I finally dug out my strap wrench and dismantled my XS1B forks.
Fork lowers, springs, and seal holders are all quite reasonable, if marked.
No good for a show bike, but good enough for me.
The fork tubes, however, are a real mess.
My initial intentions were to get them ground and hard chromed, but I can see a couple of problems already.
Firstly, the lower bushes will need to come off, it looks like they're rivetted on.
I presume, as they are wearing parts, that they can be replaced, but I cant see how.
Secondly, there's a wire type snap ring on the larger diameter part.
I suspect that the chroming process will effectively put hard chrome into the grooves, meaning they'll have to be recut somehow.
And worse still, the very top of one tube has been damaged and repaired by welding (very badly)
Probably scrap, but I might just have scrounged a replacement (also in rough condition)
Hopefully, I'll be able to get these sorry looking items hard chromed, I've had tubes done in the past, and the result has, IMHO, been better (harder) than new OE.
If it turns into Mission Impossible, are there any NOS tubes still to be had ?
Fork lowers, springs, and seal holders are all quite reasonable, if marked.
No good for a show bike, but good enough for me.
The fork tubes, however, are a real mess.
My initial intentions were to get them ground and hard chromed, but I can see a couple of problems already.
Firstly, the lower bushes will need to come off, it looks like they're rivetted on.
I presume, as they are wearing parts, that they can be replaced, but I cant see how.
Secondly, there's a wire type snap ring on the larger diameter part.
I suspect that the chroming process will effectively put hard chrome into the grooves, meaning they'll have to be recut somehow.
And worse still, the very top of one tube has been damaged and repaired by welding (very badly)
Probably scrap, but I might just have scrounged a replacement (also in rough condition)
Hopefully, I'll be able to get these sorry looking items hard chromed, I've had tubes done in the past, and the result has, IMHO, been better (harder) than new OE.
If it turns into Mission Impossible, are there any NOS tubes still to be had ?