Intruders-Alert

Sadly, with the other site being down, the excellent write up of changing the fork seals/oil has gone down as well. Did anyone happen to scrape a copy of this information? There seems to be a circlip in the mix that manual doesn't really cover at all in the process. I blew a fork seal yesterday on my ride home and need to change the seals some time in the next two weeks.

The IA Workshop is still accessible:

http://www.intruderalert.com/workshop/

Crap, not even archive.org has the images stored off on their server. Oh well.

NE_FL wrote:The IA Workshop is still accessible:

http://www.intruderalert.com/workshop/

Which would be great, if you only needed to change oil. It's pretty straight forward. Raise the bike.Remove the front wheel. Remove the caliper and fender. Remove the damper bolt. Drain the oil. Remove fork caps slowly, (Be careful, they're under spring pressure) Loosen triple tree pinch bolt. Remove forks. If you have a later bike with chrome caps, use a wood dowel to drive them off, so as not to mar them up. Remove dust cap with flat head screwdriver. Walk the circlip out with the same screwdriver. Pull uppers from lowers and the seal should come out. If it doesn't, use a small pry tool to remove. Put the upper back into the lower, install damper bolt. Lubricate new seals. Slide in the correct direction. Drive on with PVC or fork seal tool. Replace checkup. Replace chrome and/or dust cover. Fill with appropriate amount of fork oil. Reassembly is the reverse.

They can be done on the bike, without removing the uppers by using a Motion Pro fork seal tool, as it splits in two. Fork cap must still be removed to fill.

It's important to note that the damper bolt is a PITA, and strips easily. It's easiest removed and installed while the fork caps are on and the spring is applying pressure.

The damper bolt being the bolt on the bottom of the fork right? That comes all the way off first, or just loosed while the caps are still on? I've got an older bike (87).

Damper is on the bottom of the fork. Once removed, all the oil will drain out. You can't remove it without removing the front wheel at a minimum. The axle blocks access to the damper. You could just break it with the caps secure or completely remove it. They're easier to drain when upright.

enforcer wrote:

NE_FL wrote:The IA Workshop is still accessible:

http://www.intruderalert.com/workshop/

Which would be great, if you only needed to change oil. It's pretty straight forward. Raise the bike.Remove the front wheel. Remove the caliper and fender. Remove the damper bolt. Drain the oil. Remove fork caps slowly, (Be careful, they're under spring pressure) Loosen triple tree pinch bolt. Remove forks. If you have a later bike with chrome caps, use a wood dowel to drive them off, so as not to mar them up. Remove dust cap with flat head screwdriver. Walk the circlip out with the same screwdriver. Pull uppers from lowers and the seal should come out. If it doesn't, use a small pry tool to remove. Put the upper back into the lower, install damper bolt. Lubricate new seals. Slide in the correct direction. Drive on with PVC or fork seal tool. Replace checkup. Replace chrome and/or dust cover. Fill with appropriate amount of fork oil. Reassembly is the reverse.

They can be done on the bike, without removing the uppers by using a Motion Pro fork seal tool, as it splits in two. Fork cap must still be removed to fill.

It's important to note that the damper bolt is a PITA, and strips easily. It's easiest removed and installed while the fork caps are on and the spring is applying pressure.

The damper bolt is only an oil plug pretty much right? Not needed to be removed if i don't care to emty tubes before disassembling?

Kinda not really. If you want to just change the oil you don't need to pull that plug. If you want to change the seals I'm not sure you'll be able to drive the old seal out with that lower spring and such connected by way of the plug. I finally broke down and changed the seals out this weekend. It was FAR easier than the VTX, mostly in reassembly. I didn't have to compress the spring more than a 1/4 inch to start threading the fork cap back on. The weirdness is that the fork will NOT come out unless you've already removed the top cap. There's no pinch bolt on the top part of the tree, instead they rely on the cap as a means to keep the fork from sliding down.



So, looking at the picture, you have all the stuff that goes on the INSIDE of the inner fork leg all the way at the bottom. Then the inner fork. Then you have all the stuff that goes on the OUTSIDE of the inner fork. Then above that is the little tip thing that goes OVER the lower spring assembly but it's part of the lower fork. The drain plug screws into the that metal rod with the tiny spring.

