ClassicMotorcycleMechanicsJune2020

(Jacob Rumans) #1

Alltheinternalforkpartswereingood
conditionandthetubeswerepractically
likenew–infact,Icouldnotworkoutif
theyactuallycouldbetheoriginalsor
whethertheywerereplacements.One
interestingpointwasthattheexternaldust
sealswerealsolikenew(Photo 3 ),so
maybetheforkswereoverhaulednottoo
longago.Thelowercaseswereslightly
scraped(Photo 4 )andIwonderwhat
causedthis?Thatscratchdidmostly
polishoutusingaScotchbritewheel.
Theupperyokewasabitmessy(Photo
5 )andratherthanresprayingitIremoved
thepaintwithstripper(Photo 6 )and
polishedit,whichtomelooksalotbetter.
NormallyIwouldreplacesteeringhead
ballbearingswithtaperrollersets,but
althoughatfirsttheylookedabitofa


mess(Photo 7 )thepartswere,infact,
perfectlyoksoIsavedthe£ 35 orsofor
somethingmorepressing.
TheTXisfittedwithahydraulicsteering
damper,whichhadleaked(Photo 8 ),soit
seemedprettypointlessrefittingit.Iam
sureitwasfittedforapurpose,butIthink
Ishallseewhatthehandlingislike
withoutit.Itmightbeokwithmodern
tyresandjustmeriding.Andifitisnot
(assumingIdonotfindoutthehardway)I
shalltakethedampertobitstosortitout.
Iknowpeoplemakeafussabout
determiningtheexactmeasurementon
eachforklegbetweenthesurfaceofthe
oilandthetopofthefork,butquite
honestlyhowmuchdifferencedoesit
makeforaslowoldbikelikethis?Yamaha
specifythecontentsofeachlegasbeinga

Simple solutions:Makeyourownspecialtoolsifyoucan!


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ratherprecise 173 ml,whichseemsmore
thansufficientlyaccurate,buthowcanit
bemeasured?Youcoulddothisby
usingagraduatedmeasuringcylinder,
butIneverquitetrustthese
measurementsafteronceusingonethat
turnedouttobecompletelywrong,
messingthingsup.Inowprefertodoit
fromfirstprinciplesinstead.
Onaplainunmarkedcylinder,Imadea
markattherightlevelbysimplypouring
in 173 gramsofwater(whichoccupies
almostexactly 173 ml).Youdonotneed
laboratoryequipmenttodothisasyoucan
doitverysimplywithdigitalkitchen
scales,whichareveryaccurateand
inexpensivenow.Thentipoutthewater,
carefullywipethecylinderdryandreplace
itwiththeoil(Photo 9 ).

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