Rather than do some wiring today on the yet to be on the road V50 cafe racer I thought I would put some fluids in it, such as final drive, gearbox and forks…which is where I started.The offside damper came out of the stanchion just fine using a 13mm spanner to undo it at the top which I presume undoes the damper rod from the other rod that sits within the spring. However the nearside damper assembly only comes up so far and when undone simply turns. It cannot be lifted out of the stanchion suggesting the two rods are still connected. Any ideas what might be going on or how I can remove it without having to take the forks out completely or remove the whole front end? …and as far as it will come out but continues to turn.Thanks
…and a reminder of the damper assembly
Isn’t the damping rod fastened to the bottom of the slider by an Allen screw? I think your problem is with the right side, the left is behaving as I would expect.
It is indeed fastened in the fashion you describe. So the side that I have managed to get out should not have come out in the way it has? I have wondered how I was going to get the damper and rod to connect against the pressure of the spring to be honest whilst it’s on the bike.Am I going to have to take the wheel out? I have not had much luck in that department in the past…there’s a very long thread all about that Should I be able to leave the stanchions in place and remove the lowers and take the damper assembly out and attach it all together before replacing it back into the stanchion? All this to try and put some oil in the forks cafe racer2014-06-29 09:09:04
I think not! In the photo the bottom end looks it's broken off or is that just an optical illusion? If indeed there's a thread on the end then it looks like it's come undone from the top end of the lower rod. This means that that damper on that side was never working. (!) As lawries said the bottom end of the lower rod is secured to the bottom end of the slider by an Allen bolt (else both sliders and wheel would fall off the end of the forks if bike were raised high enough) so I'm afraid yes wheel has to come out to get at them. Also worryingly it suggests that only one side was keeping the front wheel attached to the bike in this manner.
Mike H2014-06-29 20:55:30
That is an optical illusion Mike! The rest of the damper is complete. I agree that the lower rod has come away from the bottom of the damper rod…not sure how that would happen as there is a lock nut there. Thankfully the bike has not been on the road like this…I disassembled the bike and then replaced the fork internals back into the stanchions which were all connected correctly when I did it. I shall whip them out in a couple of weeks when I get back from holiday and put them back together again. Thanks for the advice
cafe racer2014-07-02 18:09:54
The R/H (offside) was the problem as the rods had not joined together. I have now managed to get the dampers and fork sliders off on both sides. Whilst I was doing this to get everything attached properly I thought I would reverse the fork sliders so I can mount the brake calipers on the rear of the sliders instead of the front.All went well when putting the L/H assembly together but I struggled to torque up the R.H side bottom Allen bolt that connects to the spring assembly. After taking the bolt out there was what looked like the remains of a washer around the head of the bolt. What has happened is that the spring retainer cup that the bolt passes through cannot have been located properly and the bolt has reamed out the centre of the cup. The cup is now lodged in the bottom of the slider and there is no edge on which to driver it out with a long screwdriver.Difficult to get photos as it’s all inside the slider…any thoughts on how I might get this out or am I going to have to get a new slider? Thanks
Can you not get at the cup from the hole on the bottom of the fork leg? Try turning the fork leg upside down, and banging it down hard on a block of wood, to dislodge the cup. Failing that, a 2nd hand slider and new cup will be required.
I have attacked it from the hole at the bottom of the slider and also used a rubber mallet on it to no avail. A friend is looking to see if they can get it out at the fabricators where they work.
other than reboot any ideas where i might get a cup from Tim please? Thanks
The fork cup is steel and the slider is aluminium, so how about one of them magnet things for retrieving dropped nuts and bolts on a retractable stem?
Gutsibits or Motomeccaspares
Good point re telescopic magnetic retriever though, Don. That may shift it. Just depends if it is all mangled or not.
Tried that Don…the cup itself must have moved slightly into an ‘off square’ position that has caused this problem in the first place which has meant it is wedged in.
I shall drop an email to both and see if they have a used one. I have put in a wanted advert on the forum in the off chance somebody has one hanging about…how I wish I did not sell 3/4 bike’s worth of spares earlier in the year now.
Can you screw in an oversized bolt and pull it out?
Don’t think so as the original, correct sized bolt has reamed away all of the cup bottom so there’s nothing to get hold of.
You will be able to get a new cup from the two spares places I mentioned. Fear not!
Managed to save the slider and got hold of a new cup. Friend fabricated a ‘tool’ to get the cup out to save the slider. All is well now thankfully, but took the opportunity to reverse the sliders so I could mount the calipers on the rear of the sliders simply for aesthetic reasons.
Glad all sorted
when i rebuilt my forks i put a blob of grease on the cup and it stuck nicely to the bottom of the spring during assembly
was never 100% sure about swapping the sliders round to alter the caliper position
my old v50 and current v35 came with them both infront of the legsguzzi-v352014-09-12 14:52:30