YZF Winter Spruce Up 2012

amevl said:
make sure you use a 6 point socket very easy to tear up the caps.easiest way to remove them is slide them back in your triple trees and just tighten the pinch bolts on the bottom tree only this holds the fork firmly in place while you loosen the caps.
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Yeah, thats what I tried initially Jeff. I knew the best way was to crack them loose while still pinched in the triples but they wouldn't budge, and that was with a 24mm 6 Point. It seemed as though it wasn't as tight a fit that I would have liked. It may be because it was a thin walled socket. I'm gonna bring the fork with me to test fit the impact socket to make sure it fits tight on the nut. The last thing I want to do is have to buy a set of fork caps at $96 bucks a piece.
 
***Fork Cap Update***

Well, I went with your recommendations and went and bought a new set of impact sockets. It wound up that Harbor Freight had a great 13pc set that was $27.99. It went on sale for $19.99 and then I hit them with my 20% Coupon and paid only $15.40!!! The set got 5 Star write-ups so I went for it.

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I also got a 6pc screwdriver assortment for free with the same coupon! So I got home and broke out the compressor and my trusty Snap-On 1/2" Drive to see what would happen.

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Because I had kanrled up one of the caps with the pipe wrench at work, I used a small piece of metal the same size as one edge of the bolt pattern and fitted the socket over that. It gave it a nice tight fit. Then I inserted the Impact Gun into the socket and BINGO, it took all of 3 seconds for the cap to come loose. I jumped on the other fork which wasn't knarled and used the piece of metal anyway. Same deal for that one. I'm so happy!

Now they are ready for rebuilding come Sunday.
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I want to thank Tony (NJFZ1) for calling me the other night. Once he found out about the stuck caps, he informed me that he actually had a extra set of YZF Forks for the bike that I could get if I ruined the caps on mine. Now thats a friend!! Fortunately I'm good to go now. I'm gonna pick up some black anodized preload covers so that you won't see the chewed up fork cap. It will make adjusting the preload without a wrench which is good.
 
theWolfTamer said:
I bought a similar impact set when I got my HF impact gun to install the advancer. Those things are stout but best of all come with a lifetime warranty.

Good job Billy.
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Thanks Patrice. I'm sure you know how it goes with Harbor Freight items. If you pick and choose and do your homework first, you can get some decent quality stuff at rock bottom prices. For instance, my trailer, the bearing puller, the impact sockets to mention a few. I always read all the reviews first. This set got raved over by customers that bought them. I figured if I at least got these Caps loose it was worth the $15 bucks. Well, they did that with ease so to me it was worth it. Oh, and yeah, that Lifetime Warranty doesn't hurt either. And take it from me, they give you absolutely NO problems replacing broken items.:tup:
 
Nice Billy!

An impact driver is a life saver. I bought a cheap electric one for the R6 project last year. I bought a cheap one thinking I wouldn't use it that much. Boy was I wrong! When I'm in a bind, that thing bails me out.
 
Hellgate said:
Nice Billy!

An impact driver is a life saver. I bought a cheap electric one for the R6 project last year. I bought a cheap one thinking I wouldn't use it that much. Boy was I wrong! When I'm in a bind, that thing bails me out.
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I needed a new cordless drill a couple years back. I had all kinds of problems with Craftsman in the past, so I decided to bite the bullet and get the black and yellow DeWalt. All I wanted was the drill, but the combo pack the the impact driver was not much more, so I asked the guy at Home Depot about it and he swore that I'd use the impact drier more than the drill. I didn't believe him, but I thought the extra tool would be worth it. :wow: I really DO use the impact driver more.

I needed the drill to take down a wooden play set my kids had out grown, but I don't know if I could have done it without the impact driver. What a life saver!

Billy, glad you got a great deal and it worked. I need to get an air compressor and get air tools, but I have to get a new garage built first, and that will be a while. I'll watch your fork rebuild :popcorn: I hope to change springs and fluid this summer just like Eric did. I'll be adding the rear Penske like Eric too. Next thing I'll be adding a TBR exhaust like Eric. Maybe you could bring Eric with you when you come to clean my FZ. :p

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Great find Billy ! I have an impact driver to take my mower blades off. I can't get them loose without it. I reinstall them by hand but the high speed twirlling gets sooooo dang tight !

Ohh, mowing . . . . it's almost the season . . . . . :shine:
 
Dustin said:
Got any tips for cleaning fork legs on the bike? Mine are... nasty
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Sure pal! Get yourself some white kerosene from any hardware store and a fine scotchbrite pad. Have a sponge and soapy water on hand for neutralizing the kerosene. Pour some kerosene on the scotchbrite and give it the "once over". You'll be amazed at how all the gunk and grime just drips off with very little "elbow grease". Once you have the leg clean with the kerosene, just take the sponge and soak the fork leg with the soapy water. Afterwards, just dry it with some shop towels and sit back and be amazed at your brand new looking fork legs!:cheers: Oh! And take a couple of before and after shots so others can see the joy of "cleaning with kerosene"!
 
