Hitchcocks Forum

My 2004 500 Bullet Sixty5 has some play in one of the front forks, the chrome stanchion can be rocked very slightly in the cast aluminium fork end. Is this a case of replacing worn bushes within the fork ? - it isn't clear from the manual.
Many thanks.

There aren't any bushes. There are two sets of fork seals seperated by a plastic spacer. Easy to replace but DO buy a protective collar for you to lever the old ones out against. There are also some metal guides on the damper rod but no conventional bushes. I'd imagine a little play would be par for the course though because that isn't a lot to hold them straight by. If they're not leaking, I wouldn't worry too much. Here's what you've got in there.

Many thanks Stinkwheel. There is no leakage so I suppose it would be pointless changing the seals. The play can be felt through the handlebars though so I guess the only cure is a new aluminium fork end.

The pre-1988 Indian Bullet forks do have bushes, though you're unlikely to encounter a set of those on a Sixty-5, which should match what's in Stinkwheel's picture, hopefully with a bit less rust! A strip-down should give a better indication of what is actually worn, though I'm assuming the forks are properly tight in the fork yoke and the casquette.



A.

I did at first think the headstock was loose but eventually tracked the play down to the left hand fork leg. Removing the bushes post 1988 sounds like a backward step.

Silly question is there oil in the fork leg. Alloy fork btms are fairly cheap out of india.

If you can feel it in the 'bars I would be looking to change the sliders. It's not going to get better.

That's what I thought. Two sliders ordered.