Yambits

Fannying about in the back of your car trying to assemble a new set of forks is not where you want to be on race day. The fitting of my freshly re-hardchromed 6" over XS650 chopper forks should have been a doddle. (the XS wouldn't fit in the Berlingo whole + Mrs + 2 kids, so I used the previous short set to manoeuvre the bike to the car and had not yet had the refurbished stanchions on the bike).
When my normally calm, lateral thinking engineer's brain went into melt-down, I cried out for the help of See See Thor, and then XS650 race veteran Travis (photo above). But they were as foxed as me, why the fork caps would not screw down - it's normal to to have to exert considerable pressure to engage the thread, to stop the caps becoming dangerous projectiles, but these bastids were being ridiculously stubborn.
I had replaced the rusty pipe sections that had previously been used to fill out the space above the springs, with new PVC pipe of the same length (151mm). Apart from a set of new Hagon progressive fork springs (same length as the old shot ones), nothing else had changed....

Thor and Travis were both busy preparing their own bikes - The Sideburn Enfield, and Skooter Farm Dave's GS chop, so had to dash.
Then, a guardian angle in the shape of a hairy biker, Rod, racing his even more hairy, rusty springer Triumph also in the chopper class, came to my salvation. He noticed that the spring top was slightly mushroomed where it had been cut and flattened in its manufacture. The new springs were getting caught inside the stanchions at the top, so not dropping down as low as they should.

Thank fud I had my Dremel in my tool kit, second thank fud, there was just enough beef on the minuscule disc to grind down both tops.

Fast forward a year and I haven't done anything to the bike. I knew the fork travel still wasn't good and wanted to investigate Before the big day next Saturday. So I've just rebuilt them twice more over with a few tweaks.
The old fork tops - the 3-position pre-load adjusters, were properly shagged. But not all parts for the XS are readily available. After a bit of cross-referencing I figured YZ250 caps which also have a 28mm fine-pitch thread might just marry. These repro beauties are from the very friendly and efficient Yambits in North Yorkshire.

The lower oil seal retaining rib needs to be filed down a little (it still does its job). And an Nth has to come off the top section. But it fits!

Bangtidy. BP

Mystery Part

So my 6" over XS stanchions are, fingers crossed, back from the hard chromers on Tuesday otherwise I'm going to be dragging more than my gnads on the floor at Dirt Quake II. Luckily the corners were slightly banked at Coventry for DQ I, but the frame rails still scraped.
I now have all the parts needed for a full fork refurb including modern progressive Hagon springs (via Heiden Tuning in Holland). While I was de-griming I noticed that the teflon coated steel bushes that sit below the rubber oil seals looked a bit scragly. It was advised that they be changed. Scouring workshop schematics from various years and models (pre and post 1979 SE that mine is), it didn't seem that they were even shown separate of the aluminium legs, let alone have a Yamaha spares part number. Hmm. Several hours of interknitting revealed other XS'ers ending up in the same cul-de-sac. Fianally I found mention of '1H3-23125-00'. But further Googling was only showing it as 'metal slide' for late model SR500, but no photographic or written evidence that this was what I was after.Apart from Japanese language websites, the only place I could find them for sale - still with no photo, no dimensions or other certifiable proof this was the correct item, was CMS just north of Amsterdam. They have a humongous stock of parts for 70s Jap bikes - the majority of which is clearly illustrated. I orderd two blind and on first inspection and measurement (39mm diameter, 11.9mm high), it seems like the mystery is solved.I guess ideally they should pressed in with a hydraulic press, baby Jesus knows how I'm going to get the old bastards out. BP

Broom-Tech

Even more simple, demanding less brute force, and lighter weight, than scaffold tube this 'tool' should not be underestimated. I don't believe there is anything in a magic Snap-on van that could do this job any better... In preparation for last year's Dirt Quake I swopped my chop's original 1979 XS650SE fork legs with its 6" over 35mm stanchions, for Honda CB750F legs (also 1979) with standard(ish) length Marzocchi stanchions (also 35mm) concocted for me by Co-Built's mate, Lee . I was very happy with the new lower look and "If it looks right, it will work right" - right? sadly not this time. On the banked corners of the Coventry track I got away with it, but out on the road the frame rails and silencer grind out and dangerously threaten to have me off like a violent binge drinker.photo Lee Vincent Grubb

As the old XS forks were shagged I tried to find replacement long CB stanchions. Calling upon the usual internet gods drew a blank. It seemed like the only option would be to have them custom made in the States by Forking by Frank. Alternatively, MikesXS also in the States does sell very reasonably priced 2", 4" and 6" over-standard XS tubes, but shipping would be a bit of a stinger and this is a shoe-string bike. Then Pete Eat The Rich gave me the (untested by him) name of Philpots in Dunstable who specialize in hard chrome. Visiting the facility I was more than convinced their refurb technique - 20 hours in the electrolysis tank versus the 20 minute dunk the original factory items received. We shall see...

Stripping my old forks down, the horrors were worse than predicted. The former owner had used galvanized metal tubes as a long spacers instead of the usual known chopper fork bodge of PVC pipe. Although the innards were sloshing in oil the spacers were totally rusty and had contaminated everything. The seals required a blow-torch, a tyre-lever and a foul mouth to eject. The main fork springs were rusted to the inside walls of the stanchions. But luckily I had an old witches broomstick to hand. After some hefty WALