Gold Member

[Track T 2411]

+1 on the tapered bearings. Bit of a chore installing, but then you know you're good to go...

Good wrenchin'
Todd

[polkadot]

I agree with wiskerfish, they are a good upgrade. But it costs $30 if you do it right the first time, $60 if you don't. Don't ask me how I know!

[sos]

I think I'll do the tapered set if they are here in time. The supplier is out of stock, so if they don't get here when road test time comes aalong I'll regrease the originals and put the tapered set in later.

I did get some disassembly and cleaning done.





I'm very happy with the way the fork tubes looked when I took them apart. There was a bit of water in one, but no corrosion inside the lower legs. The only problem I am having is that I cannot get the fork seals out of the legs. Yes, I removed the retaining clips, but I have heated them and now they have been soaking in PB Blaster overnight and still won't budge. I checked the springs free length against the manual and they are well within specs and identical to each other at 20 1/4".

I know that the original fluid was ATF, but is that what is recommended today? It seems like now we would use straight 15 or 20 weight? What are you guys running on these old bikes:?:

I did have a bit of trouble getting one of the piston bolts out of the bottom of the fork, but a buddy recommended putting the spring back in and compressing the fork while unscrewing it and it came right out. Just in case anyone else has this issue.

Then I had some time this afternoon and thought I would at least get some more of the front end cleaned up.





And after a bit of disassembly and cleaning this is where it sits tonight.



I did get the mastercyclinder, proportioning block amd lines flushed out as well. Everything was working, but I flushed 5 or 6 lines full of fresh DOT3 to make sure I wasn't going to pump any nasties into the freshing cleaned calipers.

[Track T 2411]

Looks like progress! I'm VERY good at this stuff (taking things apart) too, seems like the next step (this goes where?) is where I'm stumbling

Good wrenchin'
Todd

[robin1731]

Never use PB Blaster on rubber parts. The rubber swells and just makes it even harder to get out. Look on Randakks site, he has an easy to make tool on there to remove the seals. It works great. On another note, I don't see the small springs that go on your damper rods. Are they just not in the pics? They do need to be in there or it will make for a harsh ride on rebound.

[Sagebrush]

I don't see the small springs that go on your damper rods. Are they just not in the pics? They do need to be in there or it will make for a harsh ride on rebound.

If those are progressive springs then the small springs were eliminated.

[Cookie]

Once in a while you can run into those seals being glued in. I had to heat the ones on my neighbor's bike to get them out. Since most aren't I assume somebody Loctited them or something on a seal change.

[polkadot]

If you look at my resto thread you will see that I had the exact same problem with my fork seals. If you go to Andersons (A local store but Steve will know) in the automotive department they sell a seal puller. It was about $10 and worked like a charm. Or if you want to borrow mine just give a shout. (It may never get used again anyway!) I used straight atf as per the manual and recommendations of this forum.

[sos]

If you look at my resto thread you will see that I had the exact same problem with my fork seals. If you go to Andersons (A local store but Steve will know) in the automotive department they sell a seal puller. It was about $10 and worked like a charm. Or if you want to borrow mine just give a shout. (It may never get used again anyway!) I used straight atf as per the manual and recommendations of this forum.

Awesome! Thanks. I'm only a few miles from Anderson's and I'll be using a puller regularly. I have this thing about buying crappy old bikes. I'll pick up the puller and some fresh AFT.

I checked out the Randakk's post on the seal puller. It looks good. I'm kinda glad to see that I wasn't losing my mind on this.

Thanks

[sos]

Just a quick update. I finally got the old fork seals out and the new seals installed. With the forks reassembled I had to wait for the blue locktite to cure.



Then on to the sticky head bearings. The grease was nearly solidified and the bearings had a coat of rust on them. The tapered bearings are still backordered so I dug into the CB350 spares and came up with a good set of ball bearings to get things going for now.





I'm still planning on going with the tapered bearings, but these are going nice and smooth.

Then I got the front end reassembled, the wheel cleaned and installed, brakes installed and bled, 400ml of aft fluid in the forks and added the engine oil before I forget and tie the motor up.

More tomorrow.

[chewy]

anybody got a link on those tapered head bearings?????

[sos]

My fuel pump arrived a couple days sooner than I thought. I'm not quite ready to put it on. First I needed to get that left side exhaust header repaired. I could not find any 1 5/8" exhaust pipe so I had to go rummaging through my spares bin.



The doner is a CB360 exhaust header. It is 1 1/2", but the stop on the end is 1.640" as opposed to the 1.660" on the GL header so it should work just fine.



Tacked in place.



And sealed up. Please don't laugh at my welding. It's been awhile.





After that I did a quick cleanup on the pipes and muffler and took them into the basement for some high temp flat black. I'll let them dry overnight and install them tomorrow with the new fuel pump.



Hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to get the bike ready for a very short road test.

[Roady]

Now ain't that the prettiest li'l pump you ever saw. I love new parts.

And them welds is okay. I haven't done any welding since time spent on Grandpa's farm over 30 years ago. He used to say that if it stuck together it was a good weld.

[robin1731]

I don't see the small springs that go on your damper rods. Are they just not in the pics? They do need to be in there or it will make for a harsh ride on rebound.

If those are progressive springs then the small springs were eliminated.

I mean the small spring that goes on the damper rod. It would be number 7 in this schematic. Without these the ride on rebound would be harsher. That spring dampens the rebound.

http://www.bikebandit.com/houseofmotorc ... 28sch23360

[sos]

I don't see the small springs that go on your damper rods. Are they just not in the pics? They do need to be in there or it will make for a harsh ride on rebound.

If those are progressive springs then the small springs were eliminated.

I mean the small spring that goes on the damper rod. It would be number 7 in this schematic. Without these the ride on rebound would be harsher. That spring dampens the rebound.

http://www.bikebandit.com/houseofmotorc ... 28sch23360

It looks likle the 1000 forks are slightly different from the 1100 forks. I checked the parts diagram on the 1976 GL1000 forks and I don't see that small spring. I checked it out when you posted it earlier. I tried to post a link, but it just goes to the search page.

I also double checked the parts to make sure I didn't leave them in the forks or misplace them, but I think I'm good to go.

Thanks