Suspension questions

[Shaun]

So I got into my forks on the weekend, and yes they came apart easily enough. What I found was a lot of sludge and crud. Mechanically I found a couple of things; I found that the last person who was into the forks made some errors when reassembling, when the bottom screw was put in the notch in the damper rod was not aligned properly, so the screw is beat and bent and flattened out, I will have to replace with a new one and washer. Second apparent error, at the bottom of the fork tube there is an aluminum piece called a oil lock? (I don't have the manual in front of me) Anyway it was installed up side down according to the picture showing the orientation in the manual. Now that creates the question being each fork was different, is the picture showing the fork break down in the clymer manual correct? As I see it the oil lock piece should sit inside the fork tube, inserted so to speak. The largest diameter of the oil lock piece should sit even with the bottom of the fork tube with the the rest of the oil lock inside the tube, not pointed down into the lower leg?

the oil lock... which looks kind of like a flower pot should be oriented so that the flower pot is upside down... larger diameter facing down..... small diameter facing up to the damper rod with two spring washers and one flat washer sandwiched in between


KOokaloo!

Frank

Thanks for looking.
Shaun

Cool I get the flower pot look that makes great sense and I will reassemble it that way. The two spring washers and flat washer that you mention are they the ones inside the fork tube? Because the only thing that came out when I removed the fork tube was the oil lock. I didn't see anything like that on the fork breakdown view, so where do they come from, am I missing them? Also I checked the springs for length, there is a difference of 3/16" between the two, what is the tolerance for this if there is one or a acceptable allowance, if zero then new springs come earlier than I had planned.

Thanks

[racerman_27410]

the two spring washers have an ID the same size as the lower part of the damper rod and they fit on the damper rod up against a shoulder thats machined into the lower part of the damper rod....

the flower pot covers the compression holes in the damper rod.

they allow the flower pot to float somewhat up off the bottom of the fork tube.

the idea is to allow excess fluid to push the flower pot up off the bottom when necessary (like hitting potholes and such)

i'm not 100 percent sure the late model forks have the spring washers but i know the early model forks do.

KOokaloo!


Frank

[RichBaker]

Late model forks do NOT have the spring washers...

[Shaun]

Thanks folks, I'll let you know how it all works out when I get it back together. Should be some what improved over the condition I got it in.

[Shaun]

The specs call for oil to be 130mm from the top with the forks compressed, is that with springs in or out?

Thanks for the help.
Shaun

[jvb_ca]

That would be with springs out. Make sure to purge any air out by plunging the legs a couple of times...slowly of course.

Cheers...Jake

[Shaun]

Well I finally got my forks back together even after a fluorescent light tube incident (not cool). As I was going through the repair manual and looking at the parts break down I noticed that the list was not the same as I had in front of me. There were no spacers in there and related parts. Just springs on top of the damper rods. Spring length was not the same as specified in the manual. So the only thing I can suspect is that they are an after market spring of sorts. They are not a straight wound spring but a progressive type, they are 19 inches in length overall. So I'll see what they are like with fresh oil and internal parts located in their proper orientation. Thanks for the input and help on suspension setup I now can evaluate changes that I make with better understanding.

Awesome information,

Thanks
Shaun.

[RichBaker]

Stock springs are a progressive wind.... I forget the length.