lazn

So I have 3 sets of GSXR forks that I have procured in the process of attempting a fork swap.

Of them, I have two sets of Showa Forks, one of which have some of the fender mounting tabs broken off and are quite beat up. The other ones were taken apart prior to me purchasing them so they have sat with no oil for some time.

I also have a set of Kayaba forks that are perfect, but they are not as good of forks as the Showa.

So my question is.. How hard is rebuilding forks? The non beat up Showa forks are probably my best bet, but I need to make sure all the parts are there, and that they are in good working order. (in other words I need to rebuild them at a minimum)

I have tried to find online guides for rebuilding forks, but none of them are complete and they talk about needing special tools etc, but these are already disassembled..

Does anyone have any hints? Or know of any good guides? etc. (perhaps I should just take them to a local shop and have them do it. lol)

Thanks!

Tweety

You don't really need much special tools... A lot of them makes life easier, but aren't necessary...

The tools that are useful are the seal drivers for pressing in the fork seals... It's possible to do it with bit of PVC tubing, but a lot easier with a tool... A good measuring container (accurate!) for the oil or an "oil level tool" of sorts if you are lazy...

That's about it for special tools... Hex sockets and such I assume you already have...

nuhawk

If you bought them disassembled you have to refer to the parts fiche (available on line) to make sure you got all the parts and where they go. If the stacks have not been taken apart you may be able to pull a substantial "refresh" by just doing springs and oil.

You could also box up all the parts and ship them to RaceTech and they will rebuild them for you.

Our site administrator did my forks twice, Jamie also hangs here regularly is also doing suspension for Superhawks.

If you look at the parts fiche for a stock Superhawk it's a daunting task if the stacks have been disassembled. I wish I had that much uninterrupted time to devote to a project like that. Not happenin' right now for me.

Greg did take the time to redo my stacks as part of his rebuild and it was awesome. I did do the Penske rear at the same time. The "flow" over the bumps was achieved. Heavy braking was much more controlled.

Jamie is doing a shock mod for our Moderator that is in Iraq. It uses a CBR shock - great alternative to a $1k Penske or Ohlens.

RCVTR

Is that where Greg is?

There are a couple of techniques for fork disassembly that can get you wrapped around the axle, if you don't do them properly.

Don't disassemble the preload adjuster from the top cap. Back the preload off, then unscrew the whole top cap. The outer tube will then slide down, exposing the top of the spring and spacers, etc. You have to pull the plastic tube down from the top cap to expose the lock nut where the damper shaft attaches to the top cap. This will probably require a fork spring compressor. I bought a cheap one from Traxxion Dynamics. It works OK, but requires 2 people and a bit of figuring to make it work. Once the top cap is off, the spring, etc will come out. You will need to reset the "closed" position on the rebound adjuster on reassembly. Don't force it into the damping orifice.

Getting the damper out requires an 8 mm Allen wrench on a 3/8" ratchet drive, with an impact wrench. If you don't have one, a special tool is required to hold the top of the damper tube while you unscrew the plug/bolt from the bottom. since I was disassembling my dampers, to shorten the top-out springs, I made a special tool to engage the dogs on top of the damper. You probably won't need to disassemble the dampers. DON'T try to take the damper apart by removing the rebound valve through the bottom.

Once it's all apart, you can do a thourough cleaning and inspection. I recommend complete disassembly and cleaning, when doing an oil change. Again, I would not disassemble the damper.

Hawkrider

Aren't these Gixxer forks inverted? If so you WILL need a spring compressor specifically for cartridge forks.

Stock "right-side-up" forks are easy to disassemble and I have a link to a step by step on a VFR which are essentially the same forks.

lazn

Yes, they are inverted. And they are disassembled, so I will go though them to see if everything is there. It is possible that they were disassembled wrong and damaged in the process?