I use kerosene to clean my wheels, my swingarm, my chain and everything else but a Scotchbrite pad I do NOT have! Time to get one and scrub!
 
BDazzler said:
Billy, glad you got a great deal and it worked. I need to get an air compressor and get air tools, but I have to get a new garage built first, and that will be a while. I'll watch your fork rebuild :popcorn: I hope to change springs and fluid this summer just like Eric did. I'll be adding the rear Penske like Eric too. Next thing I'll be adding a TBR exhaust like Eric. Maybe you could bring Eric with you when you come to clean my FZ. :p
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Sign me up! I'll Git R' Dun for ya! :tup: Or, ride it here for the overhaul and enjoy the road test for the trip back Troy!
 
Same here... Kerosene is my only cleaner. Just be careful about keeping it off the tires. ;) Wring out the cloth before wiping down the wheels.... no drippage!!! :tup:
 
All hail the kerosene. I'll be picking some up. I assume it's safe on paint if you neutralize with soap and water after. Now I just need the special "Billy" applicator! :tup:


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What A Forkin' Day I Had!!!

Today's game plan: Rebuild both forks, get the calipers cleaned, soak the chain in a kerosene bath, and remount the front wheel.

Unfortunately, Murphy's Law was in full effect!

I got down to the garage by 7:30am this morning.

Started breaking down fork number 1. I had drained the bulk of the "mud" upstairs yesterday so I wouldn't have to deal with a big mess in the garage.
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I removed the cartridge next and as you can see the oil was pretty bad.
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Looking at the rust under the dust cover, I assumed that this would be the first time these forks was cracked open.
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I pulled apart the upper and lower and cleaned everything spotless.
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Bottom tube looking good to go!
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All internals and new pieces ready to go in.
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New oil seal ready to be driven home.
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The Motion Pro driver makes short work of installing seals.
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Oil seal and new dust cover installed.
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So now the fun begins! I go to re-install the cartridge in the fork tube and fasten it down. I had my 8mm T-Handle Hex and I go to just hand tighten it for now, and with no pressure whatsoever, SNAP! She just keeps spinning! I said to myself, "that didn't sound good at all"! Here comes Murphy!

The bottom of the cartridge just snaps right off!
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I'm dead in the water! A new cartridge, if they have it, is $246.00 Dollars! OUCH! So I made the call! No, not Partshark, Tony (NJFZ1). He just happened to have a spare set sitting in his house and was gracious enough to let me drive over and pick them up for next to nothing! THANK YOU TONY!!!! So I packed up what I had done and headed over.
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Me and Richie get to Tony's house, pick up the forks, and decided that we'd head over to Cycle Gear in Edison and use my gift card to get the Oil, Filter, and new GoPro Mounts that I need.
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The store was packed and there were bikes everywhere. I saw this sweet Bonnie outside. Looking at all these guys riding in made me feel left out. So we high tailed it home so I could get this bike finished and back on the road!
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So we get back to NY, I run upstairs and break out the compressor and impact gun and bust loose both caps. Ready again to rebuild.
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As you can see in this photo, the cartridge end on the right was mine. The arrow points to an imperfection that I thought was part of the piece, but as you can see, the fork that Tony had was perfect. I know now that the P.O. did in fact have these forks done and whoever did them had not inserted the cartridge correctly. It's probably why the other one cracked in the first place.
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Now with both of Tony's cartridges installed perfectly, I was on the home stretch.
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First fork with new 7.5WT Oil.
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I used Tony's springs because mine were out of spec at 11.25in. His were the correct 11.5in which is what the manual states.
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After the first one was bled and put back together, the second was a piece of cake, which is what both should have been from the beginning. An hour job turned into a whole day project, but in the end I have two beautiful shining new forks!
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I was so full of forks today, I even rebuilt the extra fork that Tony gave me, which came out perfect, and I will be returning to him the next time I see him. This way he could sell it or keep it as a spare. I used the best of all the parts I had left and it works fine.
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So that was my day today. I didn't get to finish everything I planned, but I did get to see Tony, and also spent some quality time with Richie which was very nice. Tomorrow I should have everything I planned for today finished with more pics to come. Thanks for looking! Oh, and Happy Easter to all and your families!!!
 
Wow! You can clearly see where the cartridge was cracked over half way around and the raw metal was all that held it together. Better to find out now and have it done right than out on the road in a corner!

Great job Billy!
 
Cobalt said:
Wow! You can clearly see where the cartridge was cracked over half way around and the raw metal was all that held it together. Better to find out now and have it done right than out on the road in a corner!

Great job Billy!
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Thanks Pete, and thanks Eric. It had to have had a stress crack in it for it to snap with almost no pressure at all. I usually wait until the fork is all back together to torque those bolts down. I only tighten them enough at first so they don't leak. Once I saw that Tony's were perfectly round I knew mine were taken apart previously.
 
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