[Hoiho]

I'm sure that the Allen screw is completely undone because when I tip the fork leg up one way then the other, I can hear/feel the damper tube moving up and down inside the fork leg.  The Allen screw turns but is stuck inside its hole, probably due to an excessive amount of thread sealant.  I'm confident that it will tap out from the inside once the fork leg is dismantled,

The seal isn't damaged, but it's not possible to remove the damper rod (to drill it) without removing the oil seal.

Yep it is - no need to remove the seals.

[grahamb1]

Yep it is - no need to remove the seals.

If I don't remove the seal, how do I get the damper rod out to drill it??

[Hoiho]

If I don't remove the seal, how do I get the damper rod out to drill it??

Tip the fork upside down

[gizzo]

Tip the fork upside down

This ^. Once the spring is out and the Allen bolt is undone at the bottom, you can shake the damper rod out the top. IME.
Just be 100% that the bolt is undone.

FWIW if you really want to separate the halves, take the fork leg out of the vice and hold one half in each hand. Then slide hammer the halves apart, freehand as is were. That'll be kinder on the components and probably apply more force. Sometimes you have to really go for it, they can be a snug fit.

[NVDucati]

I'm sure that the Allen screw is completely undone because when I tip the fork leg up one way then the other, I can hear/feel the damper tube moving up and down inside the fork leg.  The Allen screw turns but is stuck inside its hole, probably due to an excessive amount of thread sealant.  I'm confident that it will tap out from the inside once the fork leg is dismantled,

The seal isn't damaged, but it's not possible to remove the damper rod (to drill it) without removing the oil seal.

This would be a great time to have a RE Zoom account, huh.
Let me hang onto that bolt for another moment:
Is the other fork leg behaving the same way?
When the tube is extended, if your "jam" tool can still reach the top of the damper cone? If so hold the bolt and unscrew the damper rod with the jam tool if only as a last positive test that it really is completely disconnected. If it is, nd it might very well be, then the slide hammer approach should work eventually. Just more force. There is a lip at the bottom of the fork tube that captures the cone. I asked about the other fork leg because the resistance of the seals is rarely identical. HTH

[grahamb1]

Thanks NV for a really helpful reply.  I'll try the other fork leg and see if I have any more joy with that.  I agree that a Zoom meeting or the option to post a video would be really useful.

[Hoiho]

Thanks NV for a really helpful reply.  I'll try the other fork leg and see if I have any more joy with that.  I agree that a Zoom meeting or the option to post a video would be really useful.

So you're persisting with the seal removal? Got replacements on hand and a seal seating tool?

[CPJS]

So you're persisting with the seal removal? Got replacements on hand and a seal seating tool?

When I did mine the same seals went back in nice and easy. If I recall they mostly went in by hand and I nudged them home with a suitable socket.

[grahamb1]

I haven't posted for a while because I've been struggling to find a way to remove the damper tubes from my fork legs.  I've finally cracked it!

Having read the various threads on the forum, I expected to encounter some difficulty in removing the damper tubes from the fork legs.  I hadn't expected it to be so difficult.

The Royal Enfield workshop manual recommends the use of the special tool 'Fork damper tube holder'  Part No: ST26461-2 to prevent the damper tube rotating when the damper tube retaining bolt is unscrewed.

The tool costs about £80 and is basically a T-bar with a square end.

Fred Gassit in his post Reply #61 on: December 10, 2020, 12:35:03 pm stated that the tool had a square end 23mm across. So I made up a tee-bar with a 23mm square end and inserted into the fork tube.  I held the tee-bar in a vise and put an Allen key in the tube retaining bolt.

After exerting considerable pressure, the bolt seemed to 'give' and I thought I'd unscrewed the damper tube.  I hadn't. The damper tube was still attached to the bolt.

In his post Reply #32 on: April 03, 2021, 06:15:23 pm , NVDucati posted a very useful picture, showing the end of the damper tube which looks very like a standard 12 sided socket.  He showed that a piece of 32mm bar fitted very neatly across the socket to hold the damper tube while the retaining bolt is removed.

So I modified my tee-bar and added a 32mm 'paddle' at the end, but I couldn't get it to engage in the socket end of the damper tube.

NevilleG in his post Reply #56 on: December 09, 2020, 11:07:03 am  said that he'd used a garden fork handle to stop the damper tube from turning.  I didn't have a garden fork handle handy, but I did have an old 35mm wooden curtain pole. I chamfered the end until it was a snug fit in the damper tube end, but it wasn't robust enough to stop the tube from turning when I tried to unscrew the retaining bolt.

