ST Fork removal and Basic Service

This isnt going to be a full fork internals service, just a basic clean and oil change. My seals dont need changing at the moment so thats not included either. Ill add that when I need to change them.

If you are going to remove the calipers from the hoses drain as much brake fluid from the master cylinder.

A large vetinary syringe is perfect for this

Also zip tie a little baggie over the banjo to catch all the dot 4 thats going to drip everywhere you dont want it to.

Dont know what the point of this pic was but its here so I suppose Id better put a caption on it....

Oh look. Its a detached brake caliper...

The assumption is that the front of the bike is securely supported under the front or strapped down at the rear. Otherwise when you do the next steps the bike will fall on you. That will be bad and it will hurt.

Undo the axle

Withdraw the wheel and remove the spacers from each side.
They are marked differently because they are different sizes.

Dont get them mixed up.

Undo the four bolts holding on the rear half of the mudguard.

They bolt into rubber collapsable well nuts, similar to windshield nuts. Its quite likey if they are all salted up that they will be buggered and you will destroy them getting them off.

After you have loosened the top cap, Undo the top yolk clamp bolts.
Hold the fork leg while you undo this one or it will probably land on the floor or worse your foot.

That may damage the fork leg, break your foot and cause the air to go go so blue youd think it was this web page back ground.
All these things will be bad.
Hold the fork leg.

Put the fork legs in a safe place where they wont get stolen by garden trolls.

Here we see a small garden troll who has kidnapped my fork legs. He is angry I forgot to feed him at lunch and is offering exchange for a burger.

If this ever happens to you, my advice is feed him the burger. Complete failure to feed will bring wrath of Mama.
This is a bad thing...

Undo the top yolk nut with a 38mm socket. A spanner will most likely scratch or mark the top yolk.

Remove top yolk. Use four or five zip ties to secure it all the hanging wires from the loom of the way

Remove lock nut using the triumph tool or a castle nut made from a 34mm socket.

SPeaking personally by the time you buy the socket and spend the time measuring and grinding the tool, its simpler just to buy the tool from Triumph.

Undo the lower castle nut. Make sure you are supporting the bottom yolk as you undo this nut as it is holding the yolk in place.

Give everything a good wipe and deep clean with paraffin to remove all the old grease.
Inspect the bearings and all race surfaces. There should be no corrosion and no pitting

When the bearings are fully dried you need to repack them with grease. Ive always done this by hand but I found this little gizmo on Ebay so I thought Id give it a go.

Position the bearing, screw down the top part, connect to grease gun, pull trigger. Bingo. Packed bearing.

Much easier and it works well.

Im going to get a couple and experiment with cutting then down and adapting them to make a tool to pack the suspension drop and drag link bearings which are always a pain.

Im not sure why this picture shows me holding the rod. Let go of it and let it drop.

Remove the spring and put it with the top cap and the C washer.
Dont mix up the

Pump the upper fork tube and the rod while holding the forks over the bucket until there is no resistance, then leave them upside down over the bucket for a hor to drain the last of the old oil out.

Changing fork oil is only a service item for every 12k miles.

I think thats bullshit and right here is why it should be done every service.

This is fresh clean 12wt fork oil

This is the crap I drained out of my forks after 6k miles.
Its the same oil.

I didnt use a clean bucket, so ignore the dirt in the bottom.
But you can clearly see from the colour of it that the oil has degraded. Its also noticably thinner.

The performance of the forks must be affected by it and by 12k it will be worse.

When the fork legs are fully drained give everything a good clean. Check the seals and the O ring on the top caps.

Stand a fork leg in a workmate or something to hold it upright and fill with exactly 469cc of fresh fork oil.

Then spend the next 10 minutes pumping up and down the rod and the upper fork tube to distribute the oil throughout the valves.

Repeat for both fork legs and then leave them standing for 15 minutes or so to allow air bubbles to rise to the top.

With the rod and the upper leg completely compressed, use an oil depth gauge tool to make sure the the oil depth is exactly 120mm.

This is more important than the volume, but if you did it right you should find its not far out if at all.

Put the top cap on and tighten them to the lock nut, not the other way around.

Use some clean fork oil and lube the O rings.

Pull the upper tube up to the cap while pushing down on the top cap with the flat of your hand and turn untill the thread takes, then screw the top cap down and torque it to XXNm.

It may help to slip the top tube into the bottom yok and clamp it lightly while you torque it up.

FIrst thing to do is remove the brake calipers. If you are not removing them from the brake hoses then make sure they are supported on something and not left hanging.

Before you undo the last clamp bolt loosen the fork top cap slightly. If you forget and the forks are already out you can slip the fork back in to the lower yolk and clamp it.

Yes I forget.