1. Hello Guest. You have limited privileges and you can't "SEARCH" the forums. Please "Log In" or "Sign Up" for additional functionality. Click HERE to proceed.

Xj550 maxim fork spring upgrade

Discussion in 'XJ DIY How-To Instructions' started by Braxton, May 12, 2021.

  1. Braxton

    Braxton New Member

    Messages:
    1
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    1
    Location:
    Indiana
    Well, my fork seals started leaking, so I decided to get the performance rebuild kit from chacal. I figured I'd be in it anyways, I might as well start the cafe racer transformation I've been dreaming of.

    I apologize if this is in the wrong spot or formatted incorrectly, this is my first time posting in this forum.


    Here is a list of how I replaced the springs and other parts in the forks.

    1. Put bike on center stands

    2. I used a hydraulic jack to keep the front of the bike suspended. That being said, anything that can keep the front tire reliably off of the ground should work.

    3. I removed the front tire. This consists of a castle nut, a pin, a rod, a spacer, brakes, and the speedometer gear housing. (Keep these parts clean or you'll hate yourself. I spent so much time cleaning these parts with a cotton swab because I was working in a dusty barn.) Unfortunately I don't have any photos of this, but just take a picture before it comes apart and you should be fine.

    4. I then used a c-clamp along with a long socket to depress the fork caps enough to take out the c clip that holds them in.

    5. I didn't have the correct size of Allen wrench, so I went to the local mechanic who was nice enough to let me borrow his. This escalated to clamping down the fork tubes which I removed from the bike, then smashing the s*** out of that stubborn bolt with a big a** impact until it came apart. The other bolt was actually easier to get off even though it was stripped to nothing by the previous owner. I just drilled the head off. This lead to complications later on, but overall it was an effective method. I should mention that these bolts are found at the bottom of the fork tubs and are needed to take the tubes apart.

    6. Drain the fork tubes for a while

    7. Cool, so now I've got most everything apart. Good luck taking the old seals out. I just pried on it with a screwdriver till they popped out. It was probably the most stressful and second most tedious part of this entire process. Do this with the inner and outer fork tube separated or else you'll be sad.

    8. There's some small screws and miscellaneous seals and stuff on the fork tubes that have replacements in the kit. Also some bushings. Replace those. They're pretty self explanatory and easy.

    9. Reconnect the inner and outer fork tube using that metal shaft in there. You don't need to fully screw in the bolt at the bottom at this time. It's much easier to do later unless you've got a special tool to do it. Don't forget the small spring that goes at the bottom of that shaft.

    10. Place the new spring in with the tighter wound side up. Place the metal washer and spacer that come in chacals kit over top of that.

    11. Coolio, you're almost done. Now for the hard part! Getting that f****** bolt back in the bottom of the tube!:) I did this in a stupid order because I had no idea what I was doing, but do this part in whatever order you feel capable. Maybe before the spring, maybe after. Idk, it's up to you. First off you'll want to make sure that the bolts are completely clean otherwise you'll be sad again. If you have access to your local mechanics over sized impact this a time to use it again. On one bolt I was lucky enough to get it in after reassembling the spring. The pressure the cap put down on the shaft that the bolt screws into was enough to hold it still until it was tight enough to hold itself still and torque down. The second one was much much more difficult. What I ended up doing was I sacrificed the original spring. I wrapped duct tape around both ends for grip then used that same c-clamp setup I used earlier to gorilla grip that shaft that the bolt goes into. I then slowly worked the bolt in and out of the threads and slowly worked my way up until it was tight. This was a struggle. I put the forks back in the bike for this part.

    12. *sigh* we've finished the hard part right... right? Well, to put the new fork seals in, it turns out that you can't just press on them with a screwdriver like I did *facepalm* After ruining a fork seal i remembered that I needed a tool to do this. Luckily, a length of 1 1/2 in pvc pipe was enough. A simple trip to menards with and intimidating metal tube in my hands and I got the tool I needed. And I assure you, it felt amazing to see how perfectly it fit. It was the same size as the inside diameter of the other fork tube. To put the seal back on, I cut a strip of milk jug that I slid the seal over to slide down the inner fork tube safely (see photos). The milk jug isn't necessary, but it saves you from damaging the seals if you have scratches or anything on the fork tubes. Next I slid the pvc pipe over the tube and onto the seal. I then placed a block of wood over the top of the pvc and smashed the absolute hell out of it until the seal was far enough down to get the new clip in.

    13. Finally I used a graduated cylinder to measure out the exact amount of fork oil I needed. I believe it was 9.2 oz per fork. There are other methods, but I feel like this is a pretty accurate and easy one.

    14. Reassemble the wheels and while we're at it, grease up everything with high temp wheel bearing grease. It won't hurt anything and if you had to do half as much cleaning as I did you'll need it anyways.

    I hope this helps someone. If anyone has any questions, comments, or suggestions, let me know. I only started learning how to work on bikes after buying this one, so I'm sure there are ways to improve my methods. I just haven't seen a post about this topic, so I decided I'd post one myself.

    I apologize for not having the photos in order, but most of them should be there. Also included is how I got out that stripped bolt. 20210425_150420.jpg 20210429_192050.jpg 20210429_175103.jpg 20210429_173941.jpg 20210429_173936.jpg 20210425_180300.jpg 20210425_161132.jpg 20210425_153006.jpg 20210425_151010.jpg 20210425_150836.jpg 20210425_150307.jpg 20210424_194934.jpg 20210424_194918.jpg 20210425_150420.jpg 20210425_150420.jpg
     
    XJ550H likes this.
  2. XJ550H

    XJ550H Well-Known Member Premium Member

    Messages:
    13,199
    Likes Received:
    3,854
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Great North Woods
    when you remove the allen socket at bottom of forks heat it up it is thred locked with yamabond or something like that makes life easier.
    if possible losen that screw with forks on bike. leading axle allows for this on the seca you have to remove axle.
    I use the fender mount holes and mount the fork tubes to a sheet of plywood and put fender(large diameter ) washers on the bolts i secure the tube with ( not the oem fender bolts)

    i like your clamp setup
     
  3. cgutz

    cgutz Well-Known Member

    Messages:
    1,203
    Likes Received:
    719
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    SE South Dakota
    Nice write up. I also like the C Clamp idea to get the retaining c clip out. Much easier than my method...a piece of quarter round molding long enough to jam into the ceiling of my garage rafter, pressing down...
     
    XJ550H likes this.
  4. XJ550H

    XJ550H Well-Known Member Premium Member

    Messages:
    13,199
    Likes Received:
    3,854
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Great North Woods
    would love to see a photo of that
     
    cgutz and chacal like this.
  5. cgutz

    cgutz Well-Known Member

    Messages:
    1,203
    Likes Received:
    719
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    SE South Dakota
    Sorry, no photo, I had about a 10 foot piece of quarter round molding (3/4"?) that was just long enough to jam into the ceiling joists and then bend it up, placing the other end into the top of the fork. The bow in the molding held the piston down, and remained 'bowed' to maintain tension. Did the trick at the time.

    I was amazed how much replacing 25 year old fork oil improved the front suspension!
     

Share This Page