Topic: CB550 Fork Seal removal Vid

[Randy]

looks great..
CB550 Fork Seals

[Bunicula]

awesome video! thanks for sharing 

[paulh1282]

You know I always figured that would be easy but seeing your vid makes me a lot more comfortable in doing this. Thanks

[Oddjob]

Not a bad vid, however I'd change the way it was done a little. Having done more of these than I care to remember being an ex Honda mechanic I'd like to point out a few things which may make things a little easier. Firstly there really isn't any need to remove the fork from the bike, you can just remove the allen key at the bottom of the fork slider and pull it off the stanction whilst that remains in the bike, there are a couple of drawbacks with this method as you still need to remove the fork top nut to fill it with oil afterwards and that can be a little tricky. I much prefer to remove the fork leg entirely from the bike without removing the handlebars, you can see in the vid the handlebars were banging against the tank and that can leave little dings in the tank which isn't what you want really, you can protect the tank of course but removing the leg without removing the bars is a lot safer IMO. Insert the leg in a vice, there was one in the vid used later so why not use it at the beginning, remove the allen key before touching anything else as you want the spring tension to keep the piston from moving with the allen key. Drain the oil and remove the slider, the seals circlip I wouldn't remove like that, easy for it to fly off somewhere and get lost even if it hits a wall it can still bounce somewhere and drop amongst all the bits of bike you have stored around if your like me. If your using good circlip pliers the tension it takes to compress the clip will allow you to just lift it out, if not try rotating the clip a little to break it free from the groove if it's stuck, use a finger on the top of it to make sure it doesn't flyoff anywhere when you slowly release pressure on the pliers. Why struggle holding the slider when removing the seal, use the vice, bottom end is nicely shaped for the vice and you can protect it from vice marks if your worried about them. I have a Snap-On seal remover which just pops the seal out very easily but a large screwdriver will work as in the vid, good idea in the vid to protect the levering edge from damage. When removing the spring look and see which way it's fitted, one end is more tightly coiled than the other, make sure you check orientation as it's easy to just pull it out drop it on the bench and forget afterwards which way it went.
Nice little tip using string on the cloth to remove it afterwards, like that, we just used to drop everything in a jizer bath but your idea has merit. When fitting the tophat on the piston rod make sure to keep it pointing upwards or it may fall off into the fork slider, slide the slider downwards onto the stanction and it has to stay in place, sometimes they fall off and you can struggle getting it lined up with the piston meaning you end up pulling everything apart again to shake it out.
Other than those points I can ony say well done for posting the vid, it helps a lot of members who can be a little intimidated by fork seals, once they see how easy they are to do in reality they are willing to try themselves.

[Tews19]

Thanks for the video.. I will use this when I do my fork seals on my 550F.

[NecroPsyChroNauTron]

Definitely thanks for the video. This seems fairly straightforward now that I see the process beforehand.

[SCRob]

Is the process much different for a CB750?

[Tews19]

What yr 750? Also depends on the forks you have. If the bottom of the forks you have match the video same process. If they have a rectangular section on back side it even easier. If you have the rectangular part. You don't need to remove the damper and bolt as in the video on the bottom of the fork. Take pic of you forks. Will tell you exactly.

[SCRob]

It's a 1975 CB750K5 frame with a CB750K1 engine, but I'm discovering more and more that it's a bit of a Frankenstein in terms of parts.  Here's a couple pics, let me know if you need other angles, and thanks.

[Tews19]

It's a 1975 CB750K5 frame with a CB750K1 engine, but I'm discovering more and more that it's a bit of a Frankenstein in terms of parts.  Here's a couple pics, let me know if you need other angles, and thanks.

You have the same forks as in the video... Well the process of taking them apart. Really simple for a newbie if you are one... I was able to swap out fork tubes from one bike and rebuild another set in less then 2 hours..

[tango911]

everyone does it a little different which is fine.  The video is great as in, there is a video    and it shows the basic take apart and clean and put together.    I use a Plastic PVC pipe to drive the new Seal in,  i dont own a huge socket like he has

nice post!!

[SCRob]

It's a 1975 CB750K5 frame with a CB750K1 engine, but I'm discovering more and more that it's a bit of a Frankenstein in terms of parts.  Here's a couple pics, let me know if you need other angles, and thanks.

You have the same forks as in the video... Well the process of taking them apart. Really simple for a newbie if you are one... I was able to swap out fork tubes from one bike and rebuild another set in less then 2 hours..

Yes, I am a newbie, but I'm game for some fun and have a good mechanic to fall back on if all hell breaks loose.  So, there's a post up in the Tips and Tricks section with an article from a 1981 edition of Motorcyclist Magazine with an interesting take on Fork Springs and Seals.  Does this info still apply today?  What's the modern best practice for replacing Fork Springs and Seals?  Here's the applicable snipit:

AIR FORK: If your Honda is going to weigh less than 500 pounds, install a set of S&W's No. SP1530-19 springs. For a normal weight 750, use the same company's No. SP283BH spring set. The spring preload is critical for proper operation of any fork and especially so with air-assisted forks. After you have chosen the fork-cap assembly you are going to use, you must shorten the fork springs so that they will be compressed one-half inch when the fork cap is screwed completely into the fork tube. The easiest way to do this is to place the spring in the fork tube (with the front wheel off the ground), set the air cap on top of the spring and measure how far the cap will have to travel to seat fully on the fork tube. If it will have to compress the spring 1.5 inches, you will need to cut one inch from the length of the spring; if it must go two inches; remove 1.5 inches from the spring, etc. Trim the spring's length by filing a notch where you want to cut it and bend it back and forth a couple of times until it fractures. You can get the nice flat end by cutting the spring with an extra three-quarters turn and then grinding it on a bench-grinder until the end is flat and the overall length of the spring is correct.

Buy a set of 1976 YZ250 (No. 509-23145-L0-00) fork seals from your Yamaha dealer and install them in the fork legs. These seals are designed for 36mm fork tubes (the Honda's are 35mm), but they work very well in the Honda, having less friction than anything else available. Also, since they were designed for air fork use, their grip on the fork tube is not increased much with increased air pressure, as with standard seals. Put them in carefully by tapping around their edges with a soft punch, or use a large socket. If these seals are distorted, they will leak, but they will last the life of the bike if straight.

Air forks work best when there is a higher than normal compression ratio in the fork assembly; the oil volume of the Honda's forks should be increased so that there will be a useful rise in air pressure as the forks compress during braking or when negotiating a large bump. Raising the forks' compression ratio is accomplished by adding more oil which lowers the total volume of air. With the fork caps off and the springs removed, compress the forks completely. Pour about 200cc of KalGard 5W fork oil in each leg and pump the forks until all the air is out of the lower portion of the fork assembly. This should take only a few strokes of the forks. You can hear the air bubbling through the damper orifices; when all the air is purged, the forks will move smoothly. Bottom the forks again and fill each leg until the oil is six inches below the top of the fork leg. Install the springs and fork caps.

Thanks,
Rob

[Opposedsix]

Great fork seal walk through, thanks!

[Randy]

Hey..If a chick can do it..YOU CAN TOO..

[calikid]

my seal is stuck.. now it has barely any rubber to pry onto. ive tried everything boiling, screwdriver etc.. any suggestions

[Randy]

HHHmmm... small torch and melt it out... Ask Hondaman... he is a member