NC21 Fork rebuild puzzle...

[harvey_s]

Hi all

A blown fork seal on my VFR400Z has revealed a sorry tale of ham fisted butchery, most of which has been dealt with using spares from a breaker I bought.
However the LH fork (with the anti-dive on it) is causing a headache.
The problem stems around the 'oil lock piece' in the bottom of the leg which fell out on disassembly - the part itself had 2 parts : the body part and a wavy washer which would appear to fit well in a recess underneath, however it does not fill the recess depth and would appear not be to clamped down on it either when reassembled.... http://www.flickr.com/photos/harvey_s/9489427818/

A look at the CMSNL website shows a different arrangement.... http://www.flickr.com/photos/harvey_s/9489405322/
This appears to show two washers on either side of a 'leaf spring' assembled on the other end which will also float.

This is confused further by a similar part from a slightly different set of NC21 forks (non-adjustable anti-dive) which is very similar but had (a) no washers/leaf springs in front, (b) a slightly tapered underside and (c) a washer built-in to the underside....
http://www.flickr.com/photos/harvey_s/9486663929/

Anyone had any experience of rebuilding these forks before that can tell me the correct place for the wavy washer and am I missing the other 2 washers?

[harvey_s]

picture links corrected

[Neosophist]

Hey,

I've rebuilt those forks before, I followed the microfiche so can only assume your missing pieces.

The washer isnt "built in" to that piece you put up, it looks like the washer has been forced in there.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/harvey_s/9489427818/

Here you can see the washer is loose.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/harvey_s/9486663929/

Here its stuck

The tapered end goes towards the top of the fork, nothing below it, on top fo that there should be two spring washer type thigns with a washer in the middle, loks liek you alread hve the washer

viewtopic.php?uid=16&f=24&t=25897&start=0

Have a look here.

[harvey_s]

Thanks for the reply, its quite interesting as the washers almost look neatly swaged into place rather than forced in there and the underside of the part here http://www.flickr.com/photos/harvey_s/9486663929/ looks almost identical to what you can see of the same part in the lower picture you posted...Having said that what would be the point of swaging in 3 washers including a spring washer to make a solid ring?

From an engineering point of view its also confusing me as the the point of maching a recess underneath to accept nothing - the Japanese rarely do anything without good reason - why not leave it unrecessed?
or indeed what the washers do if placed on top other than float...Just makes me wonder if the microfiche is correct?

[Neosophist]

I cant remember off hand as its been a few years since I took any of those forks apart but perhaps the recess locates in the bottom of the fork leg?

The microfiche is correct as far as im aware, there were 6 or 7 revisions to the nc2x parts book over the years to reflect the newer models and that diagram is the same as the last revision of the book, its very unlikely Honda wouldnt have noticed a mistake.

Also I had no issues with my forks when rebuilding according to the fiche..

[harvey_s]

I bit the bullet and took a file to the 'swaged' one and out came a plain washer and a wavy one - so it looks like you were spot on and I now have a complete set of washers which I'll assemble as per the microfiche.

Many thanks for your help.

I now have a choice of using the adjustable leg or the non-adjustable one - does the anti-dive adjuster actually make much of a difference?

[Neosophist]

The brake caliper bracket for the anti dive leg is different so it can activate the anti dive, without the anti-dive leg perhaps you cant fit the bikes (cant remember off hand)

The forks are soft from the factory, like pogo-sticks compared to newer sports bikes, but anyway.

In a nutshell, what the anti-dive does is under heavy braking the caliper bracket moves slightly and shoves a pin into the forks that partially blocks the oil channel, this causes slower dampening and stops the forks diving so quickly.

Given how soft the forks are, even if you can do away with it i think I prefer to have it.