Fork seal replacement.

I used 2 small picks. Like dental picks. If you don't have one you can buy them cheap. Your local walmart probably has them.

 

and you were able to use them while a clamp was compressing the top? not much working room to even get a utility knife in the groove

 

What? No, not sure what you are doing. Bang the fork on a 2x4 a few times to push that plug down a bit away from the clip then use the picks to dig them out.

 

I'm stuck on this step. the fork cap has an air nipple since its air adjustable fork so I put a socket over it like the picture shows and when I compress the fork, the cap barely goes down if at all. therefore I can't easily access the circlip pin. is this a problem for any other folks?

sorry for the confusion. my brother was last signed in on the website and I posted using his username. moellear and aamoeller are brothers although you prolly don't care

 

A 1981 XJ650 Maxim should NOT have a air nipple in the top cap bolt....they are not air-assisted forks.

Penetrating oil is your friend for theis type of situation.

 

you are correct Len. my fault once again for not explaining myself once again. the forks I'm trying to disassemble are off the spare '82 I got from a craigslist steal which have good seals. I plan to change the oil and use them for my '81 since my current forks leak at the wiper seal.

Kroil has been shot in it a few times but perhaps they are just so bad? what baffles me is that I can turn the cap however it won't go down much farther. maybe some picture time would show you the condition they are in

 

Did not do mine that way at all.
I took the forks off the bike, drained the fluid, took apart the halves, then you can bang the top half on a 2x4 several times to drive down the plug. Then you can get to the clips. You should clean everything out and to do this right you will need to take the forks off anyway so just do that now and it will make it easier. At least I think so.

 

Forks are off the bike.

When I clamp the fork, the fork compresses but cap with the air nipple does not budge down to remove the circlip. All the clamp does is compress the spring(s) so I'm not getting anywhere. Was it a mistake to remove the air pressure and oil beforehand?

Oldbikerdude: how do you take apart the halves? I'm afraid to use any pipe wrenches on the nice aluminum forks. I've looked at the parts fiche (diagram) of these forks and I guess I'm at a loss at what is holding these together. is it the allen bolt down at the bottom?

pardon my stupidity on this: some of you may think I'm overthinkin or not mechanically inclined but I've never took apart forks before. there's a first for everything

 

When sheer force is insufficient, a shock is in order.

Use a hammer....lightly at first and just to loosen it up. Put a socket over the valve of course, don't hit the valve with the hammer. (You'd be surprised.)

When I did mine the forks were still on the bike. The upper fork must remain stationary for the plug to move inside of it. You should be able to accomplish this in either of two ways: hold the upper tube (padded vice or put back on triple trees) or compress it all together until the spring is completely compressed.

Which is easier is up to your set of tools, but you won't be able to add shock if your cap is covered by a clamp.

The bolt on the bottom is what holds the upper and lowers together. But you would be lucky to be able to turn the bolt without holding both sides of it. That worked with one of my sides, but not both.

Originally, you just had to press in the cap, pull out the clip; the spring would push out and the bolt is accessed with a special tool on the inside and a hex key on the outside. If clean, you have the tools, and you have a bit of help, it's a 5 minute ordeal to get them completely apart.

But why are you trying to take them apart to change the oil?

 

planning to change the oil since I don't know what kind of oil is them and I want to check the interior condition of these spare forks. my current forks on the bike leak because of the wiper seal. since my spares are in better exterior condition and don't leak (when positioned upside-down for days) they will go on the bike if I ever get them apart and change the oil

I'll give it a shot day7. thakns

 

got 'em. with Kroil just soaking away around that circlip for several days I put them in the clamp and then gave it a jerk upwords and the cap was forced down. the jerk was strong enough to free the crappy rust stuff inside and now the cleaning begins