OzVMX Forum
Marque Remarks => Suzuki => Topic started by: Doc on February 16, 2009, 08:57:25 pm
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anybody had any experience with those fork caps that are basically plugs held in by a circlip? While I can push the plug down to expose the clip I can't for the life of me get it to come out (undamaged that is!) same as a gudgeon clip except there is no indentation where one may grab the bugger to pry it out :(
I think the early showa forks on the CR125M Elsinores were the same setup but the legs I have fitted to my TS125MX are '76 TS100A. For the price of a new clip I should probably throw caution to the wind but I just thought short of growing that extra arm from the middle of my chest to hold things while I work there maybe an easier way :-\
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They sound similar to a shock reservoir. Have tryed to hook it out with a small Jewlers screwdriver?
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mmm..I can see a broken screwdriver coming up but no I haven't tried that Leith ;) not even sure the caps will fit so I just wanted to pop one out to have a sticky beak :P amazing the amount of work I got done to my bikes in the past week or so..2 more long running projects now 99.999999% finished the RM125ABC and the TS..here's a contentious one..if the '76 TS250 and the '76 TS400 are flow on models is the '76 and '77 TS125 a flow on model for pre'75 also? think about it and it becomes glaringly obvious...the picture tells the story and yes, the CR125 keihen carb is a little undersized for this particular motor as it normally runs the 34mm mikuni..I can't find one though and I'm out of 32's ::)
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okay. legendary stuff Leith, worked like a charm ;)
next problem is I'm not sure if the cap will come out this way at it seems to stop solid just a little above the circlip groove ??? could be a little ridge or gunk but I can't grab it with anything to know for sure..amazing how a five minute look see job is now creeping into the 5th hour :D
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THe old XT250 had that circlip arrangement. I shaped a small flat nose driver into a slight spoon shape using a bench grinder. Press down, pop out the circlip. Worked a treat. If the cap is stuck just tap with a hammer and get ready to duck and/or catch the bits ;) :D.
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i have the proper tool for those c-clips but i find small screw drivers work just as well. Safety goggles might be a good idea ;) Maybe let some penerating oil soak down the sides of the cap for a day or so and yeah clean the gunk out.
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apply some air at bottom drain plug , ditto with safety glasses
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they always stick doc spray with wd get a piece of
wood turn upside down and hit fork top down
on wood and it should come out
every set i have ever done is stuck
yeah honda crs run em and also yamaha
some tts and xts shite of a thing ;D
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okay thanks ppls. I'll attack it again today and I guess to hit it against a block of wood means I'm going to have to slip out the fork legs Russ ::) so much for a simple looky (incidently this is the TS125 you sold me a few years back, in hindsight I should have grabbed the TS90 as well)..will all be worth it if they fit and if they don't well, it be a good opportunity to replace the smelly old oil anyway..I imagine it's probably the factory fish oil as it's a mongrel job and TS100's normally don't require any maintainance whatsoever for the first 25 years :D
Leith, the caps I scored on oz ebay from Bendigo, $10 and $4.50 postage from memory. No-one else bid so I thought I'd take a punt for the TS ;) maybe I should motard it as it still has the solo rego approval plate affixed to the frame below the tank ;D
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Doc,
This may sound silly, but have you loosened the top clamp pinch bolt ? Of course you have how silly of me to suggest otherwise.
Have you tried to apply pressure to the cap by collapsing the forks, maybe slide the forks up through the clamps until about 50mm of top exposed, then re clamp the forks, pull down with tie downs and gently tap area around cap.....and ditto about the safety glasses.
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this bloody safety glasses issue keeps coming up and it's a bit of a worry :o
Evo yeah, I did loosen the top pinch bolt and I did give it a few taps last night but I got frightened and gave up. Will attack it again shortly. I'm hoping the slipping of the fork up in the clamp will help cause I really don't feel like pulling off the pipe, placing the bike on a crate and removing the whole lot :( call me lazy but I just finally got it together and the last thing I wanted to do was pull it apart again! ::) I'll bet a million the aircaps won't fit after all this..such is life :D
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I would think just by compressing the fork the spring should just push on the cap and out it will come, i guess thats what Evo was saying anyway. If that still doesnt work, do what oldfart says and squirt some air in the drain plug. Direct the fork leg cap end into a box full of old rags for a soft landing ;) other wise it could shoot out and land on the hard cement floor and get damaged.
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Reminds me of a very funny moment whilst I was doing "work experience" at Geoff Udy Suzuki in Toowoomba.
One of the other work experience kids was asked to remove a set of fork springs from a pe 175, "no worries I can do that" he said.
So off came the handlebars, and he then sat on the bike and proceeded to remove the fork caps......you know what happened next, fork cap and spring flew into the air, the bike dropped to one side and arse over head he went in the middle of the workshop, with shit everywhere. Never forget it.
