So I can't get the forks apart

[J.M.]

Beginning to hate this bike just a little bit.

I've been trying to take the forks apart for ages now... but I just get frustrated and think "fork it" and chucking them back with what I have left of a bike.

I started off by draining out as much oil as I could from them through the cap at the top of the stanchion. Then I removed the wheel bearing from the bottom to get access to the bolt.
Got a 7mm Alan Key and started to undo them. They were seriously difficult to get to turn initially, but I finally found enough leverage to budge them.

Then undid until they were at the stage where I could twist the Alan Key using just my fingers, but that's all they do. Just twist.
On one of the forks, twisting the bolt also twists the stanchion in the same direction. If you hold the stanchion still, the bolt still just twists and doesn't come out.
The second fork, the bolt just twists, the stanchion doesn't twist with it. Bolt still doesn't come out though.

Finally got fed up with it yesterday and found a 7mm alan-key-thingy (yes, that's the technical name) which fitted in to a drill and just used that. Gently at first to see if they would budge even 1mm. They didn't. Finally I got fed up and just held the trigger on the drill down to turn it as fast as I could and they still didn't budge.

Fed up with this now.

Any ideas? Trying to look at 2nd hand complete forks now and contemplating asking some dealers/mechanics if they can source any because I can't find any for my bike on the internet. Only Stanchions, and only from Wemoto.

Cheers.
____________________
2004 R1 & 2018 XSR900

[WannaBeDude]

Frigid bitch !!
____________________
Jogging on, destination living.

[kestrel]

The allen bolts you are talking about in the bottom of the fork sliders are threaded into the damping rods. As you are turning the bolts the damping rods are also turning inside the stanchions which is why they won't come out. Sometimes fork spring pressure is sufficient to prevent the damping rods from turning but you may need a special tool to do this. You may find that the top of the damping rods have a hex head, in which case you only need a long extension bar and the correct size socket.
____________________
Isle of Man.........Road Racing Capital Of The World

[J.M.]

Right, okay.

I'll try putting the metal tube which sits on top of the spring back in so that there's pressure on the springs again and see if that gives me any success.

Mechanics is so frustrating when you don't have a clue what you're doing.
____________________
2004 R1 & 2018 XSR900

[Nick 50]

This story sounds so familiar

https://www.bikechatforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=246196

If you can't get them sorted, send them to Budgetboy to do.

Your forks sound exactly like mine were. I gave up and sent them to Budgetboy and i'm so glad I did to be honest. It was my first time trying to do the seals and bushes on the bike. No matter what I tried I just couldn't get the allen bolts out.

In the end Budgetboy had to drill them out and re-tappet the forks and cartridges and stick new bolts in. He didn't even ask for extra money for the work.

Definitely a very happy customer

*Edit* The special tool for the cartridge aint cheap. I priced one up for the CBR and it was £65 and in the end it wouldn't of worked anyway.
____________________
Current Bikes: ZX7r 97 (Black Beauty), VFR400 NC24 (The banana)
Previous Bikes: Aprilia Tuono 03 (The Beast), CBR600f (97)
First bike: A GZ125 Lemon.......

[J.M.]

Cheers Nick, bookmarked that!

Those look really nice, job well done by him!

I'm hoping that I'll be able to manage it myself because my budget needs to be as close to £0 as I can get it Also need to check that all the insides are fine before I order new Stanchions.
____________________
2004 R1 & 2018 XSR900

[Nick 50]

[J.M.]

Almost L-shaped
https://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/156254_411234182244884_100000749172237_1297253_794309332_n.jpg
____________________
2004 R1 & 2018 XSR900

[Nick 50]

[andys675]

have managed to use a broom handle instead of a "special tool" to hold the damper rod in the past,, wedged against the floor with an airgun on the allen bolt

edit: now I've seen the photo, you'll need to get them a bit more straight to get a tool inside............
____________________
Some people feel the rain, others just get wet.

[Nick 50]

Out of interest, have you checked if other year GS500 models have the same stanchion, push rods?

Had a look on CMSNL:

https://www.cmsnl.com/suzuki-gs500-f-2004-2006-usa_model16027/tubeinner_5111001d60/

Clicked on stanchion (No.10) and it states the OEm part No. : 51110-01D60

If you google that, it seems they are the same for the GS500 1997 models onwards.

There are 97 forks on ebay pretty cheap.
____________________
Current Bikes: ZX7r 97 (Black Beauty), VFR400 NC24 (The banana)
Previous Bikes: Aprilia Tuono 03 (The Beast), CBR600f (97)
First bike: A GZ125 Lemon.......

[mentalboy]

As andys350 said you can't normally beat a broom handle - just drive it in with a lump hammer and get a mate to hang onto it with a pair of stilson's.
Failing that I'd just drill out the allen screw on the bottom. All you've got to do is lose the head of the screw and the whole lot'll fall out leaving a nice stud to remove.
BUT in this case the fork has no forseeable future so just grab a grinder with an INOX cutting disc and take slices off the fork until you come to the guts, should be able to suss what you'll need to hold the spinning end then. Just try to avoid cutting into anything other the stanchion itself.
Good luck
____________________
Make mine a Corona.

[DrDonnyBrago]

As above, the dampener rod is spinning around inside the fork.

Me and bro had the same issue on a CB250, tried the broom handle thing etc etc but nothing worked. In the end, took it to a garage and used the air impact driver on it. It needs the sharp shock to get it to break free and not just twist around.

[Budgetboy]

[J.M.]

Damn. I was hoping that the insides would be salvageable so that all I needed were the stanchions.

I can't seem to find any forks online which don't have pitting or marks all-over the stanchions. Also the fork bottom from an older fork wouldn't fit my bike would it?

The only one on eBay at the moment are these: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Suzuki-GS-500-E-GS500E-Forks-/310401163249?pt=UK_Motorcycle_Parts&hash=item484559dff1

Would they fit the 2004 GS500F model?

Additionally those stanchions look almost gone with pitting so those would need replacing; cheapest I can find is 110 quid each. Pushing the total cost to 270 just for forks. Then I probably can't put them together myself so I'll have to be looking at someone to do that for me, with the additional worry of something going wrong on the inside and having an extra sum to pay.

Does anybody know a rough price for complete new forks, or where to find them even?
____________________
2004 R1 & 2018 XSR900

[Casper]

Phone these guys

https://www.breakingpoint.co.uk/UsedSpares.html

[J.M.]

Cheers, bookmarked that.

Going to see Dad in a few hours, so I'll talk to him about a few ideas I've got running around my head.

Just had a thought actually. Seen a couple of older, cheap, GS500s on eBay. Could buy one of those, take the parts that I need from it and then break it up in to spares to make some of my money back. Or keep the bits as spares.
____________________
2004 R1 & 2018 XSR900

[Casper]

[Casper]

Shame you are so far away

https://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-motorbikes/suzuki-gs500-breaking-non-runner-complete-bike/102599652

[Budgetboy]

You need to search and see if there are any other model that will fit your bike.

make sure these are the same:-
caliper mounting holes (centre 2 centre)
Stanchion size (Diameter)
Axel diameter

if these are the same as yours then they will fix.A lot of makers of bikes use the same parts on different bikes.So IMO it is worth checking.
____________________
www.Mailorderrepairs.co.uk We service your Carburetor's, Calipers & Suspension for less Also Bike repairs undertaken.

[sickpup]

[Budgetboy]

[sickpup]

[Budgetboy]

[sickpup]