Hitchcocks Forum

Hi anybody got a sectioned view of the efi forks, thinking of changing the oil in them on firm braking bike pulls to the right but disc is on lhs feels like rh fork leg is a bit low on oil.
I was wondering on the possibility of removing the two cap screws in nacelle and using a long thin bit of copper os stainless tube hooked up to a marijet vacuum pump, these run on compressed air or the good old garden hosedont know much about the new ones but heard you have to remove them from bike to change oil real pain in the a*** await your learned answers o wise ones.

I don't think fork oil or lack of it would cause these symptoms. (Sorry, that's not what you asked!) Assuming everything is correctly tightened and aligned on the forks, are you unconsciously pulling too hard on the right 'bar when you brake? Are the wheels correctly aligned, especially the rear?

REgards, Mark

Scotty, For what it's worth a friend of mine with a similar bike removed his forks to change the oil (not too hard a job) and discovered one spring was an inch or so longer than the other. If they are the same as my 2006 Bullet which I think they are its not too hard to unscrew the 'staunchen' once the fork is out and check the springs. I had no trouble anyway.

Hello Scotty, I suggest the first area you look at is the torque on the wheel spindle and also the calliper fasteners and the head race adjustment (a known problem on the EFI). Even if the brake pads were grabbing, it wouldn't;t cause the symptoms you report. I have a technical drawing for C5 and B5 models (they are different forks) but I can't put it up on here. If you join our independent Facebook Group I can message you with a pdf of the technical drawings. It is not possible to change the fork oil without dropping the legs out of the casquette, except on the older G5 on which the top (inner) nuts were drilled. Very poor design on the later models- but its character building to strip them down yourself! https://www.facebook.com/groups/163078194146170/

Have a look at our hosts parts book on line as this gives a reasonable idea of how the forks are made up in a drawing.

Scotty,



the procedure seems to vary according to which model and year of EFI you have. The EFI Electra has the same forks as the Electra-X and are just a classic post-1988 Indian Bullet fork with disc brake sliders. See our hosts' "how to" in the technical section.



The C5 model has redesigned internals and screw-in fork caps on top of the stanchions, BUT as far as I'm able to work out there are two different types.



If you have the earlier C5 type (also used on many B5s) with the external thread at the top of the stanchions, the top cap has a LEFT HAND thread. If yours is the more recent design of fork with the plain stanchion top, the video below with some fork-stripping and rebuilding Indian mechanics shows it has a RIGHT HAND thread, as it is shown being turned anti-clockwise to undo.







Meanwhile there are some pictures from someone on the US forum showing an early C5 fork strip here:



https://get.google.com/albumarchive/117 ... MCp4ZfToAE



Hope this helps, which it won't if you have a CGT!



A.

Thanks Adrian shows exactly what to do looks like a 20 to 30 min job. I have a 2016 B5, HAD A SIT ON CGT wrist breaker ok if you are in your 20s my wrists would last 10 mins before crying enough. Shame they did, nt fit tomaselli pattern bars more adjustment but qc would be a problem. Thanks to all for your advice.

Scotty, I beleive you're describing the symptoms related to fork/handlebar misalignment.
Easily cured by holding the front wheel between your knees etc. etc.

If you have this type of fork I think you will find it is not possible to drain the oil from the bottom of the fork in the normal way the hidden bolt in the base of the leg holds the innards together and is not a drain the only way to replace the oil is to take the legs apart



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Is it not be possible to drill and tap the fork sliders and stanchion top caps for drain and filler plugs, M5 and M8 respectively? I'm planning to do this with a set of early-style C5 forks purchased for a project. A.