Enter The Carrot

[cheesy]

Ick.

[TominMO]

Originally Posted by cheesy

Ick.

Verily.

Got one fork apart. Yep, hadda cut the boot. Turns out they are old, even though they look good. Kinda brittle, and stuck to their metal collars.

So here's what's in there. Interestingly, this side had the spring on upside down. (It's now correct in the picture.) When I pulled the other boot, it was on right. The close coils are supposed to be on top, with the wide coils under them. So I'm guessing the boots were replaced at one point, and whoever did it got one spring in wrong.

I couldn't get the other fork apart because the spring guide at the top was corroded to the tube. Squirted penetrant on it and let it set until tomorrow.

[TominMO]

BTW to get these done perfectly, factory-new condition, would cost $300 at CT Trailbikes. IF your tubes were usable, more if not. I'm gonna order new boots and seals, and sand the tubes starting at 200 grit or higher, and ending at 1000 grit. That will have to do.

[JerryHawk250]

The forks look a little rough. Are they pitted? Hopefully you can salvage them.

[TominMO]

Originally Posted by JerryHawk250

The forks look a little rough. Are they pitted? Hopefully you can salvage them.

Not pitted. Some surface spots. It's gonna be what it is. New Honda OEM anything, if available, is super-expensive. This is a toy. Honda recommends Dexron ATF or 10W fork oil. Maybe going to 15W will help with keeping it below the seal, as well as improve the damping.

Edit: Admittedly there are Chinese replacements for the fork on eBay, under $60. But still. If I were gonna go that route, I'd get a whole front end replacement kit for $156--wheel, knobby tire, forks, complete disc brake setup.

[JerryHawk250]

Originally Posted by TominMO

Not pitted. It's gonna be what it is. New Honda OEM anything, if available, is super-expensive. This is a toy.

That's good. Good luck. I had a set of forks that would of probably worked. the Key word is Had. They got destroyed when my shop collapsed from the Hurricane.

[JerryHawk250]

I also had a 78 Honda Hobbit that got crushed in the shop as well. It was buried in the little pile of what was left to my 40'x50' shop.

[TominMO]

Holy crap, sorry that happened.

[2LZ]

Originally Posted by TominMO

Got the forks off, and removed the triple tree as well. To get the forks out, I used Liquid Wrench penetrant last night and let it sit. A plastic hammer did part of the job on one, and I finished the job with a block of scrap wood and a 3 lb hammer. And that was the easier one. Recovered 39 of the ball bearings from the steering stem; one made a bold and successful escape attempt. As a matter of pride, I looked for it for awhile with flashlight and magnet, but no. I figure it has already hopped a freight train to Cincinnati by now. I saved the other 39 in a ziplock sandwich bag, because you never know. But the steering head is getting roller bearings anyway, so no biggy.

Pic of the forks, one with an initial cleaning so it wasn't gross to work on. Both are cleaned up now. Haven't gotten either of them separated yet. Probably more corrosion. The boots look really good, but I might have to slit one or both to see what the issue is in there. Replacements are no problem. I have a lot of work to do to remove all that corrosion up around the pinch bolts; that was why they were so hard to get off the triple tree.

That is another beauty of working on these. All parts are readily available everywhere aftermarket. Makes life easy!

[TominMO]

So here's how the first fork tube turned out. Compare to the pic in post 17.

Started with 220 grit wet/dry, then moved to 400. By then it was so smooth that if you ran your fingers up and down it with your eyes closed, it felt perfect. It also went through the triple tree clamp very smoothly. For good measure I also lightly sanded the clamp. I finished with 800 just because I had it laying around, not that I felt it needed it.

All the blemishes on the tube are above the seal, even when the tube is fully seated down into the slider, as in the picture. In reality it could never bottom out, because of the spring. So stick a new seal in, fill it with fluid, done. The boot, spring etc will cover all this.

The penetrant did its work on the other tube/spring guide, so I was able to do that side today too. Same results.

[TominMO]

Question for those who actually know what they are doing--do you install a new fork seal dry, or with fork oil as lube to get it on?

Edit: Never mind, watched a couple of YT videos. Lube new seal with fork oil.

[TominMO]

Breaking news: Tom finds 40th ball bearing. It was hiding under the motor.

Hey, do you guys think these tires are good enough? Or should I buy some?

[TominMO]

Polished up a couple of left-side covers, to see how it went. Started with a good cleaning, then 220 wet/dry followed by 400 and 800. The dual-range gear cover was very crusty. A good candidate for an ultrasonic bath, especially with its complex shape.

Also here's a shot on the bike, which now makes all the other covers look terrible. They will get their turn.

[TominMO]

Removed and polished up the intake and the points cover. They definitely look better, but not gonna bother with a pic. Next month I'm gonna spring for a small ultrasonic cleaner, and see if it does a better job.
https://www.amazon.com/VEVOR-Commerc...10&sr=8-4&th=1

Also checked the points gap, spark plug gap and the valve gaps. All pretty much spot on. Opened the intake gap a little. BTW the cardboard on my NGK plug box makes an excellent feeler gauge for the points. A firm .0014"; tolerances were from .0012" - .0016". Plus the cardboard cleans off the points surface a little.

[TominMO]

My tire irons came in today, along with other stuff, so I pulled the tires, tubes and rim strips and cleaned up the wheels a bit. Everything was fused together by rust. This is as good as the rims are gonna get. They will get a coat of Rustoleum Rust Reformer everywhere but inside the brake drum area. Then new rim strips, tubes and tires. Probably none of this will happen until spring so I can get paint to dry and cure.

My plan was to use medium steel wool and then go to fine. Once I saw the condition of the rims, I just used coarse, since they will get painted anyway.

Pic 1: Used a cheap carabiner to hold down one tire iron so I could work on the tire with the other two.
Pic 2: The one on the left has been cleaned up.