FZRSupport: the FZROnline Archive

Hello everyone!

So I've decided to change my own fork seals.... and what a task!
Lifting the bike as been a problem for me. I don't have a place to hang the bike, no ceiling beams and I don't have a front bike stand/lift... neither the money to go and buy one right now! But I do have some car jacks as you can see in the photos!


So now that I have taken the forks off the bike I am still wondering if I'm going to be able to change the seal myself.... opening them and removing them seems to be easy... but putting them back together might be a problem because I don't have the special tools or the money to buy them right now. I've found 2 great videos about this that seem to show it step-by-step but on the SECOND video he uses two tools I do not have. Any way to get around this? The first one is the "bullet" and the other that concerns me the most is and "impact" tools to hit the parts into place.

Video one:

Video two:

Any suggestions, HELP???

You can do this without the special tools, although the tools do help make things easy.

Use a piece of PVC pipe to act as the seal driver. Not sure what size you need, but the forks are 43mm. And you can use some electrical tape to help get the seal over the top of the tube. The only reason you use a "bullet" is to aid in getting the seal over the top of the tube and the ridge just below it as to not split or damage the seal. The metal there is very sharp and can damage the seal quickly.

Although, I've found that getting the spring down far enough to get the cap on and off to be the biggest challenge. You should get someone to come over and help with this.

Where are you located? It doesn't say in your profile.

Hi Cad600, I'm located in Waterbury, Connecticut US

I can see that inserting the new seal is also a chalenge... or they sent me the wrong one! 43mm x 55mm x 10.5mm

???

If you undo the very bottom allen head bolt (Turn the forks upside down and you'll see it). The fork oil will drain out and you'll be able to take them apart with a lot less ease. Make sure you back off the preload all the way. That will help a lot. Getting the old seal out was the hard part for me when I did mine but that was the only issue. A 1.75in (if memory serves) PVC tube can be used to drive the new seal in. I was able to refill them as well before reassembly. Not sure of the exact dimensions of the seals so I'm not sure there. I used OEM seals to ensure proper fit.

Did you look at earlier posts about forks & damper rods? One way to replace the fork cap is by using a speed wrench handle for sockets, the one that looks like an offset crank handle. I use that w/a deep socket to accommodate the cap preload adjuster shaft. This allows you to exert enough downward force on the cap to start threading it. I recommend starting the cap w/a reverse-thread motion (a loosening, counter-clockwise motion) to ensure you do NOT cross thread the cap. I have tried installing the cap other ways and for me this is by-far, the easiest way to get the cap on w/the least effort.

The old trick of using the old seal as a spacer to drive the new seal is another way to ease installation. If you have bigger sockets you can usually find one that will work. If you don't then the PVC method is OK. Just make sure you drive on the furthest-out dimension of the seal diameter. Another method to get it started is to use a pipe placed sideways across the top of the seal (I use a large dia. Socket) & to tap around the circumference. Move the sideways pipe in a clockwise motion as you tap onto it to seat the seal. Do not let the seal get cocked sideways.

Just take your time. Don't unnecessarily force anything.

Job is finished and the bike rides nice now!!!!!
Thank you all for your help... it's much appreciated!

I'll post new photos sometime this week... I've change the mirrors and the foot pegs also and a few other things as you can almost see in the last photo!

I have a 95 and have replaced the fork seal.
How much fork oil do I need to put in? what weight of oil?
thanks.