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#Post#: 145--------------------------------------------------
Working on the front forks
By: Fried Ape Date: November 19, 2014, 5:07 am
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For this task you need:
Moto Guzzi Special tool 10 90 48 00. Wrench for holding the
damper spindle deep inside the fork leg.
Moto Guzzi Special tool 10 90 95 00. Threaded drift for removal
and replacement of the stanchions.
36mm Socket. For fork crown assembly.
32mm Socket / Combination Wrench. For releasing the fork bushes
from the stanchion.
24mm Socket / Combination Wrench. For removing the front wheel
spindle.
17mm Combination Wrench (you will need two). For unscrewing the
various fork clamps.
13mm Combination Wrench (you will need two). For the
disconnection of the front brake cable, and for the removal of
the front mudguard.
3/8" or 1/2" Drive 8mm. Hexagonal Wrench (needs to be longer
than 60mm.). For unscrewing the damper spindle from the end of
the Fork leg.
6mm. Hexagonal Wrench. To disassemble the handlebars and to
remove the front mudguard.
5mm. Hexagonal Wrench. To disassemble the binnacle, and to
remove the handlebar control levers
4mm. Hexagonal Wrench. To remove the twist grip.
Good condition 5mm Screwdriver. Drain plugs.
Good condition Posidrive Screwdriver. Fairing screws in the
stanchion caps.
Good quality hinged "C" spanner available from bicycle shops
(you will need two). To remove oil seal holders
Good set of circlip pliers. To release the oil seals.
Mallet. For hitting things safely.
Patience and sensitivity. For avoiding the lousing up.
1. Disconnect the earth from the Battery.
2. Support the Crank case.
Support the Crank case on a large lump of wood using wedges,
jacks etc. to lift the front wheel clear of the ground. This can
be a little tricky as the front wheel/front fork assembly is
quite heavy. It is of course important to make the bike stable
when propped. If you also own a Moto Guzzi Large V-Twin, then a
worthwhile investment is the Engine Support 18 91 24 50. This is
not so much an engine support as a Bike stand, capable of taking
your Moto Guzzi Large V-Twin and hoisting it from the deck both
wheels clear. It costs ﾣ60 (approx.) and is invaluable
for work on that particular machine. If used back-to-front it
makes a particularly fine Nuovo Falcone stand allowing precision
adjustment of the angle of the bike. Blocks of wood will do
almost as well and are cheaper.
3. Drain the Fork legs of Damping oil
Using the screwdriver unscrew the fork leg drain plugs, one by
one, taking particular care not to get oil on the tyres or the
rims. Drain out the Damping oil
4. Remove the Front Wheel.
Using the 13mm Combination wrench screw all the adjuster as far
home as possible in order to permit the disconnection of the
brake cable from the brake drum lever. This having been
achieved, the adjuster on the front drum back-plate should be
carefully unscrewed fully and the cable gently removed through
the slot provided for the purpose.
The Speedometer drive retaining collar should be treated with
some penetrating fluid, before unscrewing with some pliers
(didn't I mention pliers in the list of tools? One assumes that
you will have access to a few other things.) Take particular
care not to lose the olive at the bottom of the speedometer
cable sheath.
Taking the 24m wrench unscrew the nut on the end of the front
wheel spindle until the outside face of the nut is flush with
the end of the spindle. Slacken off the clamp bolts on each fork
leg. Taking the mallet, strike the end of the spindle firmly and
squarely. The spindle should move across that the nut is in
contact with the fork-leg. Remove the nut and drift out the
spindle. If the spindle did not move, then retaining the nut on
the spindle end will have protected the thread. You then need to
administer penetrating fluid to each end of the spindle, maybe
try some heat and hope that there is not any corrosion in the
middle of the wheel.
I had no problems removing my front wheel nor hopefully will
you.
The fit of the front tyre in the front mudguard assembly is
fairly snug so wiggle the front wheel carefully to get the tyre
past the nuts-'n-bolts which hold the front mudguard in place.
Remove the front Mudguard.
5. Removing the Fork Crown.
Taking the 5mm hexagonal wrench, undo the two screws holding the
binnacle in place. Lift it carefully and feeling underneath
unscrew the top end of the speedometer cable. If the grommet in
the hole from which the speedometer cable emerges from the
headlamp shell is missing or rotted away, and you don't want to
stop everything to take a trip to your friendly neighbourhood
grommet shop, clamp a clothes peg onto the speedometer cable
outer. This will prevent the threaded sleeve which holds the
speedometer cable to the back of the Speedometer, from sliding
down into the interior of the Headlamp, ending up behind the
fuse board. Trust me, it would be bad if it did.
