Topic: Fork drain bolt snapped off & sticky fork

[killersoundz]

Well problem 1 is upon using the drain bolt in one of my forks it snapped off about halfway through. the way I see it I have 2 options. I can drill and tap it out bigger but what am I going to do if metal bits get inside the fork in the process? my second option is there is enough exposed thread to where I may be able to just get a real short screw on there to seal it up.  Second problem is my other fork seems real sticky. But I don't have actual fork oil in them yet I just had some mineral spirits cleaning them out.

[brandEn]

I would try an easy out on the stuck screw. If shavings get in your lower fork tube its no big deal just use some solvent and clean it out. Heck you could even flush it out with the hose and let it dry out real good. Its aluminum so no worries about rust. Just make sure its completely dry before adding oil.

[Tews19]

I had this recently happen with a K1 lower. My moms husband is a CNC guy. Dropped it off and he was able to fix it.

What lower do you have? I have extra of early and later forks... PM if interested

[killersoundz]

I would try an easy out on the stuck screw. If shavings get in your lower fork tube its no big deal just use some solvent and clean it out. Heck you could even flush it out with the hose and let it dry out real good. Its aluminum so no worries about rust. Just make sure its completely dry before adding oil.

That's good to know!! I think the forks are the biggest gray area for me out of anything on this bike. Not too sure what makes em' tick. I figured that would be a big no no but I'll probably have to go that route.

[killersoundz]

I had this recently happen with a K1 lower. My moms husband is a CNC guy. Dropped it off and he was able to fix it.

What lower do you have? I have extra of early and later forks... PM if interested

Thanks. i have a 750k4. I was looking around on ebay for possibly some new forks if I could get a decent deal on some I might take it up. My only concern now is why the one fork is sticky. If I take the spring out and press it down it goes down feeling fine but it feels very sticky coming back up. If I can get that figured out these will be good. The seals seem fine.

Also has anyone ever heard of a report of a fork tube breaking? Mine have the pitting to be expected from water getting under the headlight ears. There's a couple spots right above where the bottom triple tree clamp goes that look pretty deep. It's probably highly unlikely but if the tube is weakened and broke that would be a bad day.

[Tews19]

Take a pic of the tubes. I do have some really nice tubes to go along with the later style fork lowers. Still intact. Will need to be rebuilt.

[phil71]

you don't say if they're totally apart.. take them totally apart. Also, i bet that what's left of the bolt will come out with a little coaxing.. usually its' the bolt head/crush washer/aluminum that fuse and get stuck, but once that bolt head is gone , you can spin the threads out with your finger.

[killersoundz]

The bottoms of the tubes where they slide into the lowers are in pretty good shape just up at the top is nasty. I can live with that for now as long as they function right.

I got a little bit of luck I sprayed some liquid wrench silicone lube down into the sticky fork and it slides a little better now but still not as good as the other one. (The other one moves like butter). without the springs in of course.

I'll look at the service manual and see about taking them apart. Not thrilled about that but I'll give it a go. This is one of the last things I need to sort out before being able to ride it down the road!