Front forks

[a101960]

When overhauling the front forks is it better to replace the stanchions and bushes or will replacing the bushes alone do the job? I am minded to replace both items because it seems to me that if the bushes are worn beyond serviceable limits then the stanchions are very likely to be worn also. I am hoping that I can buy a matched set. That is to say a pair of stanchions with bushes machined to match the stanchions.While the forks are stripped down I thought I would replace the springs which appear to be sagging. Does anyone have experience of progressive springs is there any noticeable difference? The reason I am stripping the forks down for overhaul is because the oil seals are leaking, and they do clank and clonk a bit but this does not seem to affect the handling in any way, well not that I can detect.

[MikeN]

If they are scored (your seals will always leak)or worn undersize (measure with a micrometer if pos) then replace.if slightly bent you may be able to get them re-aligned. if you do replace them ,i would pay a bit extra and get hard ground chrome ones as fitted to goldies and RGS's with clip-ons even if your bike is fitted with a nacelle and you cant see them. They will last longer,resist rust and give your oil seals an easier life.
  Clonking?  "they all do that sir."
Mike

[MikeN]

Also,
  if you buy stanchions with matched bushes.get them from someone you trust. me and my friend both bought a pair from Len Craig (they were the cheapest) and when they came ,one of my tubes had a 3 thou taper and one of my mates had a 5 taper on the working part (we couldnt even get the bush to slide on). i suppose we could have made one good pair.they were like a pair of flared trousers!
 Wont be going to him again.
Mike

[1660bob]

Hi, I am also in the midst of a fork re-build, above replies hold good, replace all the lot for good results.
 
I have also had problems with stanchions supplied so far,(2 sets ) I sent both sets back due to the taper at the top being machined slightly too narrow (shallow? i.e. too small an inclusive angle) causing a poor fit in the tapered sockets in the top yoke- taper fits are used here for rigidity ,which is why BSA made them like this-( its harder to machine a taper than a parallel hole!) and the tapers HAVE to match well to work properly, something the suppliers seem not to understand- I got the usual drivel:
 "well we`ve never had a problem with these before"

which translated means :

" well actually,come to think of it, we have had complaints before, but we just give back the money and forget about it and re-sell the poor quality goods onto the next mug and never sort out the quality issues because we are too busy flogging more C--P to ever sort it out"

I am now waiting for replacements Made I believe by Velocette in England, which will be dearer, which leaves me to assume that the ones i have been palmed off with so far, being cheaper,are made abroad. I hope the replacements fit OK, if so I will have learned a lesson:
The first option offered is usually the cheapest, and probably NOT the best. I suspect I am not the first to be in this position, and I suspect that many of us accept the cheaper option and fit poor quality parts and put up with them.ITS OUR OWN FAULT-as someone recently said, on this forum I think,
"AS LONG AS PEOPLE BUY C--P, PEOPLE WILL CONTINUE TO MANUFACTURE AND SUPPLY IT",
"Caveat Emptor" as they say, Bob.                   

[Richard]

John
Just read your post after replying to your email, I have to agree with mike, buy hard chrome ones as the bushes are actually matched to them have look at Goffys site that's where I bought mine
Richard

[chaterlea25]

HI All,
I've had aset of hard chromed ones where the increased diamater for the bottom yoke (triple tree)
was eccentric with the rest of the leg
I bought these from a leading BSA supplier who changed them without question, comments were something like
Those BA*&^%DS you just cant get proper parts nowadays!!!
Regards
John O R

[BSA_54A10]

Check the sliders before you start.
Usually they wear really badly in the top 2" so will need to be bored out to the size of the new bushes

[a101960]

Thank you all for your comments. I am more than a little worried about your experiences relating to quality, but it was not entirely unexpected. In my experience price is not a reliable indicator of quality or fitness for purpose. The problem in most cases is that you don't know what you are buying until you receive it. Some traders involved with the classic bike scene are just retailers. They might have an encyclopaedic knowledge of the parts, but often have very little insight into specifications. What happens I suspect is that a part is submitted as a pattern and the retailer assumes that the chosen manufacturer has the knowledge, interest and ability to make the required part. If the part looks satisfactory when delivered then the retailer would have no idea that it was sub standard until the feed back from customers came in. One well know supplier of BSA parts sold me a centre stand that would not fit because the lugs were to close together. I suspect that a pattern was supplied but the foundry never made any allowance for shrinkage. Superficialy it looked alright. This same supplier had some A10 big end bolts made. The problem was that they were CNC machined not forged with rolled threads. This supplier did not set out to sell unserviceable items it was lack of technical knowledge that led to these mistakes. On the other side of the coin there are those that should no better but don't give a monkeys. One suppler that falls into that category seems to have satisfied some of the contributors to this forum. My experience was that the guy that runs that company was quite arrogant when defending his product. His attitude was that no customer was going to tell him how to make exhausts systems. He had been doing so for 30 years and the fact that mine had kinks in the bends and did not fit was my fault. I did find an alternative supplier that delivered a top quality product (Cake Street Classics). Caveat emptor indeed!

[brackenfel]

Dear A101960,
Interesting that you too suffer from the "clonking".. When I rode my bike home from purchasing it I was impressed by the handling but not the "clonk". It seems to happen not on compression as you might expect but almost like "topping out" , although it didn't feel like this was the case.
Previous owner (whom I have no reason to disbelieve) claimed he'd rebushed the forks..
It was on my list of things to sort , maybe not now if "they all do that sir" !! Perhaps I'll just check / change the fork oil and put up with it...

I know I'm a cheapskate at times but if the original stantions don't seem  too bad I'd try re-using them before risking suspect "new" ones.. As I'm thinking of changing my exhaust system I'd be interested in who you would NOT recommend, via a PM - thanks..

Cheers,
Adrian