My recently acquired XS2 came with bent fork tubes (stanchions). I purchased replacements from Mikes XS. My dilemma is this, the new tubes came with smaller damper piston, spring, and collar. The original damper piston and accompanying part do not fit (too big) in the new tubes. See pics. I was advised to replace old piston with new one and it would "work fine". Can anyone verify this from experience? See attached pic with original damper and piston and "new" piston and parts. Merry Christmas!
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HELP! New fork tubes for XS2
- Thread starter scanney
- Start date
I’ve never actually seen that before Scanney.
The new fork tubes you bought, they are 34mm correct? They changed to 35mm later on.
The new fork tubes you bought, they are 34mm correct? They changed to 35mm later on.
Yes, the old and the new are both 34 mm.
Ok, I’m trying to figure this out. If anybody knows more please chime in. What I’m getting here is the reproduction tubes were made to the correct exterior diameter, but are thicker walled, perhaps for strength? But the unintended consequence is the inside diameter has now shrunk. Therefore the larger diameter stock components no longer fit inside. Using the photo below, #1 and #5 are close tolerance items. I understand that one of those new components you have is supposed to replace #1 but I’m unsure what the other pieces are and what they are supposed to replace. Have you tried assembling them together into one damper assembly? Do the pieces all fit together? My unit did not have a spring anywhere in there.
I did re-assemble w/o tightening and the new piston, spring, and collar do fit. All items you identified in your pic of the damper were removed. And my original damper also did not include a spring. It seems I could re-assemble with new damper parts and see if it functions properly. It would helpful if someone else has dealt with same issue that could advise.
I have never purchased any tubes that had any type of damper parts with them. I have always just swapped out the original dampers and installed in the new tubes. Including the ones I bought 10 years ago from Mikes. Maybe it was a returned set from someone and they left the damper in it. It looks like the parts in your original post post are rusty
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For what it’s worth, this is a set of fork tubes that an EBay seller carries, Ive had them book marked for some time now. The photos appear to be the same as the ones Mikes sells. There’s probably only one company cranking them out.
I repaced stock tubes with extended tubes in my '75 XS 650 about 40 years ago and used the stock damper. According to Mikes XS I should use the piston that came with the tubes and it "should work fine." And yes the piston and inside of the new tube had some rust. I'm going to re-assemble and hope for the best.
Thanks for posting. You can clearly see the damper piston behind the circlip on the pics.