Didn't have safety glasses on either ;)
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(http://osysga.bay.livefilestore.com/y1ppSjdPZf74jhXemV9G86I8bKfl-S3ARdgzE5cUABt6sRIyg2qsP_pFRtdfiEeSG4AiuEHuzHbC6ObRrDDD2AZoA/Geoff%20Udy.JPG)
(http://osysga.bay.livefilestore.com/y1pTSOefVFG5qpHcTtusabyCd2dbL-y7hdHWffv699AmtLT5PGLcu6UmIze0mrNHUhku0z7aoKDHiU/Geoff%20Udy%20US%20ISDT%20event%20PE400.JPG)
here ya go evo..a young Geoff, ADB PE400VIT465 test at Glasshouse and the other taken in the US ISDE'ing while visiting with another enduro legend John Hand ;)
fork cap definately is hitting something solid and will not come out so it's all back together until another time when I have more time;)
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yerp. be hitting 40 years of crud and rust .
a wee bit of heat and a bigger hammer will fix that ;)
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jeepers i would be getting some fresh oil in there then if it looks like the caps have never been out and had the oil changed.
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:D more like I be looking for another pair of conventional screw in type cap inners to bolt into the lowers and then I'll add some fresh oil Leith. There's no way I am going to all this crap if the oil proves too heavy/light at the track! ::)
Pokey while I don't believe there is any dirt or crud I do have a sneaky suspicion the top of the forks may have been tapped at some time with a hammer or knocking device and it may have put a slight burrrrr at the very top edge. The cap pops up about 1mm above the top edge but it's definately hitting a positive metalic stop. I tried the other and it's the same deal :-\ was just thinking too..CR125M forks 30mm or 31mm :-\
Leith some more pics of Geoff Udy/John hand 1980 US ISDT PE photo's added..nothing great..
http://cid-86267c09a3452a71.skydrive.live.com/browse.aspx/Misc%20Vintage%20Photo%7C4s (http://cid-86267c09a3452a71.skydrive.live.com/browse.aspx/Misc%20Vintage%20Photo%7C4s)
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31 on the Cr i believe Doc
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That'd be me for the Geoff Udy pics Doc.......bloody novice ;) ;D
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mmm..just what I suspected 31 eh..thanks Pokey..I will get back to that job when more time is available.
oh sorry, yes, the Geoff Udy pics for you too Evo! ;) there was also little interest privately from Leith concerning the PE400 pictures. He has a slight interest in these models apparently :P maybe an addiction is a better word :)
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yeah thanks, i know some people who have been looking for ISDT photos of riders on PE's
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I'll scan the article and post it up Leith.
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ok that would be good. i have the PE vs IT one already though.
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the 1980 French ISDT ADB article?
http://cid-86267c09a3452a71.skydrive.live.com/browse.aspx/Vintage%20Suzuki%20Magazine%20Tests%20and%20Articles/1980%20ISDT%20France%20ADB (http://cid-86267c09a3452a71.skydrive.live.com/browse.aspx/Vintage%20Suzuki%20Magazine%20Tests%20and%20Articles/1980%20ISDT%20France%20ADB)
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being the impatient type person I am I arose early this morning made a cuppa and attacked the forks once again. After 30 minutes of filing the top inner edge guess what!! :P I didn't have my safety glasses on but I still have 2 functional eyes!! won't mention the dent in my forehead... :o least the cap is out and another guess what! ;D CR125M air caps fit perfectly 8) I can head out to work happy now with a clear head and not have it playing on my mind all day..I be a bit like that with my mindless work ::)
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This is a full pic of what I'm playing with. Plan is to replace the front rim with an 1.85x18 alloy job then fit a matching Dunlop K81 if I can find an affordable one :P The reason I wanted the forkcaps was to stiffen up the front end but to also have some adjustabily. Interested to see how it runs on a dirt track with the wider TS ratios. Going to be a compromise I think unless the engine pulls the wider gaps cleanly. Which.. it may well do as the entire engine except the ratios is RM125S and I've probably lost some weight this summer. Plenty of final drive options to try and if all else fails the rm/tm clusters will soon find their way in. A bit of lightening up and some detail stuff but starting to look sort of how I imagined 8)
(http://abhzmq.bay.livefilestore.com/y1p6j2S25RIP_oEoLS_cXFx70xCuyOn8IhI78--0JpsiptCw36RALQv54--ogigupHN1MgsltyVno_42lXWDWIVHg/ts125.jpg)
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Looks good Chris, is that an ER swingarm?
A funny thing I have just found out is my NOS DG swingarm is identical in dimension and shock postion to the ER swingarm :o
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yup, TS100 swingarm there CG. I thought it looked pretty right and era almost so it can stay. Was thinking of running a disc brake front but the weight factor is quite considerable using all era bits. The discs themselves weigh a ton and once spinning I can't imagine they'd like to be laid over ::) can try I guess..