Front_forks

---

Tonight was an easy night, it's too hot and humid to be working, but with a beer by my side, and a bit of determination, I thought it would be good to disassemble the front forks, get them cleaned up, get rid of the old oil that is in them, and put it all back together.

well the first problem was they are off the bike, and the top caps are on good and tight, since I don't have 3 hands, or a vise, I had to call on the neighbor to help me out. I held on tightly of the tube, he used the socket and we managed to loosen off the caps, once loose I knew I could get them off, and off they came.

Took all the innards out, drained the oil, poured a bit of varsol down the tube shook it around and drained that as well. Next will be the rest of the shock to come apart, as I do have to take the seals off one is ripped, but before I dismantle them all the way I have to check to see if this needs to be done, no sense in doing more work than is required, but then again I can paint the lower parts and not have to mask off anything,,,,well I will see....

So a few pictures of tonight's work, and I even included the first part that has been cleaned and painted, you will see it right at the end...

Cleaning

---

And so the cleaning continues....

Just getting the crud off a bit, all the parts will be completely stripped down and cleaned properly, but it gives me something to do and it makes it easier to see the parts and what condition they are in...

for example the front forks require new seals one of them is hacked up a bit

and so a few pictures....

Swingarm

---

Well just a bit of work tonight, nothing special and nothing major, but every little bit gets it closer to completion....

so it was a bit of varsol, rags, wire wheel, and it came out clean, needs more work, going to give it a satin finish, since it's not in a perfect condition and it will be a good way to mask the imperfections....

a few pics....

hydraulic clutch cleanup

---

Well tonight I found a bit of time to clean up the hydraulic clutch system. After seeing what my buddy Spyug found, and the headache it cost him, I wanted to be a bit proactive and completely pulled it all apart, cleaned it all up and when ready it will all go back together, and I will know it should not give me any grief.

Now I forgot (shame on me) to take before pictures, there is one in an earlier post on how dirty this area was, and it's more or less about as bad as what Spyug had, however the piston did move back and forth via hand pressure, so it was not as bad and it was not stuck....Seals all seem to be good, no pitting in any critical areas, so it should be good to go.

It will need some painting, but what part won't......

And a few pics....










Piston is not bad at all




I hate pitting, but at least this is not a critical issue and does not affect the function, it's only cosmetic, and once the parts are put together it's not even seen.




Fairly clean on the inside, I will admit I did clean it up, but really it was not bad...




Seals are still good, lucky me, I can just reuse them...









all the parts.....I think it needs to get SS Allen Cap Head bolts for sure...

tear down 8

---

Well a bit more progress tonight, I finished disassembling the rest of the swing arm....then got to the front end a bit removed the top tripple tree, and now the frame sits on her own. Tomorrow going to finish up tearing down the front, take the front rim off of the forks, the rotors, the lower tripple tree, and that will be the end of the tear down I believe....

I have inquired about powder coating the frame, the rims, and a few tidbits, can't believe the initial pricing, 600 to 700 bucks, this will include all prep work, and then powder coat, well after a bit of searching and some luck, and a point in the right direction I seem to have come across a company that will do it for 350....wow, so this bike might get a better paint job than my GS, but I am still on the fence, 350 bucks can go a long way in the rest of the bike, so I have to give it some more thought....

So soon it will be time to start the clean up of all the parts removed, have to go to the store and re-stock on some cleaning supplies.....

Well a few pictures to show the work tonight, and as you can see it's almost done.......
































So far the best part is it seems all the bearings are in great shape, gong to clean them, grease them up, and it should be good to go for another 30 years......

.

tear down 7

---

So tonight not a lot was done, had to watch the Hockey game....

But I did get a bit done, cleaned up some parts, removed the brake disc from the rim, even though I had one of the screws holding it in place was messed up, so people should not be given tools, after they stripped the head, they added some loctite, and then screwed it down as best they could, will this made it impossible to remove, had to cut a slot in the head and was finally able to get it out...

cleaned up a few parts on the wire wheel, the start of many more parts and hours at that wheel, fun times ahead.....

well here are some shots of the work tonight....



Bits and pieces clean up nice......














Here is the mess I had to deal with that the PO left for me....LOL

tear down 6

---

So found a bit of time today to get out to the garage and continue the tear down of the bike. Was not really sure what to do, but figured the simplest thing would be to get the back end off and out of the way, thus leaving me with just the front end.

not much to the removal of the back end, main bolt holding the rear wheel on came off, and that was out of the way, one bolt holding the shock adjustment gizmo and it was out of the way as well, this thing is funky and not sure if it's even working, going to have to strip it down and see how it functions if at all.

Then I took off two more main bolts holding the swing arm dog bone, and the one holding the upper part of the mono shock, and out it came.

Chain is dirty and not sure if it's OK, going to have to clean it up and see, give it a good scrub and a soaking in some kerosene for a day or two...

the rear hub is dirty as can be, but everything else seems to be OK, just needs the wire wheel, or the buffing wheel, and or some simple green, and it will all be like new again....

will check on the bearings once it's all cleaned up, too messy right now, and I have run out of time...

so here are some pictures, until the next time, at which point it will be the front end....

Cheers

































That's it for now....