Fork work

[darthandy]

Following Freebird's Tech section instructions, I have the fork springs out (Plastic spacer - did Yamaha use a plastic spacer?) and the bottom bolts out. I tried to remove the lower tubes as instructed, but while they broke loose from the "pressure hold", I seem to be hitting something solid and metallic right at the bottom before they come apart. Anyone know what I'm hitting? I don't want to keep slamming the lower tubes against this without knowing what's happening.

 

Thanks

 

Andy

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[GaryZ]

I have not had my VR forks apart yet.

 

However, I recently replaced the seals on my ZX11D7 and made a bonehead error. I forgot to remove the clip that holds the seals in place. Needless to say, I damaged the clip. No one in town keeps these things in stock. I ultimately made one out of heavy gauge safety wire.

 

The other thing that may be similar is a bolt that goes in from the bottom of the fork leg. On the ZX11D I used a modified broom handle stuck in from the top and spun the bolt out (and back in) using an 3/8" impact gun. This method was suggested to me by a mechanic at the Kawasaki shop. It worked great and I have done it twice now . . .

[mbrood]

The upgrade Progressive springs come with some PVC preload spacers.

 

Being a light-weight, I didn't use any... here is the Progressive spring (top) and the stock spring and 3" spacer tube that goes away with the upgrade.

 

http://www.bergall.org/temp/venture/springs3.jpg

[darthandy]

Thanks for the pics. That top spring looks a lot like mine but I just did some measuring and discovered that about one third of the spring has coils spaced about 2.15 mm apart and the other two thirds has coils spaced about 3.61 mm apart. A very small difference but it still seems to be dual rate. The springs do look heavier than the stock Yammy's. I attached a picture of my spring.

 

I note though, that the top spring in your pic seems to be more tightly wound at one end than at the other. Was it a progressive rate spring or a dual rate?

 

Andy

Edited June 12, 2011 by darthandy
Left off a question.

[mbrood]

The top spring is the Progressive, smoothly progressing in compression pressure. Did you measure the length of yours in comparison?

[darthandy]

The top spring is the Progressive, smoothly progressing in compression pressure. Did you measure the length of yours in comparison?

 

No I hadn't since I had nothing to compare to. However, if you have the measurements, here are mine - for the springs I mean! The springs are 20 3/4 inches or 525 mm long.