FORK RE-BUILD QUESTION

[SloKrt]

hey guys,
Ive got a question that hopefully someone can help me with. Ive got a 1980 XS650 and I am going to start rebuilding my forks once i can get this figured out. First let me say that I have never re-built forks so this may be a stupid question. when I take off the rubber top caps off of my forks, there is a aluminum cap about 1/2" down. my problem is i cant see how it comes out. the top of the tubes doesnt appear to be threaded and there is no point to get ahold of the cap....

does anyone know what this is or how to get it out? I dont see it in the diagram in my manual, unless im missing something...

heres a crappy cell phone pic. (sorry dont have my camera in the garage right now)

HELP PLEASE!

 

[manualofman]

I'm not familiar with XS650's, do you need to remove this cap before removing the forks from your triple trees? As in, if you just loosened your trees, will the fork tubes slide out now? If the answer is yes, I'd recommend removing them first and seeing where you're at from there.

If you've got the bike on a center stand, just remember to prop up the bike underneath the motor on a small jack stand or solid wood blocks before you remove the front wheel!

 

[Redbird]

I'm not familiar with the XS's either, but it looks to me like there's a retaining ring holding it in. If you push down on that cap, does that metal ring stay put? If so, that's what's holding it in. You should be able to push down on the cap, and pop the ring out with a small pick or screwdriver. But be very careful not to scratch the surface of the fork tube.

 

[BR]

Redbird is correct. Usually a 2 person job. Put the bike on the centerstand and jack the front up taking all the weight off of it. Push down on the cap in the middle of the fork with a socket/extension and have someone use a pick tool or small screwdriver to remove the retaining ring. After the caps are off and the springs are out, then remove the forks from the bike.

 

[hillsy]

Yep - the cap is held in by a circlip.

I find it easiest to remove the forks, hold the fork upper in a vise, press down on the cap with a socket extension then remove the circlip. This can be a bit fiddly, but it is easier when they are off the bike and it's normally a one person job.

But, if you are dismantling the forks, keep them together until you can get the damper bolts out. The force of the springs will help stop the damper rods from spinning. Sometimes you need an air impact gun to spin them out.

 

[BR]

Hilsy,
The only reason I leave them on the bike to remove the clip is because I don't like to put the tubes in a vice. I mostly work on bikes for other people so I don't want to take any chances of scratching them or causing any damage on them. Of course I should have mentioned to loosen the top triple clamp bolt as it may put too much clamping force on the fork tube to allow the cap to push down. But taking them off and putting them in a vice works too. When I made my living working on bikes we had triple trees of each size that we put in the bench vise to hold the tubes for servicing...we also had a salvage yard on the premesis so we had access to lots of spare parts to make stuff out of.

 

[hillsy]

You won't damage forks in a vice if you have alloy soft jaws. At least I never have over many years

 

[SloKrt]

thanks for all the input guys! looks like it can be done on the bike, no pressure from the tripple possibly because the triples are now lower and below the cap. though since ill be taking the forks off the bike ill probably wait till i have them off the bike and can disassemble on the bench and if necessary have easire access to the retaining nut on the bottom, just in case i need to put the air to it.

again, thanks for all the good insight! this one had me puzzled though i figured it was something stupid simple. I will now put on my dunce hat for the day!