Track bike fork service

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pstamper
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Track bike fork service

#1 Post by pstamper » Sun Jan 01, 2017 11:40 pm

Decided I would try servicing the R6 forks myself after my suspension guy laughed at me when I said I would help but still pay him. I really wanted to see how they were set up since he did them last. Bought a spring compressor from Race Tech, watched a real good Dave Moss video, ordered new OEM seals, and dust covers. I just need some aluminum inserts for the vice. I made two covers out of aluminum stock and worked fine for first time. The fork tool worked great. These forks are easier than the regular forks to work on.

Well the rebound adjuster should have 50 clicks and mine only had 34 so they were not adjusted correctly when installed. Oil level was at 120mm or so. I am going to set it at 115mm with 5 weight oil. Looked like aftermarket fork seals were installed and he installed the old dust covers. The oil was filthy for one track season. I am going to try to keep a log of miles I ride this year. Going to go up to a 90lb spring in the forks. Will contact Race Tech when they open and get it back together soon. Everyone should service their forks more often

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silverstrom
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Re: Track bike fork service

#2 Post by silverstrom » Mon Jan 02, 2017 2:36 am

Good to see you digging into it. With your riding skills progressing and you pushing the bike more and more you'll be doing that job often. That oil does look tired.

Are you going to document the whole process for us gawkers? We need a suspension guy.

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Speed Freak
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Re: Track bike fork service

#3 Post by Speed Freak » Mon Jan 02, 2017 5:29 am

I agree, suspension service is underrated.

When I`m doing the work without knowing the "service status" of the parts I usually also replace the bushes.
It`s not as complex as it looks - if you don`t try it you will never learn how to do it :mrgreen:

Maybe the reason why your suspension guy did not want to teach you how to do it because he knows that everyone can do this work with special tools which cost less than you pay for getting the parts serviced one time.

If you don`t want to spend so much money for seals in Yamaha bags you can also buy from k-tech (don`t know if you get the parts in the US) or maybe also from race tech.
At least K-tech delivered completely the same parts as I found it in my R1 fork and I know that they are selling parts which are directly coming from the suspension manufacturer without the way over Yamaha.

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My bikes:
RD500 YPVS 1GE
RD350 YPVS 31K 1985
Honda CBR 1000 RR SC57
Yamaha R1 RN04

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