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Tips From The Toolbox
Leaking or sticking front forks ?
The problem... Your forks leak oil and/or are sticking down.
The cure:
1) To solve the leaking forks problem check the condition of your forks to see that you have no excessive wear in the bushes, particularly the top bushes. Too much clearance here will cause the forks to loose contact with the oil seals under hard braking. The result will be oil leaking when the forks are compressed.
We suggest you remove the oil seals, packing washers and foam rubber wiper seals and replace this lot with our twin seal conversion kit. #TSCK.
The original 'wiper seals' cause the forks to 'stick' and do not really wok in the way they were intended. The twin seal kit offers double the oil wiping performance of the original setup.
Note: Be sure to remove upstanding stone chips from the fork stanchions with a fine oil stone or 600 grade abrasive paper backed up on a steel rule or similar.
2) Check that the forks are not pinched in at the bottom.
Loosen off the clamp bolts on the bottom of the fork legs and bounce the forks up and down to determine their best position on the axle. Clamp up tight when the best position is obtained.
3) Check the free length of the fork springs. The free length should be: 508mm (20")
4)
Use 220ml of 15w or 20w good quality front fork oil per leg. To minimise fork "patter" and front end "washout" on hard packed fast corners use anti-foaming fork oil like Silkolene Pro-RSF fork oil.
Caution:
1) Always check to see that the pins securing the damper rods to the bottom nuts are in good condition and have not worked loose.
2)Always check to see that the damper rod circlips are in place, and secure.
When fitting these circlips, make sure the sharp side of the circlips are towards the outside.
Check the fork damper rod retaining circlips on a regular basis. Put the bike on a box, remove the front wheel and tug down on the fork legs.