Fork Damper Bolt

[squirrel_hunter]

Who invented that f***king thing?

Right, I need to replace the seals on my SV, as I've never done this before thought I'd give it a little practice on the CBR's forks. My only problem is the damper bolt just spins the internals. Ok, I could go for the broom handle trick and will get one ready for the weekend, but the bible says to compress the fork so the spring exerts pressure on the damper head, how am I supposed to do this?

To get to the bolt I have to remove the wheel and spindle so I can't drop the fork down as I wouldn't get access to it. I don't have a vice (other then alcohol) so cant hold it that way, so what am I supposed to do?

And one final check as the bible is notoriously wrong, do I even have to remove this bolt?

[Spanner Man]

Good morning.
To compress the forks without a vice, you leave all the internals in place, but you'll probably need the help of a mate.
The broom handle trick really does work, especially if you put a rubber glove over the end of it.
A good tip is to centre punch the allen bolt before any attempt to turn it is made, this will compress the copper washer under it, effectively loosening the bolt slightly. Before re using the washer, anneal it by heating it to a dull red then allow it to cool down.
You really do need to strip the forks completely to change the seals, I've seen many fork stanchions ruined where people have attempted to prise the seals out from the top, & have scratched the stanchions badly.

Cheers.

[johnnyrod]

Top tips! I had to give in and take the leg to a shop. I tried the broom handle sans glove with a variety of end profiles, btu to no avail.

[Viney]

A certian mr squid done mine, and used a broom handle, some split draipipe oh and the occasional proper tool.

Just leave the fork in one bit (loose, but spring in – cap on).
Slide an (8mm?) spanner down the long bit of the allen key. Insert the allen key in the bottom of the fork/bolt. Run the spanner down the allen key so it is resting flush with the bottom of the fork (to minimise ‘rock’ when force is applied). Get a hammer and ‘shock’ the bolt loose by hitting the spanner HARD/quick … works EVERY time - done quite literally dozens of them this way!!

This will work with a ‘ball-end’ allen key, but best with a flat end allen key – the ball end ones don’t have a good a contact area on the flat/standard end.

[RingDing]

I'm with Blue_SV650 on this. That's the technique I've used on mine.

Broom handle trick can work or, on my Triumph Trophy, I got two 18mm(?) nuts and locked them onto a rod as there was an appropriate receptacle in the top of the damper rod. Not sure if there is an equivalent on the CBR or the SV.

[Spanner Man]

Morning all.
Viney you hound! How dare you accuse Mr Squid of using improper tools on your beloved vehicle. I'll have you know that us professional types have part numbers for all the broom handles/plastic piping/ground down C spanners/ assorted bits of odd shaped metal/& refugee bits from a DIY store. that are amongst our tools. In fact I believe the broom handles part number is; 67459-333254-00.

Ringding, if only all forks had a hex in the top of the damper rod, our lives would be a lot easier eh!.

Cheers.

[squirrel_hunter]

Well as the CBR practice run failed miserably, it was straight into the SV for the real go.

At this point I would like to thank Beenz for all his help today.

Well things we learnt: yes the the fork does need to be compressed to remove the damper bolt, and no this is not a one man job. However with the use of a hammer, a custom allen bit (ie an allen key cut at the knuckle so that it would fit in a socket, 8mm btw), a breaker bar, some choice four letter words and alot of effort it is doable. It is also very advisable to loosen this bolt with the fork internals in place as stated in the bible.

We also discovered first hand why you need to remove this bolt before separation of the leg can be achieved.

Didn't need to use the broom handle, just the hammer. Except for when the damper seat jammed into the stanchion so it was useful to have around. Also found that when jolting the stanchion out of the fork lower it is useful to have the axle through the bottom of the fork leg so you can clamp this, for instance with your foot, to stop the fork from moving.

However the one thing I forgot was a piece of tubing to act as a drift to seat the bush and seals. But the washer and old seal sufficed, but if I were to do this again I would defiantly want to use one.