NVDucati stated in his thread Reply #58 on: December 09, 2020, 01:34:33 pm that a 30mm nut would fit in the end of the damper tube.  An M20 nut is 30mm across flats, so I purchased some M20 nuts and washers and a length of 20mm threaded rod.

I chamfered the end of a 22mm wooden curtain rail and screwed a nut onto it.  This allowed me to poke the rod down the fork tube and feel when the nut engaged into the socket on the end of the damper tube.

It didn't.

The nut was still screwed tightly on to the end of the wooden pole and so I was able to use that as a handle to hold the nut while I ground off the corners.  I thought I would just have to grind off the tips of the nut to get it to fit. I kept grinding off more and more of the nut and offering up to the damper tube. When I'd ground the corners off to the extend the nut was effectively a twelve sided nut, (a bit like an old threepenny bit) it finally engaged into the socket end of the damper tube.


I locked my 12 sided nut on to the end of the threaded rod with another nut.  Then I locked two more pairs of nuts 500 mm along the threaded rod. This allowed me to fit two adjustable wrenches at 180 degrees, effectively forming a tee-handle.

I mounted an mm Allen key into my vise and lowered the fork leg on to it. Then I inserted the 12 sided nut on the end of the threaded bar into the fork tube until it engaged in the damper tube socket. Using the two adjustable wrenches I was at last able to unscrew the damper tube from the retaining bolt.

Job Done!

I had half expected the 12 sided nut to unscrew when I applied force, in which case my next plan was to drill right through the nut and the threaded bar and cut a piece of 6” nail to use as a shear pin.  Fortunately that wasn't necessary.

Thanks to NVDucati, Hoiho and gizzo for their invaluable help in getting this sorted.

Next job is to drill out the damper holes.

[NVDucati]

I haven't posted for a while because I've been struggling to find a way to remove the damper tubes from my fork legs.  I've finally cracked it!

Next job is to drill out the damper holes.

Good job

[gizzo]

Wow that sounds like an ordeal. Persistence paid off. Good job.

[Charleetho]

"The cheapest people spend the most money" That would be me.

Long story short, I tried the cheap route of using HyperPro springs and new oil to firm up my front forks. Stock they would bottom out during regular braking.
I weigh 250lbs (freedom units! ) or 113kg for you more Enlighted unit people. I have had good luck HyperPro on other motorcycles.
It was a failure. The HyperPro springs are very progressive, softer then stock at the start and firmer then stock at the end. Just sitting on the bike would use up half the suspension travel. I added in an inch (25mm) of preload to get the sag close and now I am riding in the harsh spring rate level all the time. A couple weeks ago 30 miles (those units again) of washboard roads really beat me up.

So, let the cheap guy spend some more money. The Race Tech spring calculator recommends a 1.0kg spring. Heaviest they make. The springs and a gold valve kit would run about $350US.

Correct me if I am wrong, but it seems the YSS kit is one rate fits all? It it a .9kg spring? This is why I am leaning towards a company that offers different spring rates.

As for removing the bottom rod dampener bolt. In the past, when rebuilding fork, I would loosen the bolt before removing the fork caps. The spring pressure should hold the rod in place? Also, used an impact gun with a long Allen socket. WAAAPP! loose bolt. Perhaps would be good to add in a little heat with a small torch or heat gun to soften the thread locker first and then WAAAPP! 
Did any of you guys use an impact gun?

[NVDucati]

"The cheapest people spend the most money" That would be me.
...
So, let the cheap guy spend some more money. The Race Tech spring calculator recommends a 1.0kg spring. Heaviest they make. The springs and a gold valve kit would run about $350US.
...
As for removing the bottom rod dampener bolt. In the past, when rebuilding fork, I would loosen the bolt before removing the fork caps. The spring pressure should hold the rod in place? Also, used an impact gun with a long Allen socket. WAAAPP! loose bolt.
Did any of you guys use an impact gun?

