Forking Hell! Only wanted to change the oil

[Lucifer955i]

Hi, I have a 04 Tiger 955i cast wheel version, Chassis no209800.

The forks became intolerable under braking almost bottoming out at low speed, so I decided to change the oil.
I removed the left side fork, took the top off, removed the spring and poured out some disgusting mess. Whilst holding the fork upside down I pumped the stanchion ( I think it's called) in and out,  on the second pump it got stuck solid!!!!

I had to strip the whole thing down to get it apart and found a piece of plastic, think it is called the bump stop , stuck in the stanchion.

Every time I reassemble the fork the stanchion gets stuck if I'm not careful. It appears the bit of plastic or delrin only fits one way with a bevelled edge to the top which is the bit getting wedged/ stuck inside the stanchion. I measured the distance of travel from as far down as I dare go to fully extended and its only 140mm and not 170mm as I've read it should be.

The bike has only done 16k miles and I've only owned it a year.  I'm starting to think it may well have been put together wrong or a washer has broken up. So far I have been unable to find a diagram or schema for the cast wheel fork so I'm pretty blind on this at the moment.

I have a feeling something is not right, can anyone advise / help on this matter please?

Also this bike has linear springs, I thought the cast wheel Tigers had progressive springs? Which is the least of my problems just now.

[Timbox2]

Cant help much I'm afraid, Ive had a wire wheel and cast wheel bike and changed the fork oil on both but never had an issue. As regards travel one thing to bear in mind is that the full travel includes the top out or rebound spring too, if you pull the stanchion or tube out as far as it goes you should then feel yourself pulling against the top out spring which is probably another 20mm or so.

This is the parts list diagram but its not very clear, it may help in deciding if something is missing/assembled wrong

https://www.fowlersparts.co.uk/parts/6483/tiger-955i-from-vin-198875-to-vin-287503/front-forks-yokes

[Lucifer955i]

HI,
     Thanks for that,  I found a thread on another forum a guy with a similar problem here http://www.triumphrat.net/#/topics/212074 so not looking as bad as I first thought and the initial panic has subsided a little.

The main thing troubling me now is when I push the inner tube down to fill it with oil 655cc, do I go as far as the bump stop, just before the tube gets stuck, or do I continue all the way down assuming that the inner tube shouldn't be getting stuck at all and measure the air gap from that position?

I'm half tempted to give it a little rub down to help it fit but not sure if that's a good idea.

[Bixxer Bob]

Like Tim I never had a problem doing the fork oil.  Can you post a pic of the plastic you retreived?  It might help identify whether it's something that is supposed to be in there, or an addition by a previous owner trying to change the characteristics of the forks.  Putting spacers in to stiffen the springs to prevent dive is a common (but wrong) approach.

Once we've established whether its meant to be there or not you can move forward.

[London_Phil]

Are those the same forks as the steamer/ early girly ones?, looking at the thread probably not, but if so, I have a working pair from a Girly/steamer

[Lucifer955i]

Are those the same forks as the steamer/ early girly ones?, looking at the thread probably not, but if so, I have a working pair from a Girly/steamer

Hi, no they are on an 04 cast wheel, slightly different internals amongst other things from the early girly.

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[Lucifer955i]

Like Tim I never had a problem doing the fork oil.  Can you post a pic of the plastic you retreived?  It might help identify whether it's something that is supposed to be in there, or an addition by a previous owner trying to change the characteristics of the forks.  Putting spacers in to stiffen the springs to prevent dive is a common (but wrong) approach.

Once we've established whether its meant to be there or not you can move forward.

HI,
        I've had to put the bike back together as I have to vacate the bike ramp I was using for the next couple of days,  but looking at the diagram from Timbox 2 and another thread I have established it is an integral part of the fork that fits on the small end of the damper then the bottom hex bolt passes through it. 

What I still don't know is why it's jamming up the fork.  At the moment without the springs and oil there is 10mm of travel difference between the left and right fork legs.  Once reassembled they both sit level when side by side but there is a 10mm difference in air gap ( both have 655cc of oil in them).
The only other thing is both forks had ATF in them originally.  The troublesome fork ATF was pretty rank and smelt of fish.  On the good side the ATF looked good as new.  (Not that I'm holding ATF responsible,  was just a observation)
Ideally I need to strip both forks down, but I was ill prepared for this scenario and A)  run out of time at the workshop I use and B) have no replacement parts.

I plan to order some new fork seals,  get the bike back in the workshop and strip both forks down and try to establish what has gone wrong and get some pictures to share while I'm at it.

I would also like to thank everyone for there input on this matter, when a 3-4 hour job takes 2 days I start to flap a bit!

[Timbox2]

Sounds weird, which fork has the bigger air gap?

[Lucifer955i]

Sounds weird, which fork has the bigger air gap?

As I'm looking at the bike it's the left fork, which is the one that gets stuck. Basically if I push / force the fork down the extra 10mm then the stanchion gets stuck solid and I have to take it apart so I can knock this piece of plastic/ delrin back out the bottom of the fork. It is as if the plastic has become swollen. 

I'm not even sure if this part can be bought else common sense says just buy a new one.

[Chris Canning]

Not all that constructive but there have been so many posts about the crap forks on the mag wheel tigers I'm amazed more folks haven't just swapped them for a set off the earlier version where you never see such just looking on ebay 100 quid.

[Lucifer955i]

Not all that constructive but there have been so many posts about the crap forks on the mag wheel tigers I'm amazed more folks haven't just swapped them for a set off the earlier version where you never see such just looking on ebay 100 quid.

I think I might consider that at some point but not had the bike long and want to get some more miles out of her first. Any how after a bit of R & R and a different outlook, I took another look on the Fowlers Parts link Timbox 2 posted. The part I need is part no 2040160T03 which is No - 3 in the diagram and at £3.87 plus VAT, p&p etc comes to about £8. So I bought the last one in stock.

The positives I shall take out of this little adventure, presuming I've ordered the correct part and it fits is that at least I will know when the fork seals were changed, when the fork oil was changed and also what make and weight oil is in there, oh and how much. One thing for sure next time I shall just tip them up and leave to drain over night, sod pumping them again!

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[Lucifer955i]

Ok so new part arrived (oil lock Assembly)along with a new set of oil seals.
Stripped the troublesome fork and compared the parts. The new part was slightly narrower but was a nice fit, however something was catching when the new part was fully inserted. I inspected inside the bottom of the stanchion, and found a load of broken plastic pieces (gulp). I wasn't expecting that!
I have searched on google and on Fowlers, World of Triumph to name a few and still have no idea what this part is called, what it does or if it is ok to run without it. My gut instinct is telling me the stanchion is fubar and I'm going to have to replace the whole thing as the broken part /bit of plastic is not shown on any schematics. All I can tell is it is some kind of guide bearing possibly oil scraper for the damper and oil lock assembly.

[Lucifer955i]

While I think about it do any other Fork Stanchions fit the Cast Wheel Tiger?

[Chris Canning]

Honest answer don't know apart from earlier 955's,the 885i's should fit as well but they were well soft even compared to stock wire wheel version and even they needed springs and different oil.

[London_Phil]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Triumph-955i-tiger-front-forks-2002-ref-2-/162669058313

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TRIUMPH-TIGER-955I-2004-FORKS-YORKS-AXEL-/172850725375

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Triumph-Tiger-955i-2004-2001-2007-Forks-Straight-VGC-83-/253114669126

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TRIUMPH-TIGER-FRONT-FORKS-955i-955-2002-/332264772546

Any use?