In order to proceed further with the removal of the binnacle, it
is necessary to extract the bulb-holders from the idiot lights
and from the speedometer. Rather than disconnect the wire from
the lights leave them connected to their respective wires, as
this will assist in the reassembly.
6. Remove the handlebars.
Taking the 6mm Hexagonal wrench unscrew the handlebars and
carefully laying a towel across the petrol tank, rest the
handlebars out of harms way. You could remove them in their
entirety at this point but unless you actually need to, what
would be the point? The towel is important though as the tank
WILL otherwise get scratched.
7. Remove the fork top plate.
If this is your first journey inside the binnacle, you will by
now be disappointed by the unprepossessing fork top plate. Don't
worry, it works! Until you saw it you were happy with your Nuovo
Falcone. You should still be. If you wish to be invigorated by
sculptural craftsmanship in the things you own, collect antique
silver instead.
Unscrew the stanchion caps carefully. They are under slight
pressure from the springs inside and have a very fine thread.
They are also made of aluminium and are probably fragile. Don't
test this.
8. Remove the fork legs.
Take Moto Guzzi Special tool 10 90 95 00 (Threaded drift for
removal and replacement of the stanchions.) and screw it as far
as possible into the top of the stanchion. Slacken the clamp
bolts in the lower yoke. Strike the drift squarely with a mallet
to drive out the fork leg assembly.
9. Extract the damper spindle.
Further disassembly of the fork legs will be hampered by the
damper spindle which, fixed into the bottom of the forkleg
protrudes through a hole at the bottom of the stanchion and
varies the rate at which oil squirts between the inside the
stanchion and the inside of fork leg (Et Voila! Variable rate
hydraulic bump-stop damping).
To remove the damper spindle you should take Moto Guzzi Special
tool 10 90 48 00. (wrench for holding the damper spindle deep
inside the fork leg) and passing it down from the top end as far
as it will go. Then screw it into the thing that you cannot yet
see until it is tight. Then clamp the forkleg assembly into a
vice ( with soft jaws) clamping with caution either the wheel
spindle clamp area or the area of the mudguard boss. DO NOT
CLAMP THE TUBE!!
Take the 8mm. Hexagonal wrench and passing it up through the
hole in the bottom of the leg, engage it in the screw head
therein. Restraining the damper spindle, unscrew the screw from
the bottom. It is not strictly necessary to remove the screw in
it's entirety from the forkleg if for any reason it does not
want to come; it's removal will facilitate replacement of the
washer which seals the damping fluid into the leg.
Withdraw the special tool complete with damper spindle, unscrew
it and put it aside.
Repeat procedure for the other fork leg.
10. Special Tools.
A word here about special tools. As the reader will have noticed
I have referred to the use of two special tools. The special
tool for the removal of the stanchion is unavoidable but for the
time being is available from Agostini's and from a few other
shops besides. Attempts to avoid relying on this tool will
probably make you angry and/or break something.
The special tool for holding the damper spindle deep inside the
fork leg is basically a long slender bar with a "T" handle at
one end and a threaded boss welded to the other. The thread is
M10X1.50X12mm. I am sure that it would be possible to lash up
something to avoid buying the tool but since they seem still to
be available and are most reasonable priced, I feel one must
look at how much one's time is worth.
When you order it, do not be alarmed to find it has been bent
double to get it through the letter box!!! It will straighten
out with no difficulty!
11. Removal of the oilseal holder.
With the fork-leg assembly clamped in the Vice (not forgetting
the soft jaws) experimentally try unscrewing the oil seal holder
by the use of two opposed "C" spanners. If it offers any
resistance DO NOT FORCE IT!! It is aluminium and will un-wrap
like orange peel given half a chance. In preference warm it with
either a sensitively applied blowlamp or a hot-air stripper.
Don't make it too hot; no sizzling please! Once very warm,
administer WD40 or Plus-Gas and then go for a cuppa.
After all of this the seal holders should unscrew. (on
reassembly with new seal holders, I smeared the threads with
anti-seize Copaslip)
The oil seals (originally there were two each side; the
replacement now is a single double lip unit each side) are
retained by a large circlip or more properly Seeger ring. Easy
to remove with the correct circlip pliers.
