Shift forks, good or bad???

So I'm in the process of replacing the first gear in my '82 XJ1100J, and I have the bike flipped in my garage right not. The Dremel Fix procedure (which I'm not planning on doing) says to check your shift forks for bending or damage.... Any thoughts on how I would do that? Are there spec's out there for them or something like that? They look fine, but there isn't much in the way of flat/straight surfaces on those things....
The for that pushes the first gears together has a bit of scarring on it, but I am assuming that is from the first gear slipping out and rubbing on the shift fork abnormally.
Any thoughts on how to inspect these things?
Thanks,
Mike

 

Look for any abnormal wear on the points where the fork contacts the shift drum and gears. It should be clean and smooth without any gauling in the metal. There are not any specs I could find to measure these wear points and compare them. There is some discoloration in the fork from the heat treating process , don't worry about this. The part that wears out fastest is the little nub that goes in the shift drum, pay close attention to that. If the forks are bent they really won't go back together right and it won't shift. I have done the dremel fix of both of my 1100's, it works great as long as the graer you started with are not trashed.

 

Thanks mlew,
Ufortunately my gears are pretty trashed so I'm buying new ones.
I don't see any wear on the ends of the forks at all, so I should be fine. It was shifting good when I took it apart...
Mike