Ophbalance wrote:Kinda not really. If you want to just change the oil you don't need to pull that plug. If you want to change the seals I'm not sure you'll be able to drive the old seal out with that lower spring and such connected by way of the plug. I finally broke down and changed the seals out this weekend. It was FAR easier than the VTX, mostly in reassembly. I didn't have to compress the spring more than a 1/4 inch to start threading the fork cap back on. The weirdness is that the fork will NOT come out unless you've already removed the top cap. There's no pinch bolt on the top part of the tree, instead they rely on the cap as a means to keep the fork from sliding down.



So, looking at the picture, you have all the stuff that goes on the INSIDE of the inner fork leg all the way at the bottom. Then the inner fork. Then you have all the stuff that goes on the OUTSIDE of the inner fork. Then above that is the little tip thing that goes OVER the lower spring assembly but it's part of the lower fork. The drain plug screws into the that metal rod with the tiny spring.

Crap buckets.. So that dampener bolt screws into that part on the right side of first and last pics.. Preventing the inner tubes from being removed unless unbolted eh. I gotta hit em with p.b. i guess cause the tubes are bent and them gotta go. smh.

Right. If you follow the red line it's how the damper screw connects up. If you can, get a T handle to really crank on the bolt. It just takes one good sharp crack to break it loose. I bought a t-handle that fits sockets and used various extensions and connectors to pull it off.

Ophbalance wrote:Right. If you follow the red line it's how the damper screw connects up. If you can, get a T handle to really crank on the bolt. It just takes one good sharp crack to break it loose. I bought a t-handle that fits sockets and used various extensions and connectors to pull it off.

Thanks brother. Any tips on removal of the chrome covers on the dust seals? Tried screwdriver in slot to tap up but it's just moving slightly and damaging.

Got a picture? Mine were just the standard rubber dust seals. You can see it at the end of the word "DAY" in the pic.

Ophbalance wrote:Got a picture? Mine were just the standard rubber dust seals. You can see it at the end of the word "DAY" in the pic.

Yeah.. Covers over those rubbers are chrome.
See pic..?

Ah, well, not sure in that case. I would presume they don't screw on right? Maybe get some PVC like you can use like a seal driver? That way you can drive it off with pressure that's equal all the way around the circumference.

so after reading this tread i feel i can do the job my only question is how many seals and dust covers do i need just one per side or.... also if you could give me a link to bike bandit for the parts that would be great

If the bike is the same year, looks like you need 2 of each for parts #5 and #7 from the fork diagram. https://www.bikebandit.com/oem-parts/19 ... #sch698568. It's unlikely you'll need anything else unless you booger up the inner guide bushing or circlip. If you're gentle and patient they'll be fine though. I will say, based on experience, do not forget to pull that circlip out before attempting to separate the fork tubes . If anything gets stuck a little bit of heat from a propane torch on the LOWER fork leg and things should come unstuck pretty quickly.

Ophbalance wrote:If the bike is the same year, looks like you need 2 of each for parts #5 and #7 from the fork diagram. https://www.bikebandit.com/oem-parts/19 ... #sch698568. It's unlikely you'll need anything else unless you booger up the inner guide bushing or circlip. If you're gentle and patient they'll be fine though. I will say, based on experience, do not forget to pull that circlip out before attempting to separate the fork tubes . If anything gets stuck a little bit of heat from a propane torch on the LOWER fork leg and things should come unstuck pretty quickly.

hey thanks. that helps alot

so i am prob wrong about this but i figured why not at least ask. my fork seals dont seem to have any problems and are in good condition. all i really want to do is throw in some new springs and change the oil. are the seals and covers a requirement in this scenario or are they more a dont mess with them until they show signs of needing to be changed

You don't have to remove the seals and dust covers to change the oil or springs.
If the forks are off the bike, pour out the oil, flush it with some ATF if you wish, then pour that out and refill with the proper amount of fork oil.
I wouldn't replace the seals unless they are leaking. JMO.

navigator wrote:You don't have to remove the seals and dust covers to change the oil or springs.
If the forks are off the bike, pour out the oil, flush it with some ATF if you wish, then pour that out and refill with the proper amount of fork oil.
I wouldn't replace the seals unless they are leaking. JMO.

thanks for the info. it saved me about 80 bucks