Squeaky Forks on 93 1100 Kat

[sventhebit]

My forks are getting very squeaky on my 1993 1100 Kat. I noticed in the Manual it says to use SAE 10 fork oil. I am sure I can pick that up at the dealer but wanted to see if anyone else had the same problem and if changing the fork oil fixed it.

Aloha!

[Wild-Bill]

Squeaky would be bad, to use the technical term.

It probably means you don't have any fork oil at all and that's probably because it all got pumped out through bad fork seals. Probably ought to have a set of those on hand when you go to work on them. Brace yourself for possibly needing new bushings, too if those things have been running dry.

[GSXFJim]

Squeaky would be bad, to use the technical term.

It probably means you don't have any fork oil at all and that's probably because it all got pumped out through bad fork seals. Probably ought to have a set of those on hand when you go to work on them. Brace yourself for possibly needing new bushings, too if those things have been running dry.

+1

[broel]

I heard that replacing the oil/servicing the forks can be a huge pain in the a$$. Can anyone confirm/elaborate on this for me?

[il_ragazzo]

yeah pita...I remove the forks then take them to a shop to lower the service cost. call them of course and see if they will reduce the price if you do that... if not F'em make them do all the work!

oh yeah you need a seal driver too i think... but i have heard of people making their own out of pvc.

[Wild-Bill]

Me, I think of forks as being pretty easy.

Put the bike on the centerstand, have someone push down on the back end (or sit on the passenger seat) to raise the front wheel off the ground and wedge something under the front of the frame to keep the front end up. Pull the calipers (hang them on the front of the frame with some coat hanger hooks), remove the front wheel and fender.

Loosen up the caps on top of the forks, loosen up the triple tree (upper and lower) bolts and slide the forks down and out of the triple trees. Loosen the damper bolts (They go in the bottom ends of the forks. Cut the short part off a 6mm allen wrench and hold the long part in a socket. It helps if you've got an impact gun to break things loose.), remove the fork caps (watching out for the spring tension), use a hook bent into the end of some coat hanger to pull out the spring, washer and spacer from the top of the fork and then turn the fork upside down over a bucket to drain any remaining oil. Use a putty knife to work the dust seals up out of the fork lowers, remove the snap ring from the top of the fork lowers and then grab the lower and upper tubes, one in each hand and slam them apart to drive the seal out and separate the tubes. Dampener comes out, clean everything up with solvent and dry it all really well.

Use a rag to check the upper tubes for any burrs. A whet-stone works really well to smooth any of them you find.Check the brass bushings for wear spots. If you see any then replace the bushings. Put everything back together with new seals and dust seals. Use a piece of PVC pipe as a slide hammer to drive the new seals into place (lube the seals up with fresh fork oil first) and put the springs, washers, spacers and fork caps in place to hold tension on the dampeners and make it easier to tighten the end bolts.

Take the springs, washers and spacer out again and fill the forks with oil. I use a dipstick to measure the oil height but you can also use a measuring cup. Both levels are listed in the repair manual. If you use the dipstick method be sure to work the fork tubes up and down a few times to get the oil worked around before measuring. Once you get the oil in there just drop the springs, washers and spacers back in and install the caps. Put everything back on the bike.

2-4 hours (longer the first time you do it, of course). It's that easy.

[steves]

Replacing the fork seals and oil is pretty easy and straightforward. making changes to the guts inside the forks.... that's where you should get a professional involved.

[Kreylyn]

Cut the short part off a 6mm allen wrench and hold the long part in a socket. It helps if you've got an impact gun to break things loose.), .......

... while I understand that will work in a pinch... ever thought of these?



I can't work on any of my bikes now days without having those on hand. I use them more than any other tool.

Krey

[Balindir]

......

I have a set of these but they are stuby, i'd say like an inch long, but like you said once you use them and you don't wanta go back.

[Wild-Bill]

One of these days I need to get a set but good ones aren't cheap, I've got a set of short reach ones and I've got the home-made long one so it never really seems like that big of a priority.

[steves]

My set is from HF, works just fine

[mammut89]

HF ? you trying to escape arsenics HARBOR FREIGHT alarm ?


/me wanders away and waits for things to happen





but seriously about the suspension..I wouldnt want to ride that bike until it got completely serviced.

[GSXFJim]

I use a chunk of 2" pvc from HD... and cut it like this... you pinch the tabs together and drive the bushing and washer together.. then seat the seal turn it over and use the other end to seat the dust cover...

[steves]

I used the old seal to drive the new seal. No cutting required.

[05RedKat600]

I used the old seal to drive the new seal. No cutting required.

This right here. Flip the old seal and drive face to face. Not always an option though if the old seal got boogered on the way out.