Hi guys and geetings from the North of England.

Hope you can give me a bit of assistance.

My 91 cbr1000f has just failed its annual roadworthy test for warped (Front) disks and a leaking fork seal.

The original quote was for £385 plus tax (VAT @17.5%)

I sourced some front disks with only 200 miles on them from good old ebay and the price has gone down to £200

I was thinking of taking the forks off and taking them to the shop to try and reduce the labor cost but my question is,

If I use my ancor point to secure the rear of the bike to the floor and remove the front wheel - will I have enough clearance to remove the forks or will I have to lift the bike?

Cheers - Harry_T

 

My experience is that you'll have to lift the bike, Harry T, there's insufficient clearance just anchoring the rear.A trolley jack under the engine with a block of wood on it'll do, once the front wheel's out you shouldn't have to lift it much, maybe a couple of inches..... My Mum was from Lincolnshire (Grimsby) so 'allo, Duck ! Discs are a doddle, fork seals once she's up'll take you an hour, cost me 6 quid a pair from Aberdeen.You can use automatic transmission fluid in your forks, instead of fork oil, ATF's about a quarter of the price of fancy fork oil from Honda, and mine's had it in for a couple of years now, no problem.Add a couple of extra ML's if you want to stiffen the front a bit.....
May as well do the F wheel bearings too, while you're at it. Steering head bearings ? Well, that's another little beastie........best to fit new brake pads, too. Saves aggro later.[X(]

 

Harry, I just completed changing fork seals on my 1988 Hurricane 1000. Piece of cake. Have bike on center stand. You'll need a piece of 4"x4" or 6"x6" wood around8 1/4" to 8 1/2" long.First remove front fender, lower side and bottom plastics. Have a friend put weight on back of bike, which will lift front. Place wood block under two arm sections pointing towards ground on engine. This will keep front wheel off ground and provide plenty of clearance for removal. You should really consider changing seals yourself, if you are evenmildly mechanical. It isn't hard at all.

 

Thanks guys, I do have a trolley jack - so I will prob go that way.
I will have a look at the seals - but to be honest I watched a youtube video on how to do it and thought WTF?

Anyone in the North of England want to earn a few quid and teach me how ? lol

hehehe failing that I'll take the forks down the bike shop (I will loosen the top thingies befopre remving the fork from the yoke - let me know if I am getting too technical here )

Oh if I try it myself - how much oil goes in ?

 

All the specs are in the manual, Harry T If you need it, shout......
Check it out- can't remember how many ml's of fluid off the top of my head.
As for too technical - we do most of our own work here, with help from the other guys so too technical ? No, not really...... but.....What's a thingy ? D'you mean the handlebar clamps that fit around the fork stansions, or another thingy ? he he
Best of luck mate, none of it's that difficult- I replaced my camchain and tensioner with help from the lads on this Forum - Knowledgeable lot, they are........

 

Mmm don’t you love it when you make a very informative and witty post and Internet Explorer falls over before you click “Submit” lol

Ah well worse things happen…..


As you can see from my pic (Which is how the bike is now) I have moved on a little.




I have put some anchor points in the floor of my garage to secure the bike side to side and they work well.

I have had a few hurdles today though, the first being that my forks top bolts needed a 17mm hex to undo them and I went to all the local shops, but they don’t sell an Allen key that big (I should have bought a 10mm whilst I was there though lol) .

So I come home and ponder for a while, I am big fan of thinking and can usually come up with a work around. So I get the key from my locking wheel nuts on my car turn it upside down, grab it with a pair of locking grips and it worked a treat.

The next surprise was on loosening the Allen bolt from the bottom of the fork – it dropped down taking me by surprise – So I grabbed it and shoved it back up out of reflex and dump 409cc’s of fork oil in my lap.
Now as nice as greasy nuts on a Sunday afternoon can be, I wasn’t very impressed lol. Bear in mind I’m a newbie at this and actually thought I would take the fork out, crack the top off like a bottle of beer and poor the oil into my bucket.

All part of the learning curve I suppose.
I never actually got to remove the forks today as they are still held in place by a 10mm hex and my set only goes up to 8mm - I will grab a larger set in the morning.

The good news – unlike the first youtube video I watched I have found another that is much easier to follow

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SrkHYXe7Uo

I would welcome any feedback on that video as it looks a bit too easy!
In fact it looks that easy I am going to give it a try myself

Also got some questions.


I have replaced my front discs as well – but I re-used the shims that were already on there. Is this OK? (They looked in good condition) If not can you do without them?

[font="times new roman"][size=3]The garage told me replacing the discs would mean new pads as

 

1 If shims feel OK, look OK and smell OK, fit 'em. Don't leave them off the bike. Old shims are better than no shims....
2 If you're flush, fit new pads - they do develope ridges on them from the old discs. If you're like me, broke and hungry, fit the old ones and ride the old beast gently (the bike, I mean) until they seat properly.Always better to fit new ones with new discs though.......You can always give them a rub against a flat surface with some sandpaper on it, if there are ridges.....
3 Do both forks, don't eff about, you need to get the fork oil the same in both or your front end'll be all over the place.
4 Fork oil is about 4x price of ATF here. Use of ATF is only recommended due to price.
5 Put the old underpants on e-Bay - sure to be a fork oil smelling pervert there who'll pay good money........

 

Hi - just an update

All done and back together - awaiting a re-test next week

Thanks for all the encouragement (lol unless it fails - then its all your fault hahahaha )

Actually feeling a bit smug with myself at the moment - great sense of acheivement

 

Doing it youself means you don't have to worry about blaming someone else - and yes, feels GOOD, DUNNIT ?

 

Just passed

And tomorrow is going to be 25 degrees (Real hot round these parts)

Now I just have to decide if I ride to work tomorrow or drive hmmmm tough choice lol