Fork leaking

[s.tyler58]

Thanks camos! That sounds great! Sounds like I what I did pretty much on Monday! Trying to do only one side was dumb, huh? I didn`t remove the wheel though and never have but always a first time! I raised the bike with the lift to get the fork extended but not lifting the tire from the ground. Dropped it back down to compess and squirt out old fork oil. Did you know that if you're dumb enough, that stuff will squirt 6 feet from the anti dive ports? DOH! I had to get my 6'5" 265 lb.neighbor to be able to get the spring compressed enough to start the cap threading back in. There was a 2" PVC spacer at the top and I could get the cap to the top of the fork but not enough to start threading it! (He leaves in the morning to 4 wheel in the Nebraska State Forest out west) My mechanic rebuilt the fork two years ago for the P.O.. I'll stop and see him tomorrow to find out which springs he used at the time. My goal is to get rid of the anti dive and figured to upgrade to progressives. Now I wonder if he put progressives in already (hense the spacer) since none of the threads I've looked up mention pvc spacers with OEM springs?

 

Any ideas for capping the anti dive ports on the fork would be appreciated.

[Flyinfool]

The OEM springs have about a 6 inch long metal spacer. Progressives will use anywhere from 0 to 1 inch of PVC pipe as a spacer. The length of the PVC is something that you can play with to get the ride and handling that you desire.

 

I did not need to remove the front wheel to do my springs. You DO want the front wheel off the ground when you remove or install the caps. Also be sure to have let ALL of the air out of the forks BEFORE you open anything up or you will have fork oil everywhere.

Clean the upper fork tubes very well before you collapses them all the way down or you can drive dirt into the fork seals and cause a leak. Don't ask how I know this.............

 

As for your leaking new o rings, it is possible that the original ones were compressed from age and that the o ring clerk measured the compressed thickness and your new ones are to thin? I do not know what the size should be.

[s.tyler58]

"As for your leaking new o rings, it is possible that the original ones were compressed from age and that the o ring clerk measured the compressed thickness and your new ones are to thin? I do not know what the size should be." -Flyinfool

 

I was thinking the same thing about the O-rings and thought I'd go back today and pick up a couple that are thicker. I quoted the size wrong earlier, what she wrote on the bag was 2.5 by 12. Since the O-ring shop is about 4 blocks from my mechanic, I'm going to swing by the mechanic and see if he put Progressive in, he must have the spacer but why do I need air in it to improve the ride if they're Progressive puc says he never puts air in his Progressive set up? Trying to hit 11 lb with filling it and checking the pressure is a monumental task for me to not lose all that pressure in 1/8 of the blink of an eye! I don't mind the anti dive if it's not leaking!

 

I'm still moving stuff I'm cleaning up my garage to bring home my other workbench and hang all my peg boards which I like to use for tools cuz I can see everything I need without digging through multiple drawers. Then I have to find help to bring home my 8-foot bench. The weather is gorgeous today but there will be more now that that horrible April is nearly over!

 

And thanks to everyone for all your great help! I've learned a little something from all of you and I'm thinking I might have to go to that repair day in Ohio even if I have to go buy car just to meet a bunch of you, and thank you in person and to let you see for yourselves that while I may be a goofball I'm not really stupid or inept. Hahaha

 

 

...in the Eternal scheme of things, this isn't even the blink of an eye.

[s.tyler58]

Okay so the Yamaha diagram doesn't show it but according to my mechanic Mark Robertson, there is a third O ring and a tiny weep hole at the top of the anti dive unit. He said it took him four tries before they finally found it and fixed the fork oil leak on another anti dive.

 

Also I have near New Progressive Springs already in it. I asked him about the 3-4" spring below the PVC spacer and he explained that that is the top-out spring. I hadn't seen it mentioned in any of the threads I've searched through. He also explained to make sure I mark the cap to where the threads start to bite so that it begins to thread immediately instead of spinning it around till it starts. Those marks were already there from his rebuild so he explained that they always put their mark at the top towards the front of the bike.

 

All great info in my mind. I would still like to just get rid of the anti Dives the next time it starts to leak on me down the road so I still need to find out about the caps from skydock 17. Should I try to get should of him by phone?

 

...in the Eternal scheme of things, this isn't even the blink of an eye.

Edited April 26, 2018 by s.tyler58

[camos]

I did not need to remove the front wheel to do my springs. You DO want the front wheel off the ground when you remove or install the caps. Also be sure to have let ALL of the air out of the forks BEFORE you open anything up or you will have fork oil everywhere.

You are right, the front wheel does not have to be removed to change the springs. However, to make sure the fork oil is at the correct level it is necessary to measure with the forks completely compressed. Removing the wheel makes it much easier to get the forks compressed rather than jacking up the wheel to compress the forks.

[Flyinfool]

I did mine on the center stand with a safety strap to make sure the center stand can not collapse. I then used a floor jack under the front of the engine to lift the front wheel off the ground. When it was time to compress the forks I lift the front wheel by hand and put a concrete block under the wheel and lower the floor jack until the forks are fully compressed. Still easier than taking off the front wheel, brakes, fender, brace, speedo cable........ and then putting it all back together.

[camos]

I did mine on the center stand with a safety strap to make sure the center stand can not collapse. I then used a floor jack under the front of the engine to lift the front wheel off the ground. When it was time to compress the forks I lift the front wheel by hand and put a concrete block under the wheel and lower the floor jack until the forks are fully compressed. Still easier than taking off the front wheel, brakes, fender, brace, speedo cable........ and then putting it all back together.

Not sure what job you are referring to here but there is no need to remove the fender or brace. Undoing the speedo cable is really simple since it comes off when the axle is removed. The calipers don't need to be removed either but it is easier if they are loosened so the wheel can be rocked a little to relieve the pad grip.

 

We are probably discussing six of one and half a dozen of the other but I prefer to remove the wheel.