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[Nettshubby]

Hi, I am about to dismantle a fork leg due to a suspected bent Stantion tube.
When was the bush and seal arrangement changed ?
The manual just says the later forks have integrated bushes and seals.
My bike is a 2002 500 ES.

[stinkwheel]

It'll be the type that just has two oil seals with a plastic spacer between them and no bushings. Make sure you have something to protect the end of the slider when you pry the oil seals out.

You'll need a big allen key, or a bit of 13mm hex bar to unscrew the stanchion from the casquette. I use an old footpeg/engine mounting bolt with a spanner on it for this job. It unscrews clockwise as you look down onto it.



Check the free length of the springs while you have them out, they tend to compress over time. Minimum tolerance is 19 1/2".

There's a handy guide on this site for doing the job: https://accessories.hitchcocksmotorcycl ... f&_xt=.pdf

[Nettshubby]

So I guess the seals don’t have to be removed to pull out the Stantion tube once the damper tube is unscrewed?

[Nettshubby]

I already have the leg out of the top casing, I just wasn’t sure what year the forks changed.

[Adrian]

The fork design changed around 1988 in include the oil seals in the slider casting. Before that the oil seals were in separate housings screwed onto the top of the sliders, as taken from the Redditch design.

A.

[Nettshubby]

Thanks for that, it was much earlier than I thought.
Ray.

[stinkwheel]

So I guess the seals don’t have to be removed to pull out the Stantion tube once the damper tube is unscrewed?

No, undo the bog nut at the bottom and they'll slide apart. You should still replace the seals though, they'll be damaged when you pull the sharp edge of the damper rod nut through them. I generally wrap the end of the stanchion in the heavy duty plastic bag the new oil seals came in when it's time to reassemble them. Oil it well so ti can be slid out from under the seals.

Check the damper rod fits through the hole in the bottom of the slider before reassembly. It tends to gall up and you get it 90% assembled then can't get the end of the rod through the hole.

[p]

I removed my seals by tapping out with a long rod through the bottom bolt hole as I had read the woes of levering them out! Mine had a circlip holding the seals in - the instructions I was following didn't mention that........
2 seals and plastic spacer (2000 350.) oh, and a circlip!

[Nettshubby]

When I stripped my bent forks I took off the damper retaining nut in the main tube and slightly reduced the diameter of the collar and put a small shallow chamfer on the end,in my lathe, then smoothed off any sharp edges.