Hitchcocks Forum

I've been reading over the Technical Notes on the web site here but I must be missing a paragraph or two. I've the oil drained out of the forks and the forks out of the bike but the second page of the technical notes shows the two parts of the forks divided. How did that happen?

I'm scratching my head wondering what I missed. There is a sentence: "The alloy fork ends should then pull down and off" that sounds a whole lot simpler then would logically be the case, well in my head. It's not like the two halves just slip apart with the lower half going "down and off"?

I'll have another coffee and reread. In the mean time any helpful words of advice would be really great.

Unscrew the cap at the top of the fork (Cascette end) and unscrew the hex bolt within, the lower part will now come away. No need to remove the top half of the fork from the bike.

JFW,
Screw the forks back into the bike, undo the drain nut on the bottom of the forks, rubber mallet and tap on the lower leg ( mudguard mount points) and the lower leg will come off once the thread for the drain plug clears the leg. You can put the drain nut back on and give it a tap up to free it a bit.

Thanks for you help lads, I put it all back together as I had to order the parts anyhow and I'll do it this weekend. I've looked at your words of wisdom and I'm happy with Midge's. I was looking at that hex on the "Cascette end" but decided that was just to thread the forks out of the bike.

Norm I'm less sure of your instructions as you just take off the drain plug and smack it. That seems a bit flimsy for something I'm putting a lot of miles on

Hi guys---------- JFW, have a re-read of your first posting..."The Alloy fork ends should then pull down and off"--(as per MIDGE). That's correct EXCEPT that the threaded part sticking out of the lower fork usually gets jammed into that very Aluminium itself, giving the appearance that it's a solid item.. So what NORM has said is also valid !!You'll need to SIMULTANEOUSLY knock DOWN on the lower section AND (with the cap screwed on at least half way up to start with) tap UPWARDS on the threaded part.... It should then start to disappear into the lower section and eventually they will part company.......PS, before re-assembly I usually file the hole in the lower section so that the threaded part passes through easily...Remember to use a new sealing washer under the domed nut when re-assembling..If you have trouble with the threaded part not protruding fully you can get a friend to push a long stick down from the top onto the damper unit inside until you can get a few turns of the nut on....You can put the washer on later when the fork is fully re-built..

Jfw,
I have pulled thousands of forks out of bikes and I didn't say smack it I said tap it, but if you think there is a better way go ahead

Jfw you are taking the wrong advice here Norm is spot on.