Fork Dissasembly - Do I have everything. Also - Fork Paint

[herulach]

Going to do the fork seals on the YBR next weekend, want to check I have everything I need (the haynes manual is a bit vague)

Fork Oil
New Seals (oil and dust)
one of these seal pullers.

I'm also planning on repainting the lowers, does anyone have any recommendations for paint? Are cheap halfords rattlecans good enough?
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YBR 125>FZS600

[Teflon-Mike]

[el_oso]

i completely forgot about the long allen key needed to take the damper rod out first time i done motorcycle fork seals. you can fashion your own using a bolt head the same size as the damper rod. then take two nuts screw them onto the bolt and then use a normal socket with a longer extension bar. hope this is clear.
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Duke 390
Previous: '05 XR125L | '96 XJ600S Diversion |'05 Suzuki GSXR1000 | '05 Honda CBR125-R | '97 YZF 600R Thundercat | '11 Honda CBR250
Car: Jeep Wrangler 4.0L

[herulach]

Haynes reckons its a T70 bit on an extension, so got one of those on order.

The lowers are fucked, sod all paint on the leading corners, and allsorts of circular scratches round the legs, I reckon someones had a particularly poor fitting L plate clamped round it at some stage. For the sake of £5 and a bit of effort I might see how it comes out with a tin of satin silver. Can't look any worse than it already bloody does!
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YBR 125>FZS600

[Vincent]

Plastikote paint is fairly good on ally, you might need to use etch primer for a longer lasting finish though. You can also get paint that you can bake on in the oven, Simonez Hard/Tough Coat being one.

[herulach]

Just been for a ride out to halfords, what do you all reckon to Alloy Wheel Paint? Similar substrate in similar conditions.

If I use acid etch primer like this do I still need to put ordinary primer over the top?

Sorry for the dumb ass questions, want to get it right first time
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YBR 125>FZS600

[Vincent]

If the top coat requires primer then yes, you'll need a coat on top of the etch primer. The etch primer is to get the paint to stick to the ally surface, if you don't use it, the paint wil peel in a short time. The primer will fil any small scratches etc for a smoother top coat.

[neil.]

I believe you need a 16mm allen bit/socket to remove the plug at the top of the stanchion. Also, whilst the forks are off I would highly recommend you fit gaiters to them so that you will never have to worry about pitting caused by stone chips damaging the stanchions and seals. Ones that fit a CG will fit the YBR. I have these: https://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Honda-CG125-Motorcycle-Fork-Gaitors-CG-125-Gaiters-/280514586612?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_Motorcycle_Parts&hash=item414ff8e7f4#ht_500wt_928 . In theory you should never have to change the seals again if you have gaiters fitted and if they're tied on, MOT testers can't look under them to check for oil leaks (not that I condone unsafe forks of course!).

Watch out when removing the fastners that hold the mudguard to the forks as I had one snap as it was so badly corroded, leaving half of it in the fork leg, so I'm now using 3 out of 4 fixings on the mudguard until I can be bothered to sort it out.

You also need to fashion some sort of dipstick to measure the oil level in the forks when you've filled them up. One of those wooden sticks you use for supporting plants works well. Measure the correct level along the stick and mark 5 mm after that with a wrap of electrical tape, then you know when you see 5mm of oil on the dipstick the level is right. I say 5mm to avoid the dipstick displacing too much oil and giving you a false reading.
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CBT February 2008 | A2 June 2008 | Yamaha YBR125 (written off) | Honda CBF125 (current)

[molex]

Try the easy way

https://www.motorcyclecruiser.com/tech/replace_fork_seals/index.html

[Vincent]

Gaitors are a briliant idea, esp on bikes with "softer" chroming on the stantions, the fork seals will still wear but will last a hell of a lot longer and you won't face the expense of new or re-chromed stantions when they get pitted.

[herulach]

Have to say I love the ghetto way, sounds like a recipe for mess though! Looks like painting them might be better waiting for a few months till we move and have a garage, the seals need doing now though as one is pissing oil.

Neil, thanks for the gaiters suggestion, but they look so shit I don't know if I could bring myself to do it! Have you any photos of your's with them on?
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YBR 125>FZS600

[Rob W]

Surely they're RWU forks?

Slide-hammer should be the easiest and best technique for getting the seal out. Prise out the dust seal and the seal retaining clip and then give the fork tube a few good yanks, and the bottom bush should tap out the top one and the seal.

