seem much thinner than others. I now run 10w40 engine oil in my bikes forks that are more basic and don't have damper rods, seems to work much better.
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Post by na44superdream on Dec 21, 2014 13:25:14 GMT
Hard to pin down whats going on there, if it were the plastic damper rod rings, they would have seemed rough most likely ( if the forks had been laying open and got some surface rust on the internal stanchion tube). Does sound like the springs could be on the way out, if their free length is less than 495mm it would be a concern. I've had the seal problem before, put new seals on an XBR 500 fork set, one was perfect the other new seal still leaked, but the second change got it perfect though. There was one other set that in one of the stanchions tubes I was distracted and put the rebound spring in after the damper rod instead of before.
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Post by grahamb on Dec 21, 2014 14:51:59 GMT
Hmm , Seem to be 3 different problems ?
oil leak = seal and stanchion
no damping = oil and damper ring
bottoming out = weak springs .
An awful lot to be wrong with one fork .I would dismantle and check assembly order (they may have been wrong before you dismantled)
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Post by scania on Dec 22, 2014 12:50:02 GMT
Could you have put the seals in back ways?
I find that if my tool gets caught in the zip of my forks that it is real painful and a nuisance to get free again!
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Post by scania on Dec 22, 2014 12:58:10 GMT
Well i did the forks one at a time (to stop parts getting mixed up) and put back everything in the way i took them out. I did clean out the bottom of the forks before putting new oil in just to make sure no old stuff was left in there. The only parts that were replaced were oil seals and oil, everything else was unchanged. My forks have never been very good always a bit on the squidgy side but now they don't really do anything (when i was testing them after i put them back together by hand they seemed really soft and when the weight of the bike is put on them they seem to bottom out as pushing down on the handle bars does very little). I have not checked spring length though, i suspect that could be part of the problem. (but when i tightened the inner nut the springs were compressed a little, if that helps with anything) Unfortunately i have not got any pics of when i was doing the seals. Thanks again guys, hopefully we can get to the bottom of this or in my case back up to the top (Things like this always seem to happen to me, i always end up with problems no one else gets lol) You could be Jinxed, I worked with a guy like that once, he would walk down the street and a roof tile or brick would fall of a building and hit him, he would go to the beach and a blind seagull would crash into him, a wheel came of a truck on a roundabout and destroyed his car. He was on holidays in Spain when his first floor balcony collapsed under him. Later he became afraid to go near airports in case an engine would drop off a plane and land on top of him !
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Post by Fujiwara-Ben on Dec 22, 2014 20:58:38 GMT
Thanks for the help guys  . looks like I'll have to get them apart again and go over everything again. This plastic damper ring, is it possible to get hold of a replacement as i'm thinking that might be the culprit. Otherwise I'll try putting a little more oil in and shimming the springs a bit. |
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Post by scott on Dec 23, 2014 20:31:25 GMT
try some 10w40 engine oil, that'll stiffen them up. Doesn't work so well in forks with damper rods though as I found out with my mates CG125.
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