Front fork problem

[Greg65]

I am replacing the seals on the front forks. The first one has come apart fine however ( there is always a however) the second is sulking. The bottom socket bolt, oil lock piece and under seat pipe are all rotating! So how do I hold the internal gubbins still while I undo the socket bolt. Thanks in advance for your wise words.

Greg

[Bryanj]

Put the fork back together with spring and top nut the hold fork upside down and push down on slider to compress spring

[Clem2112]

Second that... you need friction to hold the inner damper rod still.

[steven400/4]

or use the speed of an air gun that worked on mine

[matthewmosse]

Sharpen a broom handle like a pensil and bang it in with a hammer can work too.

[MikeM]

the way I got mine off was wrap fork in a towel put it in a workmate or the like and use an allen key on a socket,

one like this

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Signet-6mm-Allan-key-socket-3-8-drive-/251681322950?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item3a996037c6

did not use a lot of pressure , more of a snap action to break the seal

[Greg65]

Thanks for all the advice. First up tried the reassembly and spring compression method, no joy. So picked up the offending fork and walked down the road to my local garage. Air gun worked a treat. If I had known would have gone there with both in the first place.

Now a quick question for the assembly. The workshop manual mentions a " liquid sealant" on the threads of the socket bolt prior to assembling. Any particular type?

Cheers,
Greg

[Lynx]

Hi Greg,
I'm surprised they say use a sealant. I never have. there should be a copper washer under each Allen bolt. This should seal fine. You could use some of the dreaded silicone gasket but just a smear. I wouldn't use locktight and you will have trouble getting them apart again should you or anyone else ever need to.

[hairygit]

I have seen threadlock mentioned in the cycleserve manual, presumably to prevent the bolt working loose in service, think about it, if the bolt came loose, what is holding your fork leg together, frankly, nothing. I bought a pair of n.o.s. fork legs from D.S.S. About 20 odd years ago, and one of the seals leaked, so took them apart to renew them, and there was some kind of sealant/thread locking compound on the factiry fitted bolts. So I used some loctite thread lock on rebuilding, and had no problems dismantling them to do the seals again 10 years ago. It's up to you, but I would certainly go for a thread locking compound.

Sent from my GT-S5839i using Tapatalk 2

[Greg65]

There was some sort of sealant/thread lock present around the lock bolt when I dismantled them. I have heat treated the copper washers so will see how that goes.

[hairygit]

Your bike, your choice, but if Honda specify sealant/locking compound, they do it for a reason!???

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[Bryanj]

Done loads, never ever used threadlock but sometimes new washers

[Trigger]

Same as Bryan, done shed loads over the years. Seen them with & without thread lock but, always build without.

[Lynx]

However. Always torque to specified torque.

[Greg65]

As the forks are penciled in for a rechrome and grind in the near future I will leave it out. Many thanks for all the wise words.

Greg