Fork springs

[andydunne]

24" stillson or equivalent pipe wrench would grab that no doubt

[1989kawasaki]

i just tried that , now i have a real BAD situation on my hands 

[serafin]

Make sure you loosen the upper pinch bolts on the upper tripple tree before you try and loosen the fork cap.  My guess this was probably not done and this is why
the cap is all messed up. 

Serafin 

[1989kawasaki]

Make sure you loosen the upper pinch bolts on the upper tripple tree before you try and loosen the fork cap.  My guess this was probably not done and this is why
the cap is all messed up. 

Serafin 

i did do that. i got the right side cap to turn. but when trying to turn the other one....

too bad i cant just go to the kawi dealer and order new caps; they are discontinued. 

well, a good set of forks on ebay with good caps and lower fork tubes but the inner tubes are rusted and pitted.
no biggie as i can just swap parts over that might be worn in my forks.
will cost $83 shipped.

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/390313156997?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

or can a machine shop or sumthin machine off the rounded edges and "fix" them?
ill give the shop a call tomorrow if you guys think i should.

[1989kawasaki]

Well ive ordered the forks off ebay....

i got the right side cap to come off but i cant get the left one off, and it got chewed up trying to

my forks do have the preload collar



kind of embarrassed to show this

[1989kawasaki]

it would be so awesome if the forks that i paid $85 for have the race tech gold valves and springs set up to my weight.

its a long shot . but ill keep my fingers crossed

[1989kawasaki]

 i finallly got the severely rounded off left fork cap loose after all the banging, sweating and cussing.

and Bad news!
last time i had my fork seals changed by the dealer...
i opened the top of both forks and NO OIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i am pissed. who wouldn't be?
i had to tip the fork almost upside down for a little oil to come out.
before the seal job at the dealer, i open the fork then immediately oil pukes out

what do you think i should say to the dealer??
the service was done march 20th

[sandblaster]

Nothing worse then shelling out hard earned cash for shoddy work.

[Friar-Tuck]

Wait a second....
  You're telling me not only did they torque the snot out of your caps,  they didn't even have any oil in the forks?

I'm sorry kiddo.  There is no way of knowing what happened, got in a hurry, went to lunch, got pulled off the job and someone else finished it.. whatever..  there is no way this should have happened...Blaster hit the nail on the head...Arghh..


   There are two sayings I have to remember when commenting on something like this....
One is "Those in Glass Houses Shouldn't throw stones"
and another is like it.
  "Let he who has no Sin Cast the first Stone"     Bottom Line, I have pulled some Real Bonehead moves myself..
                No one is perfect, but good grief...    Rats... didn't want to get on a soap box... 
    Your bike is looking Good so far Buddy, Keep up the good work then Ehh! 
  Take Care,
    Tuck\o/

[DoldGuy]

+1 on Tucks Sayings 

If there is no oil in the fork leg, no oil in the fork boot (sign of a blown seal), and the fork cap was that difficult to remove, would make me question whether the tech was able to remove the cap. With that, & if no oil leakage was present, what if he just drained the old oil, cleaned the forks up & sent them out? You would have no signs of a leaking fork seal as there is no oil to leak.

Thru my years I have learned to cherish relationships of people / business that you can trust as they seem to be harder to  find (But they are out there!) & I will be glad to share my positive experiences with others.

Keep at them forks & sure you will be happy with the performance & knowledge you will gain!

[andydunne]

Jeez that is terrible, some people have no conscience!
Personally, I would go back to the dealer and tell them how you see it, they deserve to know your anger and what a poor job they have done whether it was accidental or on purpose, its on their head. They could be burning people everyday of the week with work like this and getting away with it.
Either way I hope it gets sorted soon

[1989kawasaki]

I do remember the day i dropped them the forks, and i went over to the shelf to get 2 jugs of 5wt oil and the woman told me to put it back because they have oil "containers" in the back.
and they said the $100 labour charge i paid covers labour and oil

and obviously they LIED

Doldguy,

no, forks have no evidence of oil leaking..ever since the seal job.

and prior to taking the forks in, i opened both caps and dumped out the oil. both legs had oil. and i left the caps finger tight so its easier for the person at the shop.
and i know they did replace the seals cause they gave me the old dirt-covered seals in a baggie.

and i think i said before, last time on the left leg (which was the hard to remove cap side)
i take the cap off then lower the tube slightly then i can see the oil level. this time i lower the tube all the way down till it bottoms, no oil in sight, only a little splash came out when the fork was completely upside down.

i just cant believe ive rode my bike since march 20th with no oil

Andy,

dont worry, i will stir the pot for them.

but i dont really know what to say to them.

[andydunne]

Ye its a bit of a hard one to press them on as its your word against theirs on the oil or lack of it! But its worth pressing them and see what they say, if they are willing to protect their reputation enough, they will use common sense and accept some sort of liability.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained imo

[1989kawasaki]

I got the forks today..

they are in really nice shape besides the rusted tubes and some rub marks on the lower cases





also the new ones seem "tighter" that the old ones if ya know what i mean

[Friar-Tuck]

 Good news then ay?      
 How bad are the tubes, and where is the rust?  (hopefully it's not on the part of the tube that needs to seal...)
   Tuck\o/