Hello All,

I just got a CBR F3 for my first bike a couple of months ago and I love it!!!! I bought a 98 F3 with 31k miles. Everything is good with the bike except I need to have the fork seals replaced. Only one of them is leaking, the other one is fine. I took it to the shop and the guys says I need new bushings as well as fork seals. Without opening up the forks he said they had too much play in it and it would cause the new seals to go bad if I didn't replace the bushings. Is this commen?

 

It's not uncommon would be more to the point. It depends on wot sort of use/abuse the bike has been through, that determines how quick they go.
Rough roads, popping mono's. Even going over the same speed hump on the daily commute causes them to wear and eventually they all do. It's amazing how much stress the front of the bike has to cope with.
Actually your mechanic sounds like he is trying to do the right thing by you, there not over the top in price (Is any part from Honda not over the top) and he has to pull the forks apart, and that's the most expensive and time consuming bit. It it where me, I'd have them replaced anyway.

Congratulations on your choice of bike by the way, I have the same model & year, Black & Silver.

 

I just done the fork seals on mine, they are not hard to do, although the bushes were not worn in mine,
if you can, take the fork legs off the bike you should be able to feel the play between the slider and fork leg if they are worn, if you can't feel anything they are ok just get the seals done. The other plus on taking the fork legs off yourself is it will save you money by just taking them to the garage and having the seal done that way, I always do them cheaper if they bring the legs on their own,
Everything is made to fail, or bearing and seal manufacturers would go out of buisness,
How many miles you got on the clock??

 

Don't worry about play or anything else. If the fork seals are being replaced, it would be silly not to replace the bushings and all other wearable items in the forks. All the bushings combined in both forks add up to a whopping $36.00. And please don't just fix one fork. Fix 'em both and ride knowing that the other fork won't go out anytime soon.

 

He is charging me $50 for the bushings. That includes both lower and upper bushings and for both of the forks. He says these are non honda bushings. If I wanted honda bushings it would be alot more. Are the $36 bushing you are refering to honda bushings?

I like to work on this myself. I have a claymers manual for the bike, but I don't have any way of raising the front end. Any suggestions?

My bike is black/silver with some maroon in it. It has a D & D exhaust on it, which makes the bike sound soo freaken sweet.

 

Tell'm, "cut me a deal on bringing in the fork tubes/ sliders, off the bike" Bush prices are about right, for both sides. I've done it twice, and it tighten's up the front considerably... IF, it needs it.. Both bikes, were mid 80's and did need it. Drain your fluid and check volume and contamination. How many miles on your bike... Good question!!!!! It's not that hard a job... but to tune them, to the teeth, takes some patiant work shiming the lowers and peening the tops (bushings). Clean and free, Ripp'n

 

There are no shims in F3 stock forks, the lower bush is like a big piston ring and fits on the bottom of the chrome fork tube this slides up and down the fork leg, the TOP bush fits snugly into the Fork leg just under the seal and has no shims or the seal won't go down far enough to get the snap ring in the groove if you put anything under it,. where do you get shimming from rippn???

 

Shim'n... that lower bush is generaly looser than stock, when replaced. Because of slider ID wear, hence shiming. What i do, is use feeler gauge material, (long ones) cut to fit under(between bush and tube) till its snug... .003, is the clearence, (snug and "free".

For the top bush... this is where the patiance, comes in... take the top bush, and slide it over (after check'n the initial fit) the tube and methodicaly "peen" a consistant pattern, over the ENTIRE surface, using a very small ballpeen hammer. this peening raises the thickness of the bush and makes it thicker, much like ejecta, makes a crater, taller, a person may have to wide'n the bushing end gap slightly... take this as proof the bush ID, is snug'n up. Reassemble the tube into the slider several times, to check fit... don't entirly seat the top bush in the slider when checking, It makes it easier to remove, again. Just pull up the tube, in the slider, in sort of a gentle,"slide hammer fashion" less is needed generaly, than the same method, to initialy remove the upper bush. As you are doing the shim'n and peening, you will get a "feel" for "snug".

Be careful, to descerne the area, where the lower bush rides in the slider, as this area will possible be balooned(exageration) but is the area that the bush should be shimmed for. I use a light lube, while all this fitting and checking, is going on. I was amazed at the "like new" ) feel of my forks... and yes, the bushes,will need to "break in" Just like "better" than new,as the factory, pobobly didn't need to check NEW clearences, and most dealer service probably don't KNOW how to do the "tuning" part. Pro aftermarket suspension setup people know. An article in a mag, by set up people, got me going. And two sets of forks, have come out fantastic feeling.
Happy to answer anything ,I can. Clean and Free, Ripp'n

 

Ameer, I looked those bushings up on Honda microfiche. That's just for the bushings. I work at a dealership and this price was straight from Honda. What the mechanic might be quoting you is for the oil seal, dust seal, and lock ring around the top of the fork. But the bushings alone only cost about $36.

To get the front end off the ground, if you have a paddock stand (quick jack, swingarm stand, whatever you call it), use it in conjunction with a floor jack under the oil pan to raise the front end up. Otherwise, if you have a garage or any place with exposed beams, run a tie down strap (ratcheting type) over and through the rafters and under your triple clamp. Simply ratchet and the front end will magically raise.

 

This guys is charging me about $200 for the whole deal, so I guess it is o.k. I don't have a safe way of raising the front end so I wont mess with taking them off myself. Although, I will bring up the fact that honda ones are only $36. Thanks for the price check on this, Zerochickenstrips.

There aren't many places around st.louis that work on bikes and the ones that do charge an arm and a leg. One place was charging me $200 for just the seals if I brought the forks in.

Anyone here from st.louis know of a good place for bike work?