Ignore me if I'm talking bollocks, and your bike cant be done like that, but that's how I've always gotten my seals out on RWU forks.
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TS50 > Senda 125 > ZXR400 > CB-1 > GSX-R1000 > Bandit 600 > ZXR750 H1 > GSX-R750 SRAD > '98 RR-W Fireblade > T595 Daytona > Hornet 900 > '04 Fireblade > GSX-S1000F (x2) > '23 XSR900

[Robby]

If you want a plain/silver finish on your forks then just take them back to bare metal with nitromors and give them a rub over with some wire wool to lift off any corrosion. If the original surface is particularly smooth you could polish them, but I like the plain alloy look.

[neil.]

I actually think the gaiters look pretty good, here's a pic (also pimping out my new braided brake hose that I fitted this morning om nom nom!):

https://www.bikechatforums.com/files/image001.jpg
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CBT February 2008 | A2 June 2008 | Yamaha YBR125 (written off) | Honda CBF125 (current)

[Teflon-Mike]

I'd endorse the addition of Fork Gaiters also.
https://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w269/teflons-torque/Little%20Dreams/imag1100.jpg
Here fitted to the old CB125TD I'm renovating at the moment, and not quite built up, but with black forks to give you an idea of what they look like, on them.
Reason for fit here, is as much to hide the state of the forks as stop it getting in that state. Fork Rechroming is about £150 a pair, regardless of bike. Cheaper to get new stansions most times, IF you can get them.... for this bike you cant.... so has to have gaiters and frequent precautionary seal replacements!
DONT get them off e-bay though. Busters, mail order, they are £6.99 a pair I think. HALF the price they are advetrised for on e-bay!
Great investment against having to get new stansions or find some-one to rechrome old ones at some point.
forks on my 750 aren't pitted, but thats got'em for just that reason.
You might as well paint the forks while you have them stripped for the seals. You need'em clean before you re-assemble, need'em clean to paint, saves double doing.
etch, prime, prime, paint, paint, paint, laquer, laquer.
Reassemble with your new seals and gaiters, you shouldn't have to touch them again..... unless you keep the bike a life time.... in which case you may, but NOT for a very long time!
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My Webby'Tef's-tQ, loads of stuff about my bikes, my Land-Rovers, and the stuff I do with them!
Current Bikes:'Honda VF1000F' ;'CB750F2N' ;'CB125TD ( 6 3 of em!)'; 'Montesa Cota 248'. Learner FAQ's:= 'U want to Ride a Motorbike! Where Do U start?'

[Vincent]

[Teflon-Mike]

[neil.]

Mike, you know you can repair pitted stanchions with epoxy filling? Looks crap but if it's covered with gaiters, it doesn't matter. Would save having to redo seals all the time because they're getting ripped to shreds by roughnessness.
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CBT February 2008 | A2 June 2008 | Yamaha YBR125 (written off) | Honda CBF125 (current)

[Vincent]

[herulach]

I had a fucking huge reply typed out then before shitty phone net connection died.

Anyway, its a ybr I'm clearly not overly fussed about looks, although imo they are. much nicer with black lowers, which is an option as I'm planning on doing the exhaust at some stage as well.

Reckon I might leave the whole lot till I can throw a few days at doing them properly while I don't need the bike. That's assuming I won't do any serious damage riding with naff all oil in? (you can hear air getting sucked through the damper)
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YBR 125>FZS600

[neil.]

Seriously, please fit gaiters. Save money, avoid extra work. Everyone I've spoken to about mine say they really suit the bike and one person even said that they look like they could even be an original factory fitted part!
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CBT February 2008 | A2 June 2008 | Yamaha YBR125 (written off) | Honda CBF125 (current)

[Robby]

You will cause damage riding with no oil in at all. The oil doesn't just provide damping, it also lubricates.

For a bodge to buy you a few days, remove the fork top caps and pour 100ml of oil into each one, measured with a jug or similar. It doesn't even need to be fork oil, engine oil or ATF will do as a temporary measure, I have done a few thousand miles using 10W40 as fork oil before now, it worked.

Have a look for stinkwheel's write-up on using plasti-cote black enamel to paint engine cases on his girlfriend's CB500. He got a good finish, it didn't take too long, and was cheap. The only thing I will mention here is that enamel paint does take a fair while to go off and fully harden. When you use it as engine paint the first few heat cycles speed up this process, forks do not generate a great deal of heat. You could probably try baking them in an oven at 100 degrees for a while, but the owner of the oven may disagree.

You can still replace the seals now. It is easier to paint them with them all stripped, but as long as you mask up the chromed stanchion you can paint them complete. However you do it, do not paint in the area that the seal seat in. The seal is a tight fit, paint makes this tight fit even tighter. A thin layer of paint stopped me from fitting a set of steering head bearings properly, I had to take them out and redo the job.

I still prefer plain alloy, particularly if the engine is silver. Bare metal doesn't chip and wear off like paint does, nor does it need careful cleaning.

[Teflon-Mike]

[herulach]

[Vincent]