R65 1981 fork stuck

[NorR65]

It seems that my forks are stuck. I have removed calipers and wheel.
Loosened the 4 bolts on top and bottom yoke. Still stuck. One advice i have found is to use a big screwdriver to spring the bottom yoke slightly apart. Any better ideas?

[Bob_Roller]

Use a wood wedge in the gap on the upper and lower triple clamps, a few taps with a hammer should open them up enough to get them free .

[Barry]

I needed to use hardwood wedges to remove the stanchions though I probably wouldn't do it again. There is no real problem doing a full overhaul of the forks with the stanchions in place and less risk of loosing good fork alignment.

[NorR65]

Thanks.
I will try wood wedges tomorrow.
I measured the distance from top of the stansion to top of the top yoke. Right was 1,5 mm and left was 0,7 mm.
Should n`t both be flush with top of yoke?

[montmil]

They should be the same. Check your manual for any specs, but both my R65s -with the rubber top caps removed- are flush with the upper surface of the top triple clamp.

Go easy on hammering in those wedges. Should not take much at all. They triple clamps are castings and will give no warning before they might crack. A little penetrating oil or similar on the stanchion/clamp joint may help in removal. A twisting action helps.

Realigning the fork legs on the R65 is cake.

[Barry]

Flush to 1.5mm proud sounds about right to allow the beveled edge to clear the top of the yoke for max. clamping area. They should be both the same of course and the real test is that the wheel spindle is an easy sliding fit. There is one other thing that can affect the wheel spindle alignment and that is the topping bushes which have a tendency to disintegrate after 30 years or so allowing one fork leg to drop lower than the other.  You'll find out what state they are in when you get inside the forks.

[NorR65]

Fork back on bike. I only removed the gaiters this time. Oil seals looked like new and stanchions were in good condition.
But it was hard work even with a big screwdriver and my homemade hardwood wedges. Thanks for all advices.

[Ed Miller]

Realigning the fork legs on the R65 is cake.

Monte do you read Yehuda Moon?