I'm in the process of putting in Racetek springs in my '71 CB500 forks and have a problem: one of the damper rods seems too short! I put one together and the central rod (where the cap nut threads onto, compressing the spring) was about 3" longer than the upper fork tube, which allowed me to compress the spring, thread the spring compression nut, and allowed me to also thread on the top cap assembly. The second one, however, only comes up to within 2" or so of the top of the top tube (??). The obvious answer is "the central rod must slide inside the damper assembly" but it does not seem to want to move at all - it feels frozen in place.
So... what am I doing wrong? I'm using this how-to as instructions (http://www.motorcycleclassics.com/multimedia/image-gallery.aspx?id=11492&seq=18#axzz2WJlVkxqQ), but the only difference so far was I put the entire spring/damper/rod assembly inside the fork lowers pre-built as opposed to assembling it while already in-place in the lower as described, due to my inability to reach the top of the disassembled damper's rod. Is the central rod supposed to move and is just stuck perhaps? The shop manual doesn't say, of course...
So... what am I doing wrong? I'm using this how-to as instructions (http://www.motorcycleclassics.com/multimedia/image-gallery.aspx?id=11492&seq=18#axzz2WJlVkxqQ), but the only difference so far was I put the entire spring/damper/rod assembly inside the fork lowers pre-built as opposed to assembling it while already in-place in the lower as described, due to my inability to reach the top of the disassembled damper's rod. Is the central rod supposed to move and is just stuck perhaps? The shop manual doesn't say, of course...