Fork Questions

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Can anyone tell me if there is a more comprehensive description on the disasembly and rebuild procedure for the 71 roadster front forks? The Haynes manual I have seems a bit vague and due to financial reasons I'm going to have to tackle the job myself. This bike has sat for over 8 years and the forks won't even budge! :? Looks like I'll be busy this winter :oops:
 
Norton forks

If you mean the fork stanchions (tubes) are seized inside the lower alloy sliders, you may be wasting your time trying to separate them. The reason I say this is if the inside of the alloy slider has been damaged or corroded they are scrap. The fork stanchions usually need to be replaced as well as upper and lower fork bushes. That really doesn't leave enough good parts to mess with. Find another set of forks.
 
Stickman,

Norton forks are very simple/easy to disassemble with a couple of tools most people would have if they own a norton.

I assume you have the two separate legs out of the yokes with the wheel off.

You have a bolt (Damper Tube Anchor Bolt) tucked away under each slider which must be undone. I have a ground down a 1/2" AF socket to fit in the hole.

The collar (seal holder) at the top of the slider has to undone.

The quote below was a suggestion by Ron L recently, it seems the best way to do the job that I have found also.

"I have always found it best to clamp the seal holder (steel) in a vise. I usually wrap the seal holder with a piece of emery tape for extra grip. Then using the front axle as a tommy bar, turn the lower leg to unscrew the seal holder. This is a tip I got from Brian Slark years ago."

You should then be able to use the main tube as a puller and "thump" it out of the slider. There are not that many bits to work out from that point.

One mistake I made once was not to replace the "Damper Tube Anchor Bolt Washer", this is a fibre washer that stops all your new fork oil pouring out the bottom, so replace them with any other parts you may end up replacing.

I know that this is not a manual suggestion, but hope it may help you.

The spare parts order book is often more usefull for seeing where things go back together than any manual I have found anyway. get one of those if you haven't got one, it is well worth the small cost.

Reg.
 
Those instructions always read easyer after you have done the job, some how less vague. They also make more sense once you have broken somthing that's why we call them disstrucktions. norbsa
 
Well norbsa,

I find a couple of beers beforehand, always stimulates my brain cells :idea:

As long as the job isn't too critical of course.
 
The parts list is a must-have although in the case of the forks I don't find the diagram very helpful. It's not drawn well.

I'm building a new set of forks for my disk brake project. They came from a junkyard bike and were in pretty bad shape. For me the two most difficult things were getting the seal retainers loose and getting the caps on the damper bodies loose. Both had corrosion and were very tight.

The technique described above should work well but I don't have access to a vise at the moment so I used a vise grip chain wrench and some liquid wrench. That worked great.

For the damper caps, I had to soak them with liquid wrench for a few days then I got them loose with a big crescent wrench and a bar inserted through the holes in the bottom. That worked nicely also.

Now it's time to clean everything up, order a few new parts, and put them together. So don't despair. If I can do this anyone can.

Debby
 
Oh one other thing: I recommend getting a factory service manual. Reprints are available from all the usual sources. I think it's well-written for the most part. And having a couple of different manuals certainly can't hurt.

Debby
 
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