I used an air impact gun. It didn't work all by itself.
As regards the spring holding it in place. That is true but make sure we understand that it is not the long spring we call into play. It is the short spring, the "top out" spring. AND that spring works when the fork assembly is being pulled in the extension direction.
So that brings us to how the heck do you hold it all and get in that Allen socket drive / impact wrench and extend the fork leg with not enough space between the floor and fork bottoms.
* Here is one way:
AS mentioned the triple trees offer the strongest grip with no harm.
With the bike secured (tied down to wheel chock or center stand) slide out the fork tubes (fork cap on). Then put them in to the triple tree from the top. That is to say up side down. Slide them down as far as is practical. Tighten them in place. At this point ypu now have both hands to work with.
Pull the fork bottom upwards to engage that topping spring. At the same time use the air gun.
If your karma is in tack it will loosen.  If not you can, judiciously, shock the lock-tite with rod and hammer on the allen bolt. If still failing, now you can take the fork caps off and drain the oil, etc. Then what ever damper cone tool you have made or bought and the air gun. It will give up eventually even if it didn't surrender early on. Just keep your cool and protect your gas tank.

And as to your point about spending money... I agree and skipped ahead to the $600 level.

[Hoiho]

"The cheapest people spend the most money" That would be me.

Long story short, I tried the cheap route of using HyperPro springs and new oil to firm up my front forks. Stock they would bottom out during regular braking.
I weigh 250lbs (freedom units! ) or 113kg for you more Enlighted unit people. I have had good luck HyperPro on other motorcycles.
It was a failure. The HyperPro springs are very progressive, softer then stock at the start and firmer then stock at the end. Just sitting on the bike would use up half the suspension travel. I added in an inch (25mm) of preload to get the sag close and now I am riding in the harsh spring rate level all the time. A couple weeks ago 30 miles (those units again) of washboard roads really beat me up.

So, let the cheap guy spend some more money. The Race Tech spring calculator recommends a 1.0kg spring. Heaviest they make. The springs and a gold valve kit would run about $350US.

Correct me if I am wrong, but it seems the YSS kit is one rate fits all? It it a .9kg spring? This is why I am leaning towards a company that offers different spring rates.

As for removing the bottom rod dampener bolt. In the past, when rebuilding fork, I would loosen the bolt before removing the fork caps. The spring pressure should hold the rod in place? Also, used an impact gun with a long Allen socket. WAAAPP! loose bolt. Perhaps would be good to add in a little heat with a small torch or heat gun to soften the thread locker first and then WAAAPP! 
Did any of you guys use an impact gun?

I'm 96kg nekid, and RaceTech calc suggested 0.85kg/mm linear springs. After a couple hundred km I found they  weren’t much stiffer than stock progressive springs (running 15W 71cst at 140mm level, 25mm preload for 35.5% rider sag). Went to 0.9mm kg/mm and they are spot on for road riding. 0.95kg/mm would likely be better for track riding.

The best thing about the YSS kit is the aluminium valve adapter cups, however I prob wouldn't want the YSS kit springs. TecBike supply the same 335 PD valves separately with a couple of delrin rings (black rings in the back of pic 1) which don't provide a good seal with the damper. I made cups and machined a small flat on the top of the rods to make sure they sealed properly.

As for removing the damper rods - 5min with an angle grinder on a useless freedom socket...

[Charleetho]

A forum member reached out to me who is pleased with his hyper pro springs. He suggested I check the static sag. HyperPro recommends 28mm. I had zero. I thought static was with the rider mounted. There I had closer to 28mm. Static is bike weight only. DOH!
I backed off all the preload and got to 14mm sag. I would have to go back to the stock fork caps to get 28mm. Long story short, the bike rides so much better!  Thank you forum.

"The cheapest people spend the most money" That would be me.

Long story short, I tried the cheap route of using HyperPro springs and new oil to firm up my front forks. Stock they would bottom out during regular braking.
I weigh 250lbs (freedom units! ) or 113kg for you more Enlighted unit people. I have had good luck HyperPro on other motorcycles.
It was a failure. The HyperPro springs are very progressive, softer then stock at the start and firmer then stock at the end. Just sitting on the bike would use up half the suspension travel. I added in an inch (25mm) of preload to get the sag close and now I am riding in the harsh spring rate level all the time. A couple weeks ago 30 miles (those units again) of washboard roads really beat me up.

So, let the cheap guy spend some more money. The Race Tech spring calculator recommends a 1.0kg spring. Heaviest they make. The springs and a gold valve kit would run about $350US.

Correct me if I am wrong, but it seems the YSS kit is one rate fits all? It it a .9kg spring? This is why I am leaning towards a company that offers different spring rates.

As for removing the bottom rod dampener bolt. In the past, when rebuilding fork, I would loosen the bolt before removing the fork caps. The spring pressure should hold the rod in place? Also, used an impact gun with a long Allen socket. WAAAPP! loose bolt. Perhaps would be good to add in a little heat with a small torch or heat gun to soften the thread locker first and then WAAAPP! 
Did any of you guys use an impact gun?