I stripped my forks for cleaning recently as they felt overdamped. I had a strange experience getting them back together, strange becuase I've never had trouble with forks before. Here's a few notes for anyone attempting the same.Forks were stripped and cleaned to remove every trace of dirt including removing the ingrained dirt on the sliding surfaces (possible error 1) with a rag soaked in carb cleaner. Both legs were done separately to avoid mixing bits up. Everything was oiled liberally, rebuilt and refitted to the bike with everything looking fine (possible error 2!). Refilled with 250cc of SAE 10 fork oil. Took the bike off the ramp for bouncing before finally tightening up. What an absolutely horrible result! Very sticky, even notchy, and sounding like the springs were covered in sand
. Back on ramp, stripped, everything looked right, back together, off ramp, horrible. Back on ramp, legs removed, cup of tea and a think. Stanchions both had a small polished area whereas the rest of the stanchions looked slightly dull. Was this originally at the front or the back? I opted for the back judging that the most wear would occur whilst diving under braking. That made a big difference. Turning the stanchions through ten degrees sent them back to awful, wear patch lined up at the rear felt much better. But they were still sticky.Next thought, what did I clean off the sliding surfaces? No abrasives were used but they were definitely cleaned and oiled. Too clean? I removed the springs and put some graphite grease on the stanchions and carefully worked a little into the seals, then ran the sliders up and down to work it in. Wipe of the surplus, springs in, back off the ramp. This time they felt fine. Covered 20 miles then stopped to bounce them - result! They felt better than they ever have. The damping feels fine and all is sweetness and light again
Don't know what anyone will make of that but it had me scratching my head for a day.One other note. I've been effectively off the bike for three years following back surgery. Now back on again I was astounded by how dreadful my riding skills have become with, as well as not reading the road properly, the bike seeming to lean into corners much more than I remember. The front tyre was as good as knackered so a new BT45 was fitted and balanced. Another transformation! Now its back to taking the line I want to in corners rather than finding myself several feet from the chosen arc. The bike is declared fit and well once more. Now all I have to do is get myself up to a satisfactory standard...
