atomsplitter
Living Legend
- Joined
- Nov 29, 2007
- Messages
- 2,767
- Location
- Keller, TX
- Ride
- 17 T-120 Black, 20 Bobber Black, 98 Trophy 1200
My son-in-law Tom and I started our quest to replace the OEM fork internals with an Ohlin's FKS-219 kit and a set of 9.5Nm/mm springs on my 2020 Triumph Bobber. Tom was helping with the dismantlement of the front end and he assumed the Rage indicators were flexible so he tried to spread it off the fork tube and promptly busted the plastic housing. This is normal for our projects as I had told him only 5 or 6 times they come off when we slip the fork tube out of the triple tree. To be fair I told him that a few weeks ago and he's slept since then. I had to hit the local O'Reilly's Auto for a 36MM socket to loosen the top caps and while there bought a set of ratchet tie-downs to hold the bike while the front end is elevated on my lift. I have a dozen tie-downs but they are all in my trailer (used for cinching motorcycles into the wheel chocks). And my trailer is located at All Storage, none to convenient.
Got the calipers off, pulled the front wheel, and then front fender off, loosened the left front pinch bolts and lowered the leg down far enough to get the socket and ratchet on the top cap. Tightened the two lower pinch bolts and got the top cap loose a couple turns without problem. We extracted the left fork leg and took it to the work table and I used the socket and wrench to take the cap off. It popped off suddenly but not explosively as the preload tension on the spring wasn't that great.. Pulled the washer and fork spring out, then inverted the fork to drain the oil. I had Tom retrieve my long hex bit set and get the 8MM hex out per the instructions. After we drained the oil I turned the tube over and applied the 8MM hex bit to the retaining bolt that holds the damper tube in the fork. Nifty. It's a 12MM not an 8MM. Not so nifty, I don't have a 12MM long hex bit, the largest in the set is a 10MM. I have Tom get the 12MM hex from my hex key set and we tried to remove the nut manually using the key with a cheater on it. I used a Phillips screwdriver in the caliper bracket to hold the tube steady. No soap. We managed to pretzel the screwdriver. So back to O'Reilly's for the correct socket hex bit, then Auto Zone, followed by Home Depot, just before Harbor Freight with a final desperation at Napa. So getting home without a proper tool I ordered it from Amazon and it should be here Monday. Typical routine simple job with just enough flies in the ointment to make it zesty fun for everyone.
Got the calipers off, pulled the front wheel, and then front fender off, loosened the left front pinch bolts and lowered the leg down far enough to get the socket and ratchet on the top cap. Tightened the two lower pinch bolts and got the top cap loose a couple turns without problem. We extracted the left fork leg and took it to the work table and I used the socket and wrench to take the cap off. It popped off suddenly but not explosively as the preload tension on the spring wasn't that great.. Pulled the washer and fork spring out, then inverted the fork to drain the oil. I had Tom retrieve my long hex bit set and get the 8MM hex out per the instructions. After we drained the oil I turned the tube over and applied the 8MM hex bit to the retaining bolt that holds the damper tube in the fork. Nifty. It's a 12MM not an 8MM. Not so nifty, I don't have a 12MM long hex bit, the largest in the set is a 10MM. I have Tom get the 12MM hex from my hex key set and we tried to remove the nut manually using the key with a cheater on it. I used a Phillips screwdriver in the caliper bracket to hold the tube steady. No soap. We managed to pretzel the screwdriver. So back to O'Reilly's for the correct socket hex bit, then Auto Zone, followed by Home Depot, just before Harbor Freight with a final desperation at Napa. So getting home without a proper tool I ordered it from Amazon and it should be here Monday. Typical routine simple job with just enough flies in the ointment to make it zesty fun for everyone.
