Fork Seal Replacement...tips? Zx9R C Model

[fran9r]

I'm about to tackle the conventional fork seals on my 9R C model. Never done this before, so any hints or tips would be greatly appreciated!

Oh, and I don't have the seal driver thinggies.

Thanks

[gurninman]

Plastic waste pipe for a seal driver...

Make sure you fully wind out the preload before you remove the fork tops (and loosen the fork top before remoc=ving the forks from the bike)

Do one at a time

A length of 20mm box is useful for holding the damper assembly whilst undoing the fastener at the bottom of the fork

I've re-used the sealing washers for the bottom bolt a few times by re-annealing them, but sometimes they just won't seal again, so best to buy new ones

When you rebuild the fork assembly, make sure that you leave 12mm of thread between the locknut and the fork top thingy or you'll lose adjustment

I'll be mostly doing them on my 9R at the weekend, too - unless the missus tempts me into a mammoth drinking session in town

[gsxr renegade]

I had to do this on my ZZR last month. A couple of tips i picked up while doing it;

1.Get something to use as a clamp/holder for the fork leg. You'll very quickly get very tired of trying to hold an oily fork with oily hands. I used something like this to hold mine while working on it;

2. DO NOT undo the fork cap until you've loosened the damper bolt at the bottom of the fork. The pressure of the oil/spring inside the fork will stop the damper rod just spinning in the fork, negating the need for any specialist tools to hold it still. I took the entire fork leg out, turned it upside down and clamped it in place, then craked the damper bolt off before putting the fork back in the bike to ge the fork cap undone. It dribbles a litte oil on the floor, so put plenty of rags down.

3. The fork cap will pop off just after the O-ring is exposed so be prepared.

4. Do it in a ventilated area, or open the window. Oil fork oil fucking stinks.

5. Once everything is undone, use the inner fork leg like a slide hammer to pop the old seal out.

6. if the old fork seal won't come out, heat, heat and more heat is your friend. Use a heat gun on a localised area of the outer fork to expand things a little, the old seal should then prise out with a screwdriver. It took me hours, and a thread full of advice on here to work this out.

7. If you don't have a bit of pipe the right size, use the old oil seal to seat the new one, just be careful not to damage the new one!

8. Try and keep things as clean as possible. It's horrible trying to work on a slippery, oily fork leg while your hands are also covered in oil.

9. if you're anything like me, wear old clothes - you'll get oil everywhere.

That's about it really. I've done a set on RWU forks, and USD forks. The RWU ones were by far the easiest to do.

[BudgetBoy]

Between 4 & 5 ^^^^^

Take off the clip that hold's the seal in before you do the slide hammer.Use a pick or small blunt screwdriver.. be careful not to scratch stanchion.

And clean everything.. look in the bottom of the forks and you will see gunge.. get that out.. the cleaner you get eveything the better.

Oh a dab of red rubber grease on the oil seal will help a bit.. Also a plastic bag over the top of the fork before you out the new seal on will help. (stops it tearing)