While I will be the first to state that I am far from the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree...I am smart enough to know that the same bulb won't illuminate until I plug it into the wall outlet...
I have my 76 in a million pieces now and am slowly starting to reassemble it. My bike is 100% stock and was stored for many years. Obviously I want to replace the fork seals. My question is (i have more than one) How do you fill the forks as there is no "big nut" on the top of the fork tubes...AND is there a trick to taking them apart? I have a set of "Leak Proof" seals with a metal spacer that comes with the kit.
Is there a thread here somewhere, I couldn't find one, however, on how to do the job? I have a Haynes manual and all the info in it shows the standard "big nut" on the tube... not the plug like mine has..
There is a circlip that holds the plug in the top of the fork, remove it and see if you can compress the fork to push out the plug but don't have it aimed at anything cause it can pop out. One sailed by my head and bounced around the garage.
I think the fork top nut was limited to the 74 model. These are a little more complicated, but not much. I assume the forks are off the bike. Remove the top rubber cap and you will see a blind plug retained (somewhat) by a snap ring. If you have a compression type clamp, pull the inner tube up as far as possible and put the clamp on the inner tube right where it enters the lower.. That prevents the tube dropping on it's own. The idea is to keep it fully extended. Remove the snap ring at the top. 99 times out 100 the plug stays put because they are cocked slightly. Using a short socket extension and a soft hammer to tap the plug down. You may have to tap it several times, but it will pop out. There is very little force because the fork is fully extended. Plug with it's 0-ring pops out. Now lift out the spring. Usually nasty an smells bad, Invert the fork and pour out the oil out. Now you come to the hardest part. There is an allen screw recessed in the in the bottom of the fork just above the axle cutout. That screw (bolt) needs to come out to finish taking the forks apart. Insert your allen wrench and rap it HARD and suddenly. The idea is to shock it. If you are lucky, the bolt will loosen and you can back it out. If you are not so lucky, the bolt will just turn with it's internal part (the damper)and not come loose. There are several ways the go about removing the bolt now. Swearing is permitted or should I say imperative. What I do is use a 36" furniture clamp Clamp between the top of the inner tube and one of the 4 studs at the fork bottom. That puts everything in a bind and you then can loosen and remove that bolt. There are basically no parts inside. Just the damper.
Anyway ,with the bolt out of the bottom you now can separate the 2 fork halves. Clean everything and replace your fork seals. Assembly is the reverse procedure. Before installing the top plug, pour in the required amount of fork oil.That's how you get oil in these forks.
I had a plan to drill and tap and plug a hole in the top plug so oil can be added without having to disassemble the forks. Seems like a no brainer, but I failed to carry out my own plan.
I was born with nothing and still have most of it left.
yep, I've drilled and tapped all my fork bungs and it helps The bolt I've screwed in to seal the hole goes down so far the rubber cap goes on fine but it can be turned out far enough to grab it and easily yank out the bung. I could also add a few ml of fork oil if I was experimenting with damping far more easily, but like you, I've not followed through
Mike