12. Removal of the Bushes.
Withdraw the stanchion, complete with all bushes from the fork
leg, and put to one side on a clean surface and propped to
prevent it from falling to the floor.
Place the stanchion upside down in the vice so that the bushes
are uppermost. There are three bushes per leg; one bronze, one
cast iron, and an aluminium shuttle valve which is retained by a
circlip. The bronze bush is a sliding fit on the stanchion and
can be slid off at the (conventionally) top end of stanchion.
The cast iron bush is retained by a threaded plug which is
screwed into the end of the stanchion. This operates in
conjunction with the damper spindle as discussed before, and can
be removed by being unscrewed with a 32mm Socket / Combination
Wrench. The Cast iron bush can be a tight fit both for removal
and for replacement. The use of aluminium drifts and/or soft
mallets is a must.
13. Replacements.
So what can be replaced? Bushes, seals, stanchions and seal
holders. I have not yet tried to replace springs. Moto Falcone
sell original or uprated fork springs.
14. Reassembly.
For the main part reassembly is a reversal of disassembly,
although there are a number of key points to remember
15. Damper Spindle Insertion.
The Damper spindle needs to be rotated during assembly in order
to locate it on a dog tooth deep inside the lower fork leg. This
is to prevent it rotating later while the bottom bolt is
retightened. Therefore the special tool should not be relied
upon to tighten the bottom bolt against, but rather to ensure
it's continued engagement with this dog.
16. Compression of fork spring.
Because the fork spring needs to be compressed to some extent
during the reassembly before the impossibly fine thread on the
caps can bite, the assembler has simultaneously to press down
squarely, hold in the correct position for the thread to bite
and carefully rotate the cap in order that it may be tightened.
This can seem like patting your head at the same time as rubbing
your stomach, picking your nose and knocking up a Crepe Suzette.
The trick is to unscrew the accessory screw in the top of the
fork cap so that the cap does not recess into the socket an more
than is necessary. In consequence it is now possible to apply
enough pressure to the cap to engage the thread, and if the
socket is driven by a ratchet drive held by the ratchetty bit it
is possible to achieve the objective. Don't forget the washer
though!
Alternative method - by Paul Friday. Clean the threads on the
fork caps and inside the stanchions very thoroughly, and then
grease them. put the fork cap and its washer into the socket,
but hold it in your hand. Apply the fork cap and socket to the
top of the fork spring and press down. AS the fork cap meets the
stanchion, turn the socket anticlockwise. Listen hard and feel
for the click as the ends of the two threads go past each other.
Very gently turn the socket clockwise. Use lots of feel to sense
the threads engaging. If it starts to get difficult or you lose
your happy thought, take it apart and have a cup of tea.
17. Re-assembly of the front wheel within the front forks.
The re-insertion of the front wheel into the forks is a straight
forward operation, especially to someone who by now has
overhauled the forks, but it does not hurt to run over the
following points for the benefit of any one who is not familiar
with what is a very fine and highly rational assembly system.
Alignment of the front wheel is correct when the spindle has
been driven as far to the right as possible. This will mean that
the aluminium casting containing the speedometer drive will be
hard against the boss on the fork leg with no intermediate
washers or spacers.
This having been achieved the forks should be bounced throughout
the majority of the range of their travel a gainst the front
brake. The pinch bolts at the end of each fork leg should be
inserted and tightened.
18. Setting up the Twin-Leading Shoe Front Brake
Following a recent embarrassing meeting with an MOT tester, I
became aware of the need to set up the twin-leading shoe front
brake, and in fact it could not be easier.
The problem is that unlike a single leading shoe which
automatically holds both shoes against the drum to almost
exactly the same degree, the twin-leading shoe can be used with
the owner oblivious of the fact that only one of the shoes is in
fact in proper contact.
SO to set the twin-leading shoe front brake, remove the split
pin through the pivot pin on the connecting rod at the end
nearest the inline adjuster. Then tighten the cable adjuster on
the lever or the front brake plate so the brake (for one of the
shoes anyway) is hard applied. Then slacken off the locknut to
the clevis and alter the position of the clevis on the
connecting rod so that the hole through the clevis lines up
through the lever when the other shoe is applied by hand. When
this is so apply the lock nut on the connecting rod and
reassemble the mechanism with new split pins wherever you have
disturbed them. Then re-adjust the cable for use. The brakes
will probably take two days to bed in then WOW.
This section was very kindly written by Michael Whyte-Venables.
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