Fork Top nuts......

Here's one for you guys.
So I thought I'd replace the old peeling chrome fork top nuts (bolt?).
I got some nice alloy ones. With the space for the gauge holders.
I took the weight off the front end and I undid the left one with out a problem.
I clean up that area and reinstalled with anti-seize and the new alloy nut.
I was anxious to get to the right side now and be done with it.
As I unfastened the old one I got it almost all the way out, and I heard and felt a slight clunk.
I looked and the nut was all the way out of the fork threads but wouldn't rise any further.
Dread!
What have I done? Is the threaded rod frozen inside the center of the nut?
It goes back in ok and comes back out and does the same thing.
What does it all mean? Am I basically screwed up now?
Is there any easy solution or is a complete fork melt down required?
Thanks for any help provided.
NortonNewbie -dog

Take it off the center stand and the compression of the fork will expell th nut to reveal the srping and rod that the fork nut is screwed into. You may have to undo the other fork nut to make this happen. You will have to then wedge a wrench between the spring retainer and the fork nut to unscrew it from the rod.
When reassembling put the bike back on the center stand to retract. BE CARFULL! These softer nuts will cross thread very easily.

If you compress the forks slightly, then the top nut/spring/damper rod assembly should rise up out of the fork, so that you have enough clearance to loosen the nut which should be locking the top nut to the damper rod? But I would have expected you to have had the same thing happen when you unscrewed the left hand side nut unless the forks extended slightly when you unscrewed the R/H nut?
As you shouldn't have been able to unscrew the left hand top nut and lift it away without having to disconnect it from the damper rod first, but I may not have understood correctly?

Before removing top nuts, with the bike on its main stand, I would usually place a jack under the frame (actually I jack it at the front Iso.) to take most of the weight off the forks, and then unscrew both top nuts.

Once the nuts are clear of the stanchion threads (the jack can be lowered slightly to assist this) I lift the wheel and place a 3 inch block underneath it so both top nut assemblies are raised well out of the forks and can be worked on easily.
Before refitting the nuts to the forks, I remove the block from beneath the wheel, and jack the frame up until the nuts drop down far enough to screw back into the fork stanchion threads.

Yup, just rebuilt the forks meself and the key really is a jack - lower her to push the damper rods up to fix/unfix the cap nuts, raise her so yer not fighting the springs to tighten down the cap nuts.

And mind yer tightening sequence and torques. I tighten from the bottom up (axle nut, pinch bolt, lower triple clamp, fork nuts) with a few bounces of the front end in between each.

Doesn't do a blessed thing, but the airhead BMW guys give me a lot less shit that way!

Best of luck.

YES!
Ah, the good old forum for answers for the timid Norton Newbie.
That was it. Took the bike off the block and centerstand and the spring retainer popped out of the stanchion.
I broke the grip the locked nut on the threaded rod had on the fork top nut and off it came.
Great and thanks.

Before I slip it back together, should I connect that threaded rod back to the fork top nut (FTN) or will it just screw in as usual?
And I'm assuming then the lock nut goes snug up against the FTN, then reassemble the FTN to the top of the fork leg?

J dog

Yes, you connect the damper rod and lock the jam nut and the "FTN" together - not much force required - before installing the FTNs.

Good job, SurfDog!

Resurrecting an old post for a new problem for me. All my 9/16 wrenches are too thick to remove the lock nut at the stanchion nut. Is there a workaround for this or do I need to find the original Norton spanner that came with the bike (I don't have the tool kit)?

powerdoc said:

All my 9/16 wrenches are too thick to remove the lock nut at the stanchion nut.

Click to expand...

Rock the wrench up and down as you push it in between the fork top bolt (stanchion nut) and the fork spring retaining washer, as that forces the retainer down, compressing the fork spring slightly which will expand the gap and the wrench should eventually slide in. Alternatively open the gap up with another tool (screwdriver?) and slide the wrench in.

As I've just come in from doing just what the above post says I feel like a bit of a dolt not realizing that the compression of the spring wasn't that great. Thanks for not telling me what a 3-handed idiot I was (although you might have acutally felt it !) On inspection one side is quite rusted on top, is that any indiction of problems farther down or just stanchion rods from 2 different batches which were made of 2 different steels? I drained the oil from the opposite side but not the rusty one; would oil that looks more gunky than the probably 36 year old stuff I drained be an indicator also? Bike basically new, as far as miles, only 5500+.