Front Forks Query

[London_Phil]

Hi All.
Realised whilst following the boards that in the nearly 15 years (15YEARS!!!!) Ive owned my Tigger I have never touched the front forks/fork oil.
Shamefull I know, even with the  low use it gets.
So,
Ordered a 2nd hand set from the Fleabay with Hagon springs (allegedly) in good nick, working on the assumption mine will probably be in poor nick under the gaiters.
I see that the early Tigers had a different type, but it seems the forks on the later tigers and early Girlies are the same. Can someone comment on this, and if so, for an low use rider looking for a basic set up, does the ATF oil etc that seems to be in the Girly threads apply.
There doesn't appear to be a Steamer front fork how to, do we need to address this?.
regards

Phil

[Sin_Tiger]

15 years and you haven't written up a "Forks How To" shameful indeed.

It's been done in dribs and drabs, it's years since I did it and I don't have any photos. Volunteer to write this up that has all the info to hand, Karma is waiting.

[nickjtc]

Volunteer to write this up that has all the info to hand, Karma is waiting.

As are Nick, Bob, Kenny, Mustang, Niall, et al  :icon_wink:

[London_Phil]

Ok, so I stripped out one fork today.

Now looking for opinions..

Under the gaiters, the sliders were in extremely good condition (Image 5)
Oil was clear and golden when emptied, until the last drains, when it went grey ( Image 3)
When cap was removed, there was very little compression, but in Image 1, you can see a long spacer, is that standard?
Spring is 543mm in length, and evenly wound, so no progressive action I assume, (Image 4)
Having already pulled the trigger on a replacement set, I think that these are too good to replace completely, so plan is to fit the replacement unit springs, if they are indeed Hagon, and refill with ATF, which seems to be the recommendation from Sasquatch, which I am strongly minded to take.
Not going to be a full rebuild, as they are too good to disturb, I feel, and I can play with The American Grandad DirtBike you might notice in Image 2

Regards

Phil

[ned37]

in all my years of rebuilding forks, i have never seen oil like that come out of them.  ???

[London_Phil]

It drained clear until the last few cl. I can only assume its the accumulated muck from at least 15 years of never being touched, (oh the shame...)
Hey ho. Wonder if i should rinse it out with some cheap Dexron I have from my old T25 auto  VW days.
Failing that, what do you rinse them with, if your not stripping them down?

[JayDub]

My Triumph service manual says that's the right set-up... with the spacer tube 
Can't find a measurement for the wear limit tho 

[Bixxer Bob]

You could do with rinsing that crud out fo the bottom because it can interfere with the damping.  When mine came out like that I whipped the damper assy out and flushed the bottom casings out properly with white spirit then dried thoroughly before re-assembling them with a light coating of oil.

[Sin_Tiger]

Wonder if i should rinse it out with some cheap Dexron I have from my old T25 auto  VW days.

Definately but I would really open it up to clean everything now that it's been disturbed.

[nickjtc]

Definately but I would really open it up to clean everything now that it's been disturbed.

+1. Lots of nooks and crannies down there.

[fishnbiker]

in all my years of rebuilding forks, i have never seen oil like that come out of them.  ???

I change my oil every year. Looks fairly normal. The longer the bike sits before draining, the more the sludge separates.

ATF sounds a bit thin ... 5w?

I use a 50/50 mix of 10w & 15w with 650cc per side for pavement & gravel 50/50 riding.

[nickjtc]

ATF sounds a bit thin ... 5w?
I use a 50/50 mix of 10w & 15w with 650cc per side for pavement & gravel 50/50 riding.

Here we go................ :icon_wink:

[London_Phil]

Update..
Replacement forks arrived today. look slightly poorer cosmetically than my originals, but clean and straight sliders. Springs are progressive, and are as long as the original plus the spacer, with W11 in white on them.
Plan is to rinse the original forks, fit the prog springs and use ATF oil.
Will strip replacements, and possibly get the lowers powder coated black, then rebuild and replace at a later date.
I do low mileage, and no real offroad, so its all probably overkill.
Anyone know if the W11 marking on the springs means anything??


Regards

Phil