Is my lower half warped?

[Gcraay]

One side of my forks do not like going in. The right, slides in with a little dish soap, the other, about have to beat it in. You ever have one be warped? No screws in at all. Also, are the trees different for the 34 and 35 mm forks? That would suck. I would think so, but maybe not.

 

[azman857]

Something is wrong if you have to beat a lower fork on. It should just slide in. Pre '74 forks are 34mm and post are 35mm. You have to use the proper sized trees with the fork tubes. Maybe a twisting motion to get the tubes in the trees or lower sliders on the tubes but no taping/beating!

 

[Bob Kelly III]

take the tube/slide and see if it rolls good on a table, sight down it and see if t looks slightly bent if they don't slide then they are probably bent slightly.... fork tubes can be straightened by a competent man with a press and wooden blocks so as not to dent or mar the surface, but it is a tricky job....
when a 4x4 turned in front of me On big bend road and i hit him at 45mph my front forks on my Kawasaki w1 650 were bent back to the engine
i could barely walk because my knee hit the hood/fender of the truck when I went over it...about a month later I took the wheel off and forks out and was successful at straightening out both forks by using a come along and chain in the crotch of an oak tree with the fork...
it took about a day for each tube to straighten them and I had to use allot of care not to mar them but they were bent at the base of the lower tree and no where else and still slid nicely.... once I bent them back and re installed them you couldn't tell they were ever bent.
it was all my 2 tone come-along could do to bend those tubes by the way and I wound up braking the come-along cable a few weeks later
because I stressed it way beyond its usual load. but no worries at the time as I had 2 more come-alongs for building my log cabin.
a Hydraulic press is by far better but you must use care to not mar the surface and that is hard to do if the press isn't very wide ( most aren't)
.....
chances are if you sight down the sliding tube you will see a slight bend in the tube.... replace it or have it straightened !
......
Bob.......

 

[Bob Kelly III]

I have also seen on a small 100cc bike where the fork would go down and stick and not return... upon discovering this I investigated and discovered that the PO had beat the forks straight with a large hammer/sledge.... and left the marred surface rough and marred which then stuck on full compression of the forks.... I simply took a file and smoothed the divots and it never stuck again, it was a dirt bike so it wasn't really a safety issue the o'l thing was loose as a goose anyway but was fun to ride in spite of it !
LOL i put oil in those forks but obviously it didn't stay in there for long and coated me quite well for the first few rides ! LOL
....Don't use Dish soap !!!! use 30 wt or 10wt oil to slide the tube in ...coat the entire tube with very oily hands and then try sliding the tube in.......
dry, their fit is just too tight to slide, oil those puppies up !!!!!! and get that dish soap off of them before it hardens and you can't get them out !!!!
also with an oily finger reach inside the outer tube and oil it as good as you can and then insert the tube,... get the seals and rubber caps really wet with oil !
if the tubes are straight they will go in there if they are lubricated real good !use a twisting motion once you get in about 6" or so they will stop binding and slide in ... or should ! ....
Bob......

 

[XSLeo]

Perhaps after years of being held closed where the tubes go through the trees, the trees have taken a set. Try gently driving the tip of a straight screwdriver into the gap where the bolts go through. This will open the clamp area of the tree slightly. Enough so the tube slides easily in place.
Leo

 

[Bob Kelly III]

As mentioned by Another, you should read up on assembling the forks in the tech section !
to get there go to Forums/garage/XS650 technical reference........ and read up on everything, get to know the bike !
its very helpful !
Bob....

 

[Gcraay]

Something is wrong if you have to beat a lower fork on. It should just slide in. Pre '74 forks are 34mm and post are 35mm. You have to use the proper sized trees with the fork tubes. Maybe a twisting motion to get the tubes in the trees or lower sliders on the tubes but no taping/beating!

I don't believe my trees are that early, but my tubes were 35.10 mm give or take, so there 35mm.

 

[Bob Kelly III]

so did you oil up the forks and see if they slide together ?
......
Bob.......

 

[Gcraay]

so did you oil up the forks and see if they slide together ?
......
Bob.......

I used some dish soap. The thing is, it's only one side. And it won't even start without a rubber mallet. I have another front end that I can try. But I'll have to take it apart. Just didn't want to go through all that. If I could identify the age of the trees that would be nice. I don't think they're early years but I guess it could be. They measure out at 35.10mm so I'm thinking later years. I've tried 2 lower trees and to tight. Even stretched it out some. I guess it's time to take apart the other front end.

