Hi everyone, i recently joined the family of cbr owners. I've landed myself a 93 F2 thats i need of attention after being neglected for quite some time. This post concerns a problem ive encountered in the attempt to replace a weaping fork seal. I've searched through a ton of threads and haven't found one relating to my problem. Ive taken the cap that keeps the tension on the spring off, spring is out, ive taken out the allen screw at the bottom of the fork leg out allowing the pistion and return spring out. The problem is that the fork tube will not fully slide out of the leg, its almost like it hits something solid. I've downloaded a PDF service manual but their exploded diagrams and removal procedure are pretty useless as far as explaining things. Thers a piece that i can hear loose between the tube and the leg and from my manual its a OIL LOCK PEICE. I've taken the forks apart on my old bike and never encountered this problem. I hope ive explained it well enough to understand.

Thanks

 

You're replacing the seals cuz they're leaking? I think I have to change my seals as well. If I know what your problem was, i'd help you but I haven't attacked this portion of my bike yet. I'm actually going through a whole rebuilt from the bottom up. Repainting the frame, swing arms, new bolts and everything. So when I venture in this area, hopefully I could learn from you. If anything, viseversa.

Goodluck and welcome.
-Jasper

 

Not sure if this is the same exploded view that you've got, but I hope it helps.

Disassembly:
(The numbers indicates the order to perform the dissasembly)



Assembly:
(The numbers indicates the order to perform the assembly)

 

I put new fork seals in my 94 this summer. It seems kind of counter intuitive but this is what I think is going on. The tube doesn't just slide completely out. You have to give it a pretty good pull to get them to separate, and to put them back together you'll have to give it a little encouragement as well. when the fork tube is fully extended it catches at the very end. Just give it a good tug.
When I did mine I pressed the seals in with a 4 ton press. I went down to the auto parts store and bought a section of exhaust pipe that would fit over the tube and around the seal. That was the easiest way to do it I found. It seemed almost impossible to get it in there any other way. I used the dust cap as a way to measure if I had the seals pressed in there far enough.
I also used the honda fork oil, which all it really is is 10w automatic transmission fluid. So if you are strapped for cash thats a cheaper alternative as well.
Good luck, and post any more questions if you have them.

 

hey. I asked someone who knows much more about bikes than i do. After explaining the problem to him he immediatly asked if it was off a honda. Honda are apparently the only ones to choose this brain dead design. Anyways, long story short, we heated the area around the fork seal with a propane torch gave it a good pull and eventually she pulled out. Thought id let you know how it turned out so it'd help anyone else with the same problem.

Thanks for the replys. cheers.

 

Good show! I thought it would be similar to how I explained it on the IR PM... But instead of usinga 4 ton jack like Elmer did, I just used the right size PVC pipe and a good rubber mallet to punch her back in place.

Hope to see you around on the F2!

 

I just went through this on my F2. The problem is that the 2 internal bushings are getting wedged inside the fork slider. The smaller bushing wedges inside the larger bushing causing it to expand inside the fork slider. In a perfect world, the smaller bushing will push the larger bushing up as you yank the slider against the fork tube. The bushings eventually work their way up to move the fork seal out of the fork slider. I ended up hydraulically forcing the seal out, by filling the whole assy. with water and pressurizing it with a hydraulic floor jack. This may have been a crude procedure, but it was very effective. Once the seal popped, I could then see the bushing below. I sprayed it thoroughly with penetrant and continued yanking away on the fork tube. Eventually, the bushing freed itself and I could then completely disassemble the rest of the fork. Clymers manual says you can do it while installed in the triple tree steering stem, butI used a 2x12" on the ground as a base for the forkas I was getting it apart. The 2x12" gave me a good base to pull and push off of. You will have to pound the fork down after each pulling stroke due to the wedge effect of the bushings.The 2 bushings were ruined from being wedged against each other. The oil lock piece was also roughed up so it had to be replaced as well. Don't give up. It may seem like it will never release, but eventually it does.

 

Both slider bushings ended up getting deformed somewhat so i'll be replacing those as well as the bushings on the top of the slider under the seal. I figured i may as well "fork" over the money for some new parts while shes apart. I see the slit in the bushings and i assume they just slip over the fork tube and slide down into the fork leg. Anything out of the norm to be expecting?

p.s. wicked prank hersh. i laughed so hard after seeing that pic of his tail light. brilliant

 

Well, unfortunately he got ME with the sticker lol! I wrapped his bike up, there's more in store though so stay tuned haha...

 

Hey bikechump, I'm experiencing the same problem with my fork as of the moment. To what extent did you heat up the fork tube? Till it was glowing red? I've been going at mine for a while and I can't seem to get the damn thing out. I've removed everything from the back up ring to seals, all that's left is the bushings, fork tube and slider. I tried things from my car, to hydraulic jack. Elmer, if you don't mind me asking, how did you use a hydraulic press to remove the fork?

-Jasper