Saturday afternoon I started what I thought would be a simple and uncomplicated job.
The objectives were:-
1/. Pull the forks apart and replace the missing damper rod piston rings
2/. Make up a pair of 3/4" spacers and fit them above the fork springs
3/. Fit my new Betor shock-absorbents.
The best laid plans.......
Pulling the forks apart I managed to lose one of the circlips on the bottom of the fork. I am usually extremely careful of such things, but the dog chose that precise moment to give me a "hello boss" tongue in the ear which caused me to lose concentration. The clip hit the floor and bounced, I listened carefully for the landing so I'd have a rough idea where to start looking, but I didn't hear it. The workshop/carport can be a very big area when you are searching it on your hands and knees. After 40 minutes I gave up and headed into town, luckily catching a car parts place just before they closed, even more luckily they had a selection of circlips in a blister pack with one the right size. Yay.....
Went home and changed back into work clothes - then I could not find the blasted piston rings. A few months ago I bought 8 brand new ones and fitted 6 of them to the wife's R65/80 because I damaged two of hers the last time I pulled the forks apart, I kept the good second hand ones (which allegedly are better quality) for use in my R65 which I knew was also missing 2 rings.
After 35 minutes searching for the plastic bag with the damper rod rings in it I gave up and went upstairs to shower and get ready to go out. Just as I turned the shower on I remembered where the blasted things were
Next morning I fitted the rings and reassembled the forks, I then cut to 3/4" spacers to pre-compress the springs. The next problem was how to actually compress the springs enough to get the clip in. I have 2 three jawed pullers, one was way too small and the second was just a tad too big (it was an irresistible auction purchase years ago and I have never used it)
I was just about to make something out of timber and threaded rod when I remembered by bearing separator set. The photo shows it in use.
What happened next was sheer stupidity on my part. As I had not put fork oil in first I needed to pour some in through the fillers in the top plug. What a shame I had made myself up a set of solid alloy spacers...
The bearing separator got a second work out and to guard against future stupidity I drilled a 10mm hole through the spacers.
Then it was time to do the shockies.
First problem was that the Spaniards had made the loops and bushes too long to fit in frame mounts. Time was wasted driving the bushes out and then driving the steel bushes out of the rubbers so that I could grind them down about 1.5mm.
Finally, after taking nearly all day the forks were back together and the shocks were in. The acid test of me hoping onto the bike and measuring static drop reveals that sometime soon I need to make up new 1" spacers of the forks, but hey, they are much better than they were.
To my utter amazement the Spaniards actually fitted the springs i asked for and it required only the second from the bottom pre-tension position to get the 1" static drop I was looking for.
Today, in spite of the threat of rain I was going riding - the front end is much, much better than it was, no longer bottoming out over minor bumps, but I do need to dump the fluid and try again. With a full compliment of damper rod rings 100% 10w Castrol fork fluid is way too heavy, next weekend I'll go 100% 5 weight and see how light it is and then hopefully the third blend of 5w & 10w will be on the money.
The Betors are no the greatest shock on the planet, but they are rebuildable and given that the spring rate is close to perfect I need to fiddle with fluid weight and level to get the damping closer to what I want.
I intend to drill a hole as near to the bottom as I can and then have a nut welded over the hole, I can then use a grub screw as a means of both draining the existing fluid and putting new fluid in. or i might just lose interest and fit a set of Ikons like I probably should have at the get-go.
Lastly, proof that it really is back in one piece, with its nice shiny new Betors.
