TTR225 fork rebuild help/question...

[gamorg02]

Hey all. Picked up a ttr225 few days back and it needs fork seals. I've done a few sets now on a Vmax and a GS500 so I know how they typically go.

question is, how the hell do i remove these caps? I have removed the rubber caps and this is all i see. any thoughts? advice?

Both caps are identical and looked to be pretty well machined...

Thanks..

[FTMS]

Push down on the cap and you will see a clip that is holding the cap in place.

[gamorg02]

Push down on the cap and you will see a clip that is holding the cap in place.

hmm okay that makes sense. how do I press it down? Tried with my hands (Bike wasn't lifted or anything) and that didn't even feel like it was going to move.

[FTMS]

The fork spring is pressing directly against the cap so you have quite a bit of pressure there. I give it a quick shot with a large brass punch to free it up. Then I can usually compress it enough to get the clip out.

[gamorg02]

okay great. i don't have the fork seals yet so I will try that once I do. I was trying to loosen them yesterday so I could add some oil since its weaping pretty bad, but ended up riding it as is...

The front end is a bit squishy for me (225 lbs) so I think i'm going to get a PVC spacer and add 1/2" and put some 15 wt (vs stock 10 wt) in the forks. that should stiffen it slightly.

[gregp]

Yes, a sharp rap with a hammer wil get it to push down. These types of caps usually get a bit frozen in place with corrosion and debris. Once the cap has been freed up, it will push down fairly easily. Just make sure that the front wheel is off of the ground when you do this, or you will be pre-loading the fork as you try to push down on the cap. Also, when you do start to remove the clip, do not let the cap go flying through the air! I lost one once...
More importantly, upon re-assembly, be 100% positive that you get the clip back into position correctly. If that sucker pops out when you hit a bump or jump, it will hurt you, and you will be covered with oil! I *might* be talking from experience....

[gamorg02]

Yes, a sharp rap with a hammer wil get it to push down. These types of caps usually get a bit frozen in place with corrosion and debris. Once the cap has been freed up, it will push down fairly easily. Just make sure that the front wheel is off of the ground when you do this, or you will be pre-loading the fork as you try to push down on the cap. Also, when you do start to remove the clip, do not let the cap go flying through the air! I lost one once...
More importantly, upon re-assembly, be 100% positive that you get the clip back into position correctly. If that sucker pops out when you hit a bump or jump, it will hurt you, and you will be covered with oil! I *might* be talking from experience....

hah. thanks greg. man this is a pain. why couldn't they put the simple big-ass bolt or big ass allen head cap that unscrews in there?

[gamorg02]

has anyone added preload spacer to these types of forks? any reason not to? i'm thinking (like i said above) like 1/2 - 1"

[gregp]

Yes, you can do that. Just understand that it will not necessarily make the forks "stiffer". It will raise the ride height, though.
I have read: To make suspension stiffer, you can buy stiffer springs, or cut a coil or two off of your stock spring, and make up the difference with a longer preload spacer. A short spring is stiffer than a long spring, given that they are both comprised of the same wire gauge, and temper. Cutting 1" off of a 10" spring will give you a 10% increase in spring rate. You have to be careful not to cut too much, or coil binding may occur.

[gamorg02]

Interesting info. my plan was to leave the springs the stock length and add a spacer to the mix.

[gamorg02]

thanks for the help guys. got one dissembled last night. did it ass backward but it worked:


step one -> remove forks

step two -> impact gun to the bottom bolt with the bottom part of the fork in a vice

step three -> drain oil, remove gaiter/dust seal, circlip.

step 4 -> pop oil seal off

step 5 -> profit

step 6 -> remove circlip from top cap,

step 7 -> push damper rod slowly with a rag over the cap. had to do this and then pound it back in 5-6 times until it finally popped

[gamorg02]

so i had a couple people give me a hand last night and we re-assembled the one and got the other one done in about an hour. went well...



stripped the bottom bolt of one of the forks when it went back in. oh well, hopefully i won't need to take it apart again. if soo i guess it'll be off to the machine shop..



anyways. i used a 1/2" PVC coupler. it was perfect diameter and about 1-5/8" long. forks feel great now with 15wt oil. test ride today. I used "moose" fork seals and they seemed higher quality that the OEM ones that were in there.

[gregp]

Um, you are not talking about the damper rod bolt, are you? If you stripped that bolt, or the threads in the damper rod, I would strongly recommend that you repair that before you ride the bike.
If you are talknig about an axle clamp bolt - I would still recommend that it be repaired before you ride the bike.
The front forks of a motorcycle is no place to take chances like that, as any failure could prove catastrophic.

Edit: Upon re-reading your post, it sounds like you may have just stripped the *head* of the bolt, and not the threads, in which case you should be fine, as long as you got it torqued correctly before that happened.

[gamorg02]

Um, you are not talking about the damper rod bolt, are you? If you stripped that bolt, or the threads in the damper rod, I would strongly recommend that you repair that before you ride the bike.
If you are talknig about an axle clamp bolt - I would still recommend that it be repaired before you ride the bike.
The front forks of a motorcycle is no place to take chances like that, as any failure could prove catastrophic.

Edit: Upon re-reading your post, it sounds like you may have just stripped the *head* of the bolt, and not the threads, in which case you should be fine, as long as you got it torqued correctly before that happened.

Greg, i completely agree! The damper rod is holding fine, no oil weaping. the threads are great in there and the bolt has been loc-tited in. Problem was i was using and impact gun to pop them in so i minimized the spinning of the rod and it just tightened in. Got a little over-zealous on it.

impact guns work great to get those bolts out since it is so quick and theres not a lot to do to hold the damper (aside a broom stick). not so much to get them back in.

[gamorg02]

finally got to test ride tonight. didn't realize it but the tire was way off. the front pointed way left (sitting on the bike) and the rear of the tire pointed way right, with the bars straight. fiddled with a bit and its much better. weird. i didn't even know that could happen.

[Rick123]

Hey all. Picked up a ttr225 few days back and it needs fork seals. I've done a few sets now on a Vmax and a GS500 so I know how they typically go.

question is, how the hell do i remove these caps? I have removed the rubber caps and this is all i see. any thoughts? advice?

Both caps are identical and looked to be pretty well machined...

Thanks..

Just bought a used 04 and thinking about just changing the oil or doing the seals too.
How hard was it do do the seals, did you need special tools?
Is the correct amout of oil per tube 130mm?
thanks

[BluGixxer]

How did you determin the correct amount of oil ?
o_O

[gamorg02]

i always do amounts by level, not volume, and just a nice good impact gun works well, otherwise another set of hands is key.