 

[Bob Kelly III]

Aurgh ! Don't use dish soap !!!! it will gum up and destroy the seals and all kinds of bad things ! clean that dish soap out of there asap !!!!
seriously !!!!
sounds like you got a grab bag of parts and are trying to make a front end out of it .... Yes ?
only thing for it is to try everything you got and if you can't get it working you'll have to buy ( shudder) parts !
..... it's not easy to build up a bike on a shoe string budget but It CAN be done !
..... gggGary has allot of parts for sale you might message him and ask if he has forks eh ?
he is a trustworthy guy and won't screw ya you can trust him !
Bob........

 

[Gcraay]

Aurgh ! Don't use dish soap !!!! it will gum up and destroy the seals and all kinds of bad things ! clean that dish soap out of there asap !!!!
seriously !!!!
sounds like you got a grab bag of parts and are trying to make a front end out of it .... Yes ?
only thing for it is to try everything you got and if you can't get it working you'll have to buy ( shudder) parts !
..... it's not easy to build up a bike on a shoe string budget but It CAN be done !
..... gggGary has allot of parts for sale you might message him and ask if he has forks eh ?
he is a trustworthy guy and won't screw ya you can trust him !
Bob........

The shocks are pro rebuilt off eBay the trees are from my original bought used bike. The soap is only on the outer metal. Not on any seals. I can't seem to get the forks to slide in on that one side. Wondering if they don't go to an xs. Contacted Forks by Fred to see if he can help. He did I them. Thanks

 

[Gcraay]

so did you oil up the forks and see if they slide together ?
......
Bob.......

I used dish soap. The issue seems to be only the right hand side. It looks fine from all angles but...ugh I don't know. I have a third tree to try, so if that doesn't work then...*%$&^%$&^%!! it slides in easy on the left. I just can't see any defect to cause this. thanks

 

[MaxPete]

I think that the 34 to 35mm diameter switch happened 1977. The fork tubes, the seals, the sliders, the damper rods, springs, end cap - and the triple clamps are all different (as well as lots of other parts like the brake caliper etc. etc.).

Please forgive me if I have misinterpreted your original note, and I do hate to ruin your day....but, trying to put 35mm diameter legs into 34mm diameter triple clamps is definitely a no-no.

It isn't just the gap in the clamp, the entire fit will be wrong. 1mm is A LOT when you're talking about hardened precision steel components like fork tubes.

 

[Bob Kelly III]

Can you post a picture of what you are working with please perhaps the guys here can see the difference in the fork tubes.
and what are you trying to do ? assemble the forks into the tripple tree Or put the fork tubes together ?
and as I said get that soap off of there or you will be sorry !
pictures of the things you are working with helps allot ....Really
.....
Bob........

 

[Gcraay]

I think that the 34 to 35mm diameter switch happened 1977. The fork tubes, the seals, the sliders, the damper rods, springs, end cap - and the triple clamps are all different (as well as lots of other parts like the brake caliper etc. etc.).

Please forgive me if I have misinterpreted your original note, and I do hate to ruin your day....but, trying to put 35mm diameter legs into 34mm diameter triple clamps is definitely a no-no.

It isn't just the gap in the clamp, the entire fit will be wrong. 1mm is A LOT when you're talking about hardened precision steel components like fork tubes.

I have three trees. One still together. I didn't think any of them were post 77. But maybe. My last pair may be 35mm. I just have to disassemble them. And repaint. Kinda didn't want to do that.
Any chance the rest won't fit together once I get a pair of 35mm trees? Like the neck or bearings? That would suck big donkey dong.

 

[Bob Kelly III]

not knowing what you got , Yes there's a good chance none of it will work !
some of it interchanges and some of it doesn't
.... good luck !
Bob........

 

[MaxPete]

As I understand it the 35mm steering head uses the same bearings and spacing as the 34mm variant.

So...if you have 34mm legs and sliders - you need a 34mm steering head and triple clamp assembly and brake caliper - BUT - if you have 35mm legs and sliders, you need a 35mm steering head and triple clamp assembly and brake caliper - and the steering heads are interchangeable but the fork legs and brake components are not.

You cannot mix 34mm fork parts and brake parts with 35mm triple clamps.

So - simply measure the outside diameter of your fork tubes (the long shiny chrome tubes that fit into the triple clamps) and that will decide the issue about which size fork tubes you have and what set of other parts you need to use.

Pete

 

[Bob Kelly III]

Thanks Pete !
....
Bob.......