1993 fj1200 front fork information needed

[ecuadorbob]

Hello, have busted a seal on my 93 1200 front fork, bike was modded by previous owners (bike was raced i think) and front forks seem to be original but believe they have ohlins springs installed, there is a bolt i needed to remove to slip out of the triple tree, have not seen this bolt in any pics anywhere, any idea what they are ?? will bring them to a specialist to replace seals but would like to know what mods have been done to the forks beforehand thanks, springs moved when i removed the bolts, wonder how i will get them back

[Pat Conlon]

That's new to me...looks to be some sort of pinch bolt for the spring spacer.

[RPM - Robert]

Maybe instead of cutting new spacers they ran that in there to hold the spring down either on the spacer or by depressing the spring and running the screw in far enough to hold the spring down. He did say the spring moved up when removed.

I am with pat I have never seen this one before.

[ecuadorbob]

the suspension was nice and firm before the seal gave out after hitting a huge pot hole, from what i have seen original suspensions were adjustable ?? anyway i will have them checked out but am just wondering how i will install them once the seals have been replaced, guess i will have to somehow get those bolts inserted once on the bike. love my old FJ but she's always got something going on, waiting for my filter spin on from RPM, have synced the carbs, redone all the air intake as it was when i got the bike, have new delkevics on but she is still in the shop, good thing i have another bike lol, but will not give up as she is so fun to ride when she is happy, with air pods and exhaust i am close to 4 turns out and probably would be best to re jet but blip test is spot on as is.. then the dreaded valve adjustment day will be next

[RPM - Robert]

Going to have to leave the cap off and figure out how much preload the screw was holding on the springs. Then compress the spring/spacer and install the screw again.

The 1993 model had preload adjustment on the fork cap.

[Old Rider]

Do you have a picture of the screw with the cap removed? is a airvalve?

[ecuadorbob]

my manual says preload was adjustable so when i saw the ohlins stickers and no adjustment available i thought it was a different fork all together, i did not want to get into dismantling them as i would prefer to let the suspension guys see them as is, i also have weird bumps on my front tire that is not that old so something is not right up there so hopefully they can sort it easily if not my budget and time is running out for this bike, i've been reading up on threads here where some talk about ABS cut to length for preload, would that supposed to be up top instead of that screw ??

[Pat Conlon]

Here's my theory:
The bike was used for drag racing. To get the front end as low as possible drag racers use lowering straps on the front end...except on certain tracks where lowering straps are not permitted, so they drill and tap the stanchion tubes to put in pinch bolts that when tightened holds the fork springs in a compressed state, thus keeping the front end low.

Sound possible?

[ecuadorbob]

Here's my theory:
The bike was used for drag racing. To get the front end as low as possible drag racers use lowering straps on the front end...except on certain tracks where lowering straps are not permitted, so they drill and tap the stanchion tubes to put in pinch bolts that when tightened holds the fork springs in a compressed state, thus keeping the front end low.

Sound possible?

yes indeed it does, and the problem with my front tire i believe is caused by the fact that the other seal was blown before i got the bike as only one leaked for me and i no longer had any spring left at all, most shops are closed for holidays at the moment and should open on Monday, will bring them to be checked

[ecuadorbob]

Hey guys

i finally brought the forks to a suspension shop and it turns out that those bolts in the tubes were just to hold the spings down and everything inside seems to be original but they want over $600 to change seals and bushings and say that they have to re-chrome the inner tubes, to be honest i have been dealing with cancer for a few years and not top shape at the moment but think i will try and fix them myself.. is there anyway to buff or polish the inner tubes so that the seals might last a little longer ?? i would like to get them back on the bike and would probably look at making spacers from 3/4 S40 pvc long enough to be just below those holes, would probably need to get another pair of spring washers, looking to order seals/dust seals from RPM but they don't seem to have any spring washers or retaining clips either. not the best fix but need to avoid big $$$ as i am not sure i will have another season ahead of me, if i do get through it i would do a complete overhaul of the bike as i love it

So possible to buff or sand without losing proper seal ??
using Schedule 40 3/4'' pvc with extra spring washers ok ??
and where can i get the spring clips if needed

thanks again

[Millietant]

$600 !!!!!!    your suspension guy is having a laugh at your expense - even if your stanchions do need re-chroming that's a ridiculous price (especially as you've already removed the forks from the bike.

We can't advise on the need to re-chrome the stanchions without actually examining them properly. Any defects need to be in the area that the seals sweep over for them to cause a leak, so make sure any damage is there and not just at the top of the tubes (many FJ's get pitting in the chrome between the triple trees that never gets cleaned because its hidden by the fairing, but this doesn't affect your seals).

Changing the fork seals and bushes on a FJ is not a difficult job, with a Haynes manual and a few tools (make sure you have a seal driver, to avoid damaging the new ones on installation), so why not take your time and do it yourself, especially if you're in no rush.