osteoderm
out of the box
Hello All!
New member here, been lurking for awhile, but it's time to dive in.
This summer I bought my first bike. It's a 1974 TX650A, almost all original, sinfully low milage. Showed 4400 miles on the clock when i bought it on Memorial Day, and now up to 7800... not letting the grass grow under these tires! I was shopping for a builder to chop up, but found this original gem at a great price, and it's too nice to cut. No regrets, it's been a great summer!
I've tried to keep the work to a minimum: changed the oil a couple times, installed the Heiden oil cooler, new clutch and throttle cables, new petcocks, new LED lamps where possible, new primary jets, filters, slide springs, float valves, and manifold risers for the P/O-installed VM34 carbs, new front master cylinder, rebuilt the front caliper, installed PCV breathers, new mirrors, and replaced the stock bars with "Euro" bars from Mike's.
So far, so good until today. I have been collecting funds, parts, and good karma for a month before getting into rebuilding the forks. Just the usual problems: leaky seals, cracked boots, lightly-pitted upper tubes, and a ride that makes me fearful over 60mph. Today was a rainy Saturday, and tomorrow is supposed to be clear September goodness, so I finally tore down the front end with great expectations!
It's my first fork rebuild, but I'm a working mechanic with all the tools and a greasy Haynes manual, and feeling pretty fearless about the whole thing. Everything goes great; damper retaining bolts impact out in a snap, and while the old seals are a bit of a bitch, everything else pretty much comes apart with zero hassles.
I had new tubes and progressive-wound springs from Mike's still in the box, and a couple different brands of seals, new wipers, new gaiters, all set for shadetree playtime. I clean all the old parts, unwrap the new ones, and lay everything out.
First off, the new springs are looonger than expected. Then again, so is the spacer ("Distance tube") between the top cap and stock spring, so I figure the spacer can be omitted.
Then, the stupid part: the stock damper rod assemblies don't fit up into the lower end of the fork tubes! I compare, and yup, while the OD, ID, and length of the old and new tubes are identical, the recess in the bottom is smaller (wall thickness greater). Short of machining th etubes, I'm convinced there's no way to make 'em fit.
So I steam and sulk and fire off a sternly-worded letter to Mike's, but there's riding to be had tomorrow and damned if I'm gonna let this ruin my whole weekend! Back in the shop, I re-assemble the stock tubes with the new springs, omitting the spacers, oil up, and hit the road for a shakedown. Well shit-howdy, it was a revelation! Had to be, the lowers were practically empty of oil when I tore them down, and the stock springs were not inspiring (I think one is actually rusty). Ride greatly improved, brake-dive practically eliminated, my endearingly-funky old bike transformed into a rainbow-farting pegasus of awesomeness... until I hit the first New England frost-heave. >CLUNK<
My steed bangs and clunks on rebound, and has a rattly sort of gritchet when the forks are bounced on the centerstand. My thoughts so far: Even with the spacer removed, I had to compress/preload the new spring a little over an inch to get the top cap threaded down. I'm a hefty fellow, and there isn't much sag. Too much spring pressure? My Haynes manual shows the "Damper Piston" BELOW the circlip, not above (as I found it during the teardown). It fit so neatly above the circlip (inside the tube), almost like it was supposed to, but maybe that space is for the discs on the damper rod to move up and down?
The bottom conical spacer had a little movement, but definitely wasn't loose, or requires tacky grease to hold it during re-assembly. Could it be installed improperly?
No sign at all of any sort of top-out spring/damper; read some reference to certain early-style forks having them in upper tubes, some not. I can't find any photos of '74 34mm forks tore down anywhere, even from looking at RD350 sites, XS400, etc.
Well, that's my head-scratcher... thanks for reading. Any ideas?
New member here, been lurking for awhile, but it's time to dive in.
This summer I bought my first bike. It's a 1974 TX650A, almost all original, sinfully low milage. Showed 4400 miles on the clock when i bought it on Memorial Day, and now up to 7800... not letting the grass grow under these tires! I was shopping for a builder to chop up, but found this original gem at a great price, and it's too nice to cut. No regrets, it's been a great summer!
I've tried to keep the work to a minimum: changed the oil a couple times, installed the Heiden oil cooler, new clutch and throttle cables, new petcocks, new LED lamps where possible, new primary jets, filters, slide springs, float valves, and manifold risers for the P/O-installed VM34 carbs, new front master cylinder, rebuilt the front caliper, installed PCV breathers, new mirrors, and replaced the stock bars with "Euro" bars from Mike's.
So far, so good until today. I have been collecting funds, parts, and good karma for a month before getting into rebuilding the forks. Just the usual problems: leaky seals, cracked boots, lightly-pitted upper tubes, and a ride that makes me fearful over 60mph. Today was a rainy Saturday, and tomorrow is supposed to be clear September goodness, so I finally tore down the front end with great expectations!
It's my first fork rebuild, but I'm a working mechanic with all the tools and a greasy Haynes manual, and feeling pretty fearless about the whole thing. Everything goes great; damper retaining bolts impact out in a snap, and while the old seals are a bit of a bitch, everything else pretty much comes apart with zero hassles.
I had new tubes and progressive-wound springs from Mike's still in the box, and a couple different brands of seals, new wipers, new gaiters, all set for shadetree playtime. I clean all the old parts, unwrap the new ones, and lay everything out.
First off, the new springs are looonger than expected. Then again, so is the spacer ("Distance tube") between the top cap and stock spring, so I figure the spacer can be omitted.
Then, the stupid part: the stock damper rod assemblies don't fit up into the lower end of the fork tubes! I compare, and yup, while the OD, ID, and length of the old and new tubes are identical, the recess in the bottom is smaller (wall thickness greater). Short of machining th etubes, I'm convinced there's no way to make 'em fit.
So I steam and sulk and fire off a sternly-worded letter to Mike's, but there's riding to be had tomorrow and damned if I'm gonna let this ruin my whole weekend! Back in the shop, I re-assemble the stock tubes with the new springs, omitting the spacers, oil up, and hit the road for a shakedown. Well shit-howdy, it was a revelation! Had to be, the lowers were practically empty of oil when I tore them down, and the stock springs were not inspiring (I think one is actually rusty). Ride greatly improved, brake-dive practically eliminated, my endearingly-funky old bike transformed into a rainbow-farting pegasus of awesomeness... until I hit the first New England frost-heave. >CLUNK<
My steed bangs and clunks on rebound, and has a rattly sort of gritchet when the forks are bounced on the centerstand. My thoughts so far: Even with the spacer removed, I had to compress/preload the new spring a little over an inch to get the top cap threaded down. I'm a hefty fellow, and there isn't much sag. Too much spring pressure? My Haynes manual shows the "Damper Piston" BELOW the circlip, not above (as I found it during the teardown). It fit so neatly above the circlip (inside the tube), almost like it was supposed to, but maybe that space is for the discs on the damper rod to move up and down?
The bottom conical spacer had a little movement, but definitely wasn't loose, or requires tacky grease to hold it during re-assembly. Could it be installed improperly?No sign at all of any sort of top-out spring/damper; read some reference to certain early-style forks having them in upper tubes, some not. I can't find any photos of '74 34mm forks tore down anywhere, even from looking at RD350 sites, XS400, etc.
Well, that's my head-scratcher... thanks for reading. Any ideas?
