71 HKO front forks

[XSIVE]

I tried a search as I thought this question was asked earlier but no results. So,

How do you remove the front fork spring retainers from the Springs themselves? I have tried about 3 times unsuccessfully. I can get them to turn in the spring but they do not come out. I tried lefty loosy and righty tighty and no luck.

 

[ez50]

Front springs

I've had good luck puting the retainer in a vice with a small block of wood on each side so it doesn't get damaged. I then use a punch or an alignment tool and small hammer to tap the spring around to unscrew it. I've tried turning them with a glove on and they just cinch down tighter on the retainer. Be as gentle as you can on the retainer, they break so easily.

 

[XSIVE]

Thank You! I will give it a shot.

Or should I buy all new everything and forget about it?


Are they as hard to re-assemble?

 

[HymieP]

I have had two sets of front forks totally re-built from the ground up. The parts will cost you about $60 and the shop that does mine charges me about another $60 or so to put them back together. So, for roughly $120, you can have brand new shocks. IMO, don't use them put the upside down hydraulic or another similar type shock in your bike, much smoother, and safer.

 

[XSIVE]

ER50,

I got around to doing this tonight and it worked fantastic. Took about 20 minutes and no cussing at all.

Thanks for the tip.

Between the spring and the retainers was a plastic tape covering wrap on them. Just a small peice. What is the purpose of this? Are they neccessary?

 

[ez50]

Fork springs

Cool, glad I could help.
I think the plastic is to keep the steel spring from hurting the aluminum. I thought about the material it's made from and I came up with the casing that comes on flexable nat. gas lines. It's bright yellow but who sees that. I stripped some from 3/4" I believe and it fits tight. It worked great! I still have a piece of it in my garage if you need some. It's easy to find scrap on job sites.