Triple clamp cramps

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*Disclaimer: The bottom nut and tab washer have been removed

So,

getting down to the wire on stripping the Norton and the triple clamps are acting like brats. They won't move!
I have done a search here and found a thread on how to beat the liven' crap outta em' using all sorts of medieval devices, (iron madden, cat-o-nine tails, balls of fire, etc)
but no luck. Seems like the advice is to soak em in a concoction overnight, (as we type) and then wallop em some more in the morning. Hummm???
The forum advice is to beat upward on the center stem till she gives. The Clymer solution is:

(Insert very british accent:)
Triple clamp cramps

2. "Take hold of the headlight and tap the bottom yoke down and off the stem with a soft mallet.....yada yada."

OK, so the "nice cop" approach didn't budge the bottom yoke.

Now, Clymer then sez:

(Insert very british accent:)
Triple clamp cramps


"Drive the stem and top yoke upward, (assumes you got the bottom off) with a soft mallet and remove the assembly...yada yada."

Yeah right! Now I do understand that after 30 sumthin years this yoke thinghy will be stuck and you should , (Insert very british accent:)
Triple clamp cramps

"Golly gosh, man up you twit, give er' a good ol' wally whack again." Hummmmm.

I don't want to ruin the threads on the lower center stem because besides the frame, it's the only bit that doesn't need a new $500 solution.

Ideas, thought, comments, donations?

Thanks!

Sky

*The devils trident" :
Triple clamp cramps
 
Get a drift and call a heavy metal mallet to duty with liberal dousing of PB Blaster or the like, possibly aided by heat.

JD
 
Oh my Skyguys, i'm savoring your brain melt on a little hang up like fussed yokes. Do as JD says but do not force anything, get big ole 3 lb steel sledge at least not anything soft and wimpy you'd call a 'mallet'. That may have worked 40 yr ago on those yokes of course. Heat till the area smokes then spray PBlaster or better yet candle wax or ATF/acetone. Save the wd40 for clean up only of nice finishes and electrical wetness. Ask your self in quaint proper accent, What Would Thor Use?
 
Now,

If I'm going use a real "persuader hammer" of sorts. The place to beat of the tri clamp would be......?
 
as Hobot says...

DO NOT swing long and hard. Use several firm but short "taps"..Like what an impact gun uses to free stubborn nuts... and grab the mallet close to the mallet head. Be very firm with your hits, but controlled.
Be sure to have a "pillow" of some sorts underneath lest the bottom yoke falls to a hard surface if it decides to be free after its kind persuasion. .

Be pesistant and make sure the drift is firmly seated so not to damage the yoke tube. Let the drift get "mushroomed" not the part you're trying to release.

Also to note, a real Factory "Manuel" (it's alright... he's from Barcelona) may offer a better discription of the process, or even Haynes. Clymer uses a fake British accent.

JD
 
Clymer uses a fake British accent.

Instant LOL! on that one JD, thanx. Another hehe to me is your advice to smack with loving care and a pillow to console it. Strangely on my stuck show stoppers, seems after a cry to forums/lists, next attempt actually got somewhere, as if the mental focus altered the molecular adhesion and mechanical distortions, excepting that don't necessary prevent you creating your own...
 
Steady on "old man" I think you need a prop to support the under side , Simply yeilding mindless blows "really is not cricket "old chap" :lol:
 
Skyguyz said:
Ideas, thought, comments, donations?

All you need to do is "give it a damn good thrashing"
[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78b67l_yxUc[/video]
 
Sky,

It is while since I took mine apart, I was lucky than you at releasing it. But, If I remember correctly the stem bolt is hollow? right? If so get the largest diameter all thread from the hardware, two nuts and a short lenght of stout tube, that will fit over the bottom thread, then wind up on the nuts, this should draw it off without resorting to hammers and all that nasty stuff. Make sure the tube at the bottom, or large socket is not rubbing on the threads.
Hope this helps, Richard
 
The upper yoke with the stem will rotate independantly from the bottom, ie. there is no keyway or other device installed. So try rotating them opposite directions to loosen the grip, then make sure the nut is loosely installed to save the threads while commencing with the pounding.
 
Ummmmmmmm....

You did loosen off the two pinch bolts on the lower yoke, yes?

otherwise, this might take a while!
 
L.A.B. said:
grandpaul said:
You did loosen off the two pinch bolts on the lower yoke, yes?

Look at the photo.

Photo shows the front of the yokes, can't see the pinch bolts, and he only mentioned having removed the main nut and washer.
 
grandpaul said:
L.A.B. said:
grandpaul said:
You did loosen off the two pinch bolts on the lower yoke, yes?

Look at the photo.

Photo shows the front of the yokes, can't see the pinch bolts, and he only mentioned having removed the main nut and washer.

= No fork legs!
 
Thanks for all the worldly advice gents. Off to Harbor Freight to get a Thor hammer, (Hey they are having a sale, shocking eh?) Any way, Trying to figure out if all this rhetoric is about pounding it in the right place. Seems a lot of comments are about pounding the center stem upwards thus releasing both the tri-clamps.

The Clymers calls for beating downward on the lower try-clamp first then beat the stem upwards.
Don't think so. The only way to release the bottom tri-clamp is by beating upward on the center stem. Continue the beating till the stem is thru the top and presto-chango, the top one is released....Right?

Then part three is: (Bearing removal)

"Insert a drift through the inner race of the top bearing and push the interior spacer tube to the side so the end of the drift can be applied to the inner race of the bottom bearing. carefully tap the bearing out of the steering head and remove the spacer. Remove the top bearing by driving it upward from the bottom. Again, apply the drift to the inner race."

Yeah, this is gonna be fun......NOT!


(Insert stuffy Churchill accent:)

"Difficulties mastered are opportunities won."
Winston Churchill
Triple clamp cramps
 
I wouldn't beat on the threaded center tube, it will mushroom and that's the end of it. If you have to use a wood block between the hammer and the tube, even if you beat up the wood. Mine came right apart after 40 year without any beating.

Dave
69S
 
wood is the perfect material for a drift in this app. just remembered... that's what I used. I think a "wood block" was in fact mentioned in the factory "Manuel".

I used a chunk of Honduras Mahogany I had left over from my guitar building days.

JD
 
I just did this procedure an hour ago.
Put the handle bars back on, it helps.
Penetraiting oil on all the affected areas.
Turn the handle bars left to the stop and continue, the bottom yoke will stop and the headlight ears will pop out
then turn right to the stop and keep turning
Work it back and forth using the stop to help you
This will have loosened the stem's grip on the lower tree
Now use wood or a soft mallet and start wailing on the stem
It should move, if not start from the beginning.
 
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