Thursday, May 17, 2012

PROJECT SR250: Fork Disassembly & Refresh

In between a handful of other projects for the SR250, I've been tearing down and refreshing the forks.
Getting them fully dissembled proved to be a difficult task, as there just isn't much information out there for this bike.

After gutting the piston of it's cap spring retainers etc, the next step is to remove the piston shaft itself.
This is where I got hung up, so here's how to do it:

1. There's an allen bolt at the base of the fork body. Get an allen key on that.
2. Down inside the piston shaft there's a female 12pt bolt head - size 14mm. This is what the allen bolt is threaded into. Loosening only the allen bolt at the base of the fork will usually result in this interior piece just spinning, so you're going to need to get a 14mm allen key on that piece also.

The expensive way to do this: H14 allen key socket on a 12"+ extension

The cheap way to do this: Weld or screw on a 14mm nut to the end of a threaded rod. With the screw method you'll need 2 nuts to lock them. Bend the other end into a handle.

Here's what that interior piece looks like, with a H14 allen socket in it:
 
 
 After I finally was able to fully dissemble both forks I started refinishing the bodies.
Before and after:


Process:

1. Wire brush wheel drill attachment to remove clear coat, corrosion and gunky crap. Keep your direction consistent.
2. 180 grit sandpaper for brushed look
3. Clean with mineral spirits / prep solvent
4. Finish with RustOleum matte clear coat
 

I'll get more pictures up with they're completed.

5 comments:

  1. Well done sir. I think it's great that you're getting that level of finish on a budget. My hat is off to you

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    Replies
    1. A wire brush, piece of sand paper and a can of clear coat. The elbow grease was the most expensive part.

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  2. Hi, I have a question regarding that Rust-Oleum paint... What I found it's cold galvanizing. Did you paint some screws before?
    I'm renovating one of the NSU bike and would like to keep all oryginal parts like i.e. screws. Some of them are rust coated. I used a thin wire brush to take off the rust, but worry about the galvanizing surface is also off... Could I used that kinde of spray on the screws also?

    Would be thankful for your help.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I believe you're talking about using the clear coat to protect steel from corrosion correct? Personally I don't know how well it would hold up to the use of tools on the screws. I'd recommend plating the hardware. That's what I'll be doing on the SR.

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