front fork rebuild

[feartheride]

In the process of changing the oil in my front forks.As it turns out,you have to tare them right down to clean them properly.Manual is not the best at explaining the process but with a little help from others ,fiqured it out.
Unless I am missing something ,I need a tool to reinstall the bottom bolt(shim pack) through the bottom of the tube and into the cartridge to hold the cartridge in. I was able to brek it loose with the impact but could not tighten it.
So far the only thing I have come up with is a piece of square tube to slip over the 4 flats on the end of the cartridge or a 12 point socket welded on a tube because it has to go 10" down the fork tube
Any idea how much these tools are or do you have a pic of one
.I will try it tomorrow.

Here is a pic of the cartridge

 

[roo]

tool

cycle therapy just rebuilt my forks, picking up wed. will ask him. he used kawi fork seals and bushings.

 

[Hawkdoggen]

I found that you just have to lightly push down on the rod while gently hitting with the impact . This little pressure seems to be all that is needed to get it to stop spinning while you tighten . Dont over tighten , you just want it snugged against the o ring , the cap should only set in about an 1/8 in so be careful not to overtighten and strip with the impact

 

[feartheride]

cycle therapy just rebuilt my forks, picking up wed. will ask him. he used kawi fork seals and bushings.

Ask him for the part #'s on those seals and bushings

 

[feartheride]

I found that you just have to lightly push down on the rod while gently hitting with the impact . This little pressure seems to be all that is needed to get it to stop spinning while you tighten . Dont over tighten , you just want it snugged against the o ring , the cap should only set in about an 1/8 in so be careful not to overtighten and strip with the impact

yes tried that it seemed tighter going in then coming out at first I thoght it was the threads but i think it was just the first oring on the end that slides up the cartridge .

 

[RudeAwakening]

paul how did the oil look in yours!

 

[snowhawk jockey]

Bud has the right idea about tensioning the damper with "finger pressure" on one end and teh impact gun on the other. EASY DOES IT....

 

[feartheride]

paul how did the oil look in yours!

Like muddy water

 

[RudeAwakening]

maybe i should change mine too! how much dose a shop charge to do a fork oil change?

 

[feartheride]

maybe i should change mine too! how much dose a shop charge to do a fork oil change?

I would think 3-4 hrs labour anyways plus parts

 

[snowhawk jockey]

The shop in our area charges 2hrs($150) plus parts($55 for the seal kit and $10 each for 2 liters oil), so, about $225. I have seen an experienced tech completely clean, inspect, re-seal and oil a set of forks, off the bike, in about 45 minutes. He was careful and detail oriented, bled the forks of airbubbles and set the clickers when he was done. So, if you hand "service" a set of forks, don't pay the "on the bike" price for a reseal/oil.

 

[Beeline]

I took my forks apart last night and was suprised to find very clean oil after 4 years of riding. I plan on cleaning and replacing the oil anyhow but ran into a problem . The spring won't come out and is tightly wound around the inner plastic insert . The nut on the bolt I think would allow the plastic insert and the spring to come out , but I'm a little confused how to untighten it . Any help would be greatly appreciated .

 

[feartheride]

The spring should just pull right off once the cap is off.The nut is just to remove the plastic spring guide and to jam up against the top cap once cap is put back on and screwed all the way down until it bottoms on end of rod not nut.

If your not changing seals I don't think I would disasemble the inner and outer tube,just remove the cartrige using the 1" i.d.square tube as your tool to hold it

 

[Beeline]

Thats what I thought . I'm not sure why the spring is tight around the cartridge ? I'll look at the other one .

 

[Hawkdoggen]

So far ive had to fix 3 04s with that problem , the white bushing is a lil to big for the inside of the spring , you can either turn them down 20 or so thou on a lathe or get a 6" sand block and some 80 grit then 220 grit and shave them down , then they will come apart and back together properly . They dont need to be nearly this tight

 

[roo]

kawi parts

seals, wipers, inner and outer bushings for 94 kx 250 match up! anyone know hawk fork spring rates?
should be able to use springs to.

 

[steveo_supremo]

seals, wipers, inner and outer bushings for 94 kx 250 match up! anyone know hawk fork spring rates?
should be able to use springs to.

That's some valuable info there. Thanks

 

[buffaloHAWK]

spring rate...

the spring rate on all snowhawk forks is .54 for those that need to know....

 

[TCSKIBIKE]

I had the same problem had to pry the spring off with a screwdriver.. Ugh.. but it all came apart with a little elbow grease.

 

[SUSPENSIONSYSTEMS]

FORK SPRINGS

THERE ARE NO RATES STIFF ENOUGH STANDARD AND THE 503 / 600/ 800 ALL USE THE SAME PART NUMBER ACCORDING TO AD BOIVIN! BUT WWW.CANNONRACECRAFT.COM CAN MAKE YOU ANY SPRING RATE YOU WANT FOR ABOUT $120-130. THE BIGGEST PROBLEM WITH THE HAWKS ARE THE SPRING RATES ARE TOOOOOOO SOFT AND CAUSE THEM TO DIVE TO MUCH IN THE FRONT END!

DO NOT USE BEL-RAY OILS!!! IT GETS DIRTY 4X'S FASTER THAN ANY OTHER BRAND!!!!!

SEALS

RACE TECH PART NUMBERS FOR 46 MM KYB SEALS ARE OIL SEALS FKOS46 / DUST SEALS ARE FKDS 46

PARTS UNLIMITED

KYB KIT PART NUMBER 0450-0085$86.95

PARTS UNLIMITED OIL SEAL PART NUMBER: FS-044 $24.95 46 x 58 x 9.5/11

PARTS UNLIMITED DUST SEAL PART NUMBER: 0407-0033 $32.95 46 x 58.1 x 10.5/11.5

PRO-X PART NUMBER 40-2465 $43.95 OIL AND DUST SEAL KIT

PIVOT WORKS PART NUMBER 0407-0074 $38.95 OIL AND DUST SEAL KIT

THEY ARE THE SAME AS KAWASAKI KX125/250 95-01 - YAMAHA YZ125/250/400/426 96-03 HONDA 96-03 CR125 97-07

BUSHINGS ARE NOT THE SAME I DON'T THINK WILL LET YOU KNOW MONDAY I HAVE 2 SETS TO DO TOMORROW AM.

REAR SHOCKS NEED OIL CHANGES EVER 700-1000 MILES!!!

STOCK FORK SPRING RATE IS .54 KG/NM ... I WOULD SUGGEST ABOUT A .58 -.60 KG/NM (TO START) IF YOU WEIGHT 215# AND HAVE THE 9 GALLON TANK ON THE 503F

HOPE THAT HELPS!
STEVE MATHEWSON
SUSPENSION SYSTEMS
9026 NEW ALBION RD
LITTLE VALLEY, NY 14755
716-244-3842 AFTER 5 PM

IF ANYONE NEEDS THERE'S SERVICED I HAVE ALL PARTS AND VALVING IN STOCK OR JUST TECH SUPPORT DON'T HESITATE TO CALL