The final job that needs doing (fingers crossed!) so that I've addressed all of Gloria's "known" little issues, is to replace the fork oil and seals. I've no idea how long it is since the oil was last changed and one of the fork leg seals is weeping slightly, so new OEM seals have been ordered from David Silvers and away we go.
It was a fairIy straightforward half hour to remove the front wheel and then the fork legs. I supported the front of the bike on a bottle jack to make it easier to get the wheel out and also zip-tied the front brake caliper up to make sure the hoses weren't stressed.
I didn't take any photos during the strip down and seal replacement - didn't seem like much to show, as it's a fairly straightforward process, following the manual. The first leg went very well, with everything unbolting easily and the seal came out with little persuasion. I used a large socket to drift the new seal in, making sure it went in nice and square. The dust seals were both a bit cracked so, as a temporary measure, I wrapped some black insulation tape around them to regain some integrity. I'll get hold of some new ones and replace them sometime but for now they are doing the job.
When it came to do the second leg, I realised that the first one had lulled me into a false sense of security! Firstly, I couldn't unbolt the fork tube inside the slider - the tube was just spinning inside. Essentially, this is what holds the top and bottom of the fork legs together. Various solutions to this are proposed on internet forums, including the use of a sharpened broom stick rammed up the inside to apply pressure. I chose to use an elaborate arrangement of socket extensions and adaptors, with masking tape wrapped around the final one, which was then hammered into place in the hollow end of the fork tube. Then I used an impact driver on the socket screw and it finally let go.
The second challenge was getting the old seal out. It just wouldn't budge. I ended up soaking the fork leg around the seal in a tub of boiling water while I had lunch. When I came back to it, it popped straight out :-).
Once the new seals were both in and everything reassembled, I refilled each leg with 140cc of Halfords Fork Oil and then put everyting back together on the bike.
A short spin round the village confirmed everything working nicely and no oil leaks, so I take that as a success. Gloria is now ready for her "big trip" at the end of the week, over to the Isle of Man for a 4 day camping adventure to watch the Manx GP with my son Rob. We haven't been for 5 years so really looking forward to that one. I'll be well stocked with tools etc but really I'm hoping that, with all of the recommissioning I've done to the various systems over the last 6 months, she should be fairly reliable now. However, I'm old and wise enough to know that life isn't always that way....!
