Posted September 8, 201014 yr have taken the forks off my parts bike and going to try to rebuild them and put on my good bike but for the life of me I cannot get the oil seals out. things ive tried. first taking out the retainer clip then torching the fork and prying out with tire lever. will not move. filling forks with water and pounding with mallet. water leaks thru since I've damaged the seals so much at this point. feels like Ive torn both my rotator cuffs at this point messing with this dang thing. I've even lit the seal on fire and let it burn and the thing still will not move. Theres no way to pound on it from below unless I'm missing something? Any other ideas.
September 9, 201014 yr i think i've read about someone that was building a cafe from an xs400 on the dothetun forum site. I remember him having some trouble with replacing his forks and made up some tools from his work shop. I dont have the exact link for his build, but maybe it'll help? good luck though
September 9, 201014 yr Author are you trying to get the them out without dismantling the forks ? the fork is dismantled. I cant get the spring clip on the top off as well as the oil seal. about ready to give up.
September 9, 201014 yr Moderator the spring is stepped so its dead easy to remove!! remove that and get a piece of rag or flat wood to stop the alloy on the bottom leg from being damaged. use a pry bar under the lip of the seal and push the other end down to lever out. sometimes i've had to pick out the seal in bits and use heat to soften the rubber and tease it out!
September 9, 201014 yr I was hoping for that reply as i've only just taken the caps off and am about to attempt this. I've even lit the seal on fire and let it burn and the thing still will not move. New seals I suppose are in order: I was wondering about seals that I almost purchased from ebay. They are on both ebay UK and ebaydotcom. Fork seals and Dust seals Except the dust seals look as though very thin, that is low profile to them. Are these seals any good? . . . if anyone has used them. Or you get what you pay for?
September 9, 201014 yr Author I was hoping for that reply as i've only just taken the caps off and am about to attempt this. New seals I suppose are in order: I was wondering about seals that I almost purchased from ebay. They are on both ebay UK and ebaydotcom. Fork seals and Dust seals Except the dust seals look as though very thin, that is low profile to them. Are these seals any good? . . . if anyone has used them. Or you get what you pay for? hard to tell from the picture how deep they are.. but I would imagine they are fine. like rubber if you treat it once a year with back to black or nuvinyl it should be fine and last. im mentally preparing myself for a second day of beating this fork to death. lol
September 9, 201014 yr Author well i got the seals out finally. I guess I was being a girly man. put a 3ft pry bar on pusssssssssshed. now I can't get #17 off.. that stupid little Circlip. ok come to the conclusion its impossible take off by yourself. will wait till I can get a second pair of hands.
September 9, 201014 yr well i got the seals out finally. I guess I was being a girly man. put a 3ft pry bar on pusssssssssshed. now I can't get #17 off.. that stupid little Circlip. ok come to the conclusion its impossible take off by yourself. will wait till I can get a second pair of hands. I'm hoping to hear that this could be a DIY 1-person task but anyway here is another view on ebay of the dust seals that come with the seals ebay It's more the quality of the actual fork seals that that I'm waiting to decide on purchasing, otherwise just go with $34 usd for those 4 things from NWVCP. good luck, btw
September 9, 201014 yr On second thought after reading this post http://www.yamahaclub.com/forums/topic/23451-virago-535-fork-oil-seals-dont-fit/ maybe I'll think better of it.
September 10, 201014 yr Author I'm hoping to hear that this could be a DIY 1-person task but anyway here is another view on ebay of the dust seals that come with the seals ebay It's more the quality of the actual fork seals that that I'm waiting to decide on purchasing, otherwise just go with $34 usd for those 4 things from NWVCP. good luck, btw even with two people I can't get it out. what the hell is the trick for this dang thing. the manual just says pry with screwdriver. thanks for nothing.
September 10, 201014 yr Moderator well i got the seals out finally. I guess I was being a girly man. put a 3ft pry bar on pusssssssssshed. now I can't get #17 off.. that stupid little Circlip. ok come to the conclusion its impossible take off by yourself. will wait till I can get a second pair of hands. you need my wife to do that. she's a dab hand as I've rebuilt 3 different xs forks! question, how did you take off the seals with the stantions in place? you said you had stripped the forks
September 10, 201014 yr Author you need my wife to do that. she's a dab hand as I've rebuilt 3 different xs forks! question, how did you take off the seals with the stantions in place? you said you had stripped the forks I have each fork broken into two pieces like in the picture. the top piece is completely empty.. everything stripped out. the bottom one I haven't been able to get anything out of it. it sounds like iam missing a step or something.. lol i hate you haynes manual! and yes send your wife over my sister is a weakling!
September 10, 201014 yr Moderator what you should have done is; loosen the lower allen bolt under the bottom fork. or it'll just turn the damper with the forks still in the bike and the wheel on, flick off the plastic cap and press the metal plug down (may need to use kinetic energy to start it(a mallet) as they corrode there. with the cap pressed down against the fork spring (its hard) get the missus to use a terminal driver to dislodge the clip ( it'll ping off so do it in a garage) CAUTION; be careful as the cap may jam and then suddenly let go the first one i did, i had to give to an engineers who turned out the cap on a lathe as it was that corroded in! if you can understand how I did the above, maybe you can work out a way of getting that cap moving with damaging the damper rod! maybe re-fitting temporaily back into the lower fork?
September 11, 201014 yr Author what you should have done is; loosen the lower allen bolt under the bottom fork. or it'll just turn the damper with the forks still in the bike and the wheel on, flick off the plastic cap and press the metal plug down (may need to use kinetic energy to start it(a mallet) as they corrode there. with the cap pressed down against the fork spring (its hard) get the missus to use a terminal driver to dislodge the clip ( it'll ping off so do it in a garage) CAUTION; be careful as the cap may jam and then suddenly let go the first one i did, i had to give to an engineers who turned out the cap on a lathe as it was that corroded in! if you can understand how I did the above, maybe you can work out a way of getting that cap moving with damaging the damper rod! maybe re-fitting temporaily back into the lower fork? i can put the fork back together no problem.. i can push the metal plug down and pick at the clip. the clip will spin around but it will not dislodge. driving me nuts.. what is a terminal driver?
September 11, 201014 yr Moderator a little screwdriver you use to wire electrical plugs. Its small enough to get into the groove and flick it out
September 12, 201014 yr .. what is a terminal driver? Wondering that myself, was thinking more a pick like the pic
September 12, 201014 yr Author Wondering that myself, was thinking more a pick like the pic heh i broke 2 picks trying to get it out. I did pick up some more screwdrivers today.. gonna attack it again tommorow this time with a male. if anything we will destroy it in the process.
September 12, 201014 yr heh i broke 2 picks trying to get it out. I did pick up some more screwdrivers today.. gonna attack it again tommorow this time with a male. if anything we will destroy it in the process. use a small flatblade screwdriver to hold it in place to keep it from spining , than use a pick tool to pry it out . that's what i did . if it's rusty and nasty than give it a spray with some WD40
September 14, 201014 yr Author use a small flatblade screwdriver to hold it in place to keep it from spining , than use a pick tool to pry it out . that's what i did . if it's rusty and nasty than give it a spray with some WD40 thanks everyone. finally got them out today. had to find another mechanically inclined person to assist me.
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