One tough dude

[coater87]

Last year I needed/wanted to do the A10, Commando, Daytona, and Mountain Cub. For about $60 I bought a kit with fittings to fit (I think) any Brit bike. For years I've made do with other methods/contraptions, but if you have more than one, this is money well spent. When I get my shop in order (just finished moving) I'll find out if it works on the Venom.

 I just threaded up a plug on the lathe out of some scrap, added a piece of all-thread and some aluminum discs. It will probably only work on a BSA, but its quick enough to knock up.

 I could see this saving a lot of frustration and effort, now I just have to get the fork parts to play nice together.

 Lee

[RichardL]

Lee,

I'm probably insulting myself by asking this question, but I'm putting it up out there anyway. Are you sure the lower yoke clamps have been opened enough to pass the diameter of the stantion as it tapers to its largest diameter?

Thank you for not being offended.

Richard L.

[chaterlea25]

Hi All,
The problem Lee is encountering has happened to me only once,
I believe the problem was the new stanchions were a little oversize where the go through the bottom yoke (Tpiece)
Sometimes the bottom yoke needs a prise open with a suitable wedge, be careful not to jam this into the stanchion
Up to that bike I used to use a wooden dowel to help but had to make up a puller to get it together and then threw away the dowel 

John

[bikerbob]

Like others who have commented above I use a home made device using an old fork nut and piece of studding, but if you look at page 138 in Roy Bacon's book on the twins you will see a picture of a guy fiiting fork tubes using  a wood dowel  not unlike a bit of broom handle.

[Triton Thrasher]

Was given the proper tool a few years back, a lot easier.
cheers

Absolutely.  And I forgot to mention that I'm not the slightest bit tough.

[trevinoz]

Lee,
Talking about wrong taper in the fork shrouds reminds me that I had that problem with a nice shiny new set I was trying to fit onto an A65.
The stanchion jammed in the shroud before it reached the top yoke.
I shoved them on the shelf and had the old ones repaired.
The problem with them is the cut-out for the bottom yoke is in the wrong place.
They look nice but are worse than useless.
I can make a good guess as to where they were made.

[coater87]

 OK,

 Mystery solved. My top yoke holes were full of clear powder coat. No black, just clear Makes me wonder if my parts didnt get screwed up with someone elses during the process, because I did not want a clear over coat.

 The only reason I found this was because I pulled it back apart and noticed crap in the taper. I wasn't even sure what it was at first, but my immediate thought was that I had shaved metal off trying to pull in the stanchion.

 I coated the surface around the top clamp holes with grease to protect what I did want, then used Aircraft stripper and Q-Tips to get the clear junk soft enough to remove.

 I should not be surprised. They managed to fill half my tapped holes damn near full with the black even after I marked them all so they could plug them.

 Its just something I am going to have to be aware of moving forward, some of my parts were hit with clear.

 Here is the little puller I made. I did not turn threads on the one end so it can be turned over and used to knock the legs back without smacking the top yoke.

[Clive54bsa]

this is not a myth, I've done it. I was meeting a friend of mine at a motorcycle store to go for a ride. I was on my Super Rocket, and he was riding his '69 Bonneville. When we arrive at the meeting place, a fork top nut had come undone and fallen off on the road somewhere. The motorcycle store had a new top-nut, but being a Sunday morning, no mechanic was there. The fork tube had dropped below the top yoke and the new nut thread weren't long enough to reach the threads in the fork tube, by about 2 inches. So we found a broom handle and screwed it into the top of the fork tube as best we could. I was able to pull up the tube far enough to screw in the top nut.
I think Adam of Mythbusters would say "plausible
Clive"

[coater87]

 OK,

 I am not calling myth busters on this one, but next time may be different.

 I got everything set up and started to crank on the puller. It all moved like butter until I got about two thirds up into the top tree. Then it got harder and harder until I backed off before I broke something.

 With the shrouds on you cant see whats going on, looking from the top all I see is the stanchion stuck with just a little left to go.

 But I knew there was no way I was going to pull that last 3/16 to 1/4 inch. At that point I was worried about pulling the threads on the tool.

 And thats when I thought about broom stick guy and his ridiculous claims of strength.

 

[muskrat]

It's easy if you have three hands and can pull like a fourteen year old after the school dance
 

[KiwiGF]

OK,

 I am not calling myth busters on this one, but next time may be different.

 I got everything set up and started to crank on the puller. It all moved like butter until I got about two thirds up into the top tree. Then it got harder and harder until I backed off before I broke something.

 With the shrouds on you cant see whats going on, looking from the top all I see is the stanchion stuck with just a little left to go.

 But I knew there was no way I was going to pull that last 3/16 to 1/4 inch. At that point I was worried about pulling the threads on the tool.

 And thats when I thought about broom stick guy and his ridiculous claims of strength.

I just do the top nuts up fairly tight, I don't think the stanchions get anywhere near the very top of the yoke, it would be a problem if they did I mention this in case you think they should. I guess due to tolerances of the taper and stanchions etc there may be a bit of variation on how far they pull up into the top yoke.

[coater87]

 I didnt exactly measure it, but they were far enough down to make you look at it more than twice- then go back to cranking. again.

 Now the fun of taking it back apart. Good thing I greased the hell out of the springs, that should not make a mess at all.

[muskrat]

Yes, from memory they come to about 1/16"-1/8" from the top.
The main problem with the design is if you wash the bike regularly or ride in the rain water gets in and sits on top of the seal causing a rust ring which destroys the stanchions and seal.
Cheers

[KiwiGF]

Yes, from memory they come to about 1/16"-1/8" from the top.
The main problem with the design is if you wash the bike regularly or ride in the rain water gets in and sits on top of the seal causing a rust ring which destroys the stanchions and seal.
Cheers

That issue with the fork design has occurred to me as well, tho not happened yet albeit the fork oil goes cloudy quite quickly which may be a sign of water getting in, the water has a few places eg gaps to get inside the shrouds, rubber gaiters are probably better at keeping water out, or maybe a hole drilled in the chrome seal, at the bottom, would help