Xs1b front upgrade winter project

I was going to get new ones, just wanted to make sure that what I was looking at was the right ones. The wipers have what looks like ribs to hold the chrome cover?
 
Yep. And the rubber wipers fit onto a groove in the screwed-on seal holder. Might need to fit a tiny/thin screwdriver in there to work it around and peel the rubber dust seal off. Careful, if it's hardened, it'll crack...
 
Pulled my forks off a few weeks ago, filled with chem dip, waited till today.
. Took off the chrome scraper cover, cut off the rubber scraper, and dug out the seals. Rusty mess. The all balls seals are about 1/2 mm too big, but since they are rubber covered i just roloced the excess off. Use my bench vice To force them in. Other than the seals being a rusty mess, it all looked in great shape. I put in the spec'k 10/30 wt,
And upped the amount a few cc's
I also took out the loose ball races in the head stock, and put in the tapered bearing kit. Fits better in the early bikes than the later years.
I also cleaned up the business side of the front drum, and put on new shoes.
Putting it back together in with the headlight ears, those chrome washers, the turn signals, then holding it all together while reaching for the wrench to tighten the pinch bolt was a pain,mbut i got it done.
Observation-- only one pinch bolt on the lower fork per leg?
I also only have one spanner nut on the stem. Is that rite? Its the one you need a spanner wrench to tighen, its the one with the sleeve that goes up into the top tree, and i cant tighten the yoke pinch bolt. I have plenty of thread, so im sure it can go further, but tight is near tight enuf. Is there another sleeve that shims in there?
 
angus67 said:
...The all balls seals are about 1/2 mm too big, but since they are rubber covered i just roloced the excess off.
Click to expand...

I hope they don't leak.

angus67 said:
...Observation-- only one pinch bolt on the lower fork per leg?
Click to expand...

Yep, that's all we get.

angus67 said:
I also only have one spanner nut on the stem. Is that rite? Its the one you need a spanner wrench to tighen, its the one with the sleeve that goes up into the top tree, and i cant tighten the yoke pinch bolt. I have plenty of thread, so im sure it can go further, but tight is near tight enuf. Is there another sleeve that shims in there?
Click to expand...

Here's where it can get a bit tricky. Yes, you'd like the top tree to firmly clamp onto that sleeved spanner nut (part #7), but wait until the front is aligned and the top nut (part #14) is tight.

The yoke pinch bolt (part #9) is a kinda goofy setup. With no washer under the head, it'll dig into the aluminum yoke. So, do your tightening on the nut (part #10) instead.

Also, if your pinch bolt has been abused/overtightened like mine were, there's likely stretched/damaged threads right where the nut needs to do its tightening, and will jam before it gets tight. With the bolt removed, run the nut down past that area and see if it threads smoothly. If not, you may need to chase the threads, or replace the bolt/nut.

70-72-Steering1.jpg
 

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Thanks,2m. Good to know all parts are here. I left a small ring of rubber on the seals, so i hope it doesnt leak. I cant seem to find that schematic in my haynes manual.
 
hey, 2m, that rubber riser bushing that has 'new type'........I have those. does that mean anything as far as what week this bike was built in 1970?
 
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Dunno. The parts list above shows the cutover serial number. There's also a Service/Parts Bulletin, #320 on 12-71, that discusses all the parts, including top bracket (tree, crown), that were involved.

My older XS1B has the early conical bushings.
My later XS1B, slightly higher serial # from yours, has the later bushings and crown.

That all happened sometime in 1971...
 
If you haven't, you might want to consider new swing arm bushings. Having worn bushings lets the swing arm hinge sideways as well as up/down.
Leo
 
thanks, Leo. after I get this front end back together, Im tearing down my xl250 for a top end job, then get back on the xs rear.
 
all back together. Thanks for the info on the pinch bolt tightening after the crown nut, 2mpinch bolt cinched right up.
But the torque values seem a bit weak. 7ft-lbs for the pinch bolt and the fork pinch bolts?
in any case, I have a all new fresh front end. new shoes, new tapered bearings, new seals and fresh 10-30 in the forks.
When I took it off the center stand, and rolled forward, grabbed front brake, nearly no dive, felt a lot firmer when making the forks work. I didn't test ride, was pouring rain. maybe tomorrow.
on to the xl250. Ive had enuf of this 71 for a while. still awe-struck over the beauty of the machine, though.
 
Hey Angus , when you got everything together on your tripleclamp was your headlight all loosey goosey? There's a 1/8 inch gap on mine. I went to the "true value " hardware store and found a rubber sink drain bushing that fit mine
 
angus67 said:
...But the torque values seem a bit weak. 7ft-lbs for the pinch bolt and the fork pinch bolts?
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's a bit weak.
In the absence of specific torque callouts, we normally use a bolt torque chart.
Here's an annotated excerpt from the 1971 XS1B service manual:
71XS1B-BoltTorque.jpg

If anyone has an updated chart that looks better, or differs significantly from this one, please post.

Your pinch bolts should be easy to reach...
 
jussumguy said:
Hey Angus , when you got everything together on your tripleclamp was your headlight all loosey goosey? There's a 1/8 inch gap on mine. I went to the "true value " hardware store and found a rubber sink drain bushing that fit mine
Click to expand...
nope.
so, 2m, should I go to 15 ftlbs?
 
I don't see why not. Those are 10mm bolts.
Have you ever done the front-end tweak test?
Where you hold the front wheel between your kneecaps and twist the bars looking for tweaking?
 
will do. I noticed one of my headlight ears was cock-eyed, so I have to loosen up the forks anyway. 7 lbs seemed weak to me. in aluminum, ok, but these bolts are going into steel.
what does the tweak test ...test for?
 
It tests for how easily the front end can be twisted, usually caused by slight rotational slippage of the forks in the trees, and top yoke to steering stem. A good fork brace can reduce that. Long-forked choppers used to use a 'tweak bar' to reduce it.

After the occasional *bonk* into immovable objects, the front end can get twisted.
Quick fix is the 'retwist', with the front wheel held between the knees, or something solid, and twist the handlebar back to straight.
If it twists too easily, the clamping may be too loose...

Edit: Some good tips in here:

http://www.motorcyclecruiser.com/tips-tech/tech-tip-front-fork-alignment
 
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