[tooseevee]

     Noticed lately that my fork drain caps are weeping at the copper gasket so I popped them off today to drip overnight. Tomorrow I'll find (hopefully) copper gaskets to match at one of the hardware stores. Ace Hardware has an amazing array of stuff like that. Nuts&bolts&screws&springs&clips&goodies of ALL kinds.

      What's the word now? Is copper best? What about fiber washers?

       Also would there be much loud wailing & gnashing of teeth if I used ATF Type F in the forks? It's what I use in my primary & rather than order a $12 or $14 bottle of Lucas Fork Oil on Ebay, why not? I used Mazola Oil in a harley forks once; seemed fine to me.

[AzCal Retred]

ATF has lots of nice seal conditioners and is about a 15W oil. We used lots of ATF in our dirt daze, for the very reasons you described. Thicker oil can be obtained by mixing in varying amounts of 30W to 50W, in a manner akin to "Mixing big marbles in with smaller ones" in the words of Rick Sieman (aka "Super Hunky"). Motocross stars can opine long on oil viscosity nirvana, but for the rest of us mortals if the forks aren't going rigid or slamming stop to stop, it's probably close enough.

You are quite the invertebrate tinkerer, did you ever create & install some fork drain screws in your tinking?

[tooseevee]

ATF has lots of nice seal conditioners and is about a 15W oil. We used lots of ATF in our dirt daze, for the very reasons you described. Thicker oil can be obtained by mixing in varying amounts of 30W to 50W, in a manner akin to "Mixing big marbles in with smaller ones" in the words of Rick Sieman (aka "Super Hunky"). Motocross stars can opine long on oil viscosity nirvana, but for the rest of us mortals if the forks aren't going rigid or slamming stop to stop, it's probably close enough.

You are quite the invertebrate tinkerer, did you ever create & install some fork drain screws in your tinking?

           No, I haven't. I have to admit that I have not fooled much with front forks during my life of other tom-foolery. Their innards are a mystery & I've never had the actual pieces in my hands although I do understand how they work. When the guys here who really know what they're doing talk about drilling this & grinding that, I cringe. Like you say, if I don't get the bars ripped out of my hands or my thumbs broken hitting a small pothole, I'm good.

            I may tweak my headstock a bit also. I've noticed a slight klunk when coming off the centerstand although there is NO klunk when I hold the front brake on & honk the forks up & down. And I never hear a klunk on the road, only rolling off the centerstand. Strange?

            It's a fairly simple job on the Enfield; loosen the two clamp bolts & the big Allen, crank to 55 pounds then back off & crank to 15. Tighten it all back up. I'll check Pete Snidal first, of course.

             I miss Pete. The first years I had the Enfield ('09, '10, '11, '12) he (& many others here) helped me more than any words could ever express. The bike was an alien to me except for what I had read in books or online & it arrived in my driveway brand new, but drained of fluids, no battery & every single bulb (including the flasher) on the bike burnt out. We (the forum) never came up with a theory although it was discussed for a long time.     

[AzCal Retred]

Sounds like a classic case of alien abduction...    

When did Pete Snidal leave us? 

[tooseevee]

Sounds like a classic case of alien abduction...    

When did Pete Snidal leave us? 

           I'm not privy to any of the Pete story. I'm sure someone here is. He just dropped off the forum one year & I couldn't now say what year that was.

           No washers at 3 different places. I'll get them from Tim. It's just very wearing running around por nada.

[Bill Harris]

I used ATF type F for years in the Harris Scrambler’s forks and was very happy with it.  The copper washers have been work harden.  You can annal the copper washers by heating them up to cheery red and quench them in water.  I use a propane torch for heating them up.  Then you can reuse them.  Hope this helps.

Royal Enfield people are good people

Cheers,
Bill

[tooseevee]

I used ATF type F for years in the Harris Scrambler’s forks and was very happy with it.  The copper washers have been work harden.  You can annal the copper washers by heating them up to cheery red and quench them in water.  I use a propane torch for heating them up.  Then you can reuse them.  Hope this helps.

Royal Enfield people are good people

Cheers,
Bill

           I've done that once already to these (they're original to the bike). They are really squeezed too thin & deformed by the torque to use again. These fork oil drain caps were tightened WAY too tight from the factory; I remember removing them the first time. That was also when I found there was 1/2 the correct amount in one fork. 

           I ordered 4 new ones from Tim. This configuration of washer is not something you see in hardware stores OR plumbing supply vendors here in the U.S. & there are zero bike shops near me. I went to 2 hardware stores & a large plumbing supply house a few days ago with zero luck.

[Karl Childers]

A little late but maybe for next time, my NAPA auto parts store has a wide selection of copper washers and usually has the size I need for my different projects.

[tooseevee]

       Just to put this thread to bed, I did use ATF Type F in my forks (200ml each) & tweaked my headstock down a bit. The little tiny clunk I was getting on coming off the centerstand is gone and that makes me happy. At 83, anything that works plus makes me happy is a positive.