Hitchcocks Forum

Hi

I have just bought a 2010 Woodsman Bullet E5 model, it has a disk front brake with a leading axle.
I am trying to get the lower legs off to change the seals, I have removed the 18mm nut & copper washer off the bottom of the leg but can't get the lower leg to come off the stanchion.
I have tried gentle persuasion with a nylon faced mallet and pushing the leg up and then pulling down really hard, when I do this it sounds like metal on metal.

Question, am I missing something obvious or what type of persuasion do I need to do?

thanks, Duncan

That should be it, nothing else holding them other than the friction of the seals and galling of the alloy against the damper rod.

Try screwing the nuts most of the way back onto the damper rod to protect the threads then giving them a rap with a bigger mallet while holding the stanchion to drive them back up.

Once they are off, make sure the end of the damper rod is free to push in and out of the hole BEFORE you attempt reassembly. Getting the seals on and over the stanchion then finding the damper rod doesn't fit through the hole would be... Annoying and may lead to tools getting flung across the workshop.

Have you got a protective collar for prying the old seals out against? Don't try without one, even if it's improvised (big exhaust clamp?).

Hi Stinkwheel

thank you for the advice, I will dig out the club hammer and try as you suggested

thanks

Duncan

May be helpful. Older model but same setup.

Hi again,

Success Club Hammer and a firm grip on the bottom leg did the trick.
Seals are out, rusty water between seals on L/H leg? should there be a drain hole in the gaiters ?

The stanchions are fine, no rust.

Some questions,
which way up does the spacer go that fell out of the leg? one end is tapered the other is machined down in diameter.
what fork oil do I use, or is it 10 - 30 w engine oil?
The hole in the bottom of the leg is very tight on the damper, do I just use a rat tail file to open it slightly?

thanks again

Duncan

Oil control collar goes taper up.

I just open out the hole with a drill of the correct diameter. Emery cloth and a dowel would probably be the softly-soflty approach.

Hole in the gaiter is one option (there will be a hole there anyway or they would inflate as the forks compress). Couple of things I've used over the years to stop water trapping over fork seals. A simple one is just a big smear of grease on top of the upper seal. I used plumbers silicone on the wifes YB100 (just peels out when you want rid of it).

Obviously, Japanese bikes have a dust-seal/wiper on top of the fork seal that prevents water getting in there. Our hosts supply them very cheaply, part number: 170121. However they fit over the slider so you'd then need to put the gaiter over that. One alternative that occurrs to me (but I haven't tried) is to fit one of the old fork seals above the circlip to act as a wiper seal. Just not sure if it would stay in the slider or land up going up and down on the stanchion.

That said, shouldn't really be getting water between them anyway if the seal is intact and working. It should be oil-tight. Any water ingress should sit above the top seal.

Emery cloth and a dowel would probably be the softly-soflty approach

Unless of course you treat yourself to a parallel expanding hand reamer, they're not that expensive. You set the blades to shave off just a teeny-weeny amount each rotation, which is what we're talking about.

A.

Thanks for all the advice, now to raise the order for the parts

thanks

Duncan