forking thangs..they won't come apart!

[Doc]

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

[LWC82PE]

They sound similar to a shock reservoir. Have tryed to hook it out with a small Jewlers screwdriver?

[Doc]

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 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

[Doc]

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

[mx250]

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 .

[LWC82PE]

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.

[oldfart]

apply some air at bottom drain plug , ditto with safety glasses

[holeshot buddy]

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

[Doc]

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

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

[evo550]

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.

[Doc]

this bloody safety glasses issue keeps coming up and it's a bit of a worry

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

[LWC82PE]

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.

[evo550]

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

[Doc]

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;)

[pokey]

yerp. be hitting 40 years of crud and rust .

 a wee bit of heat and a bigger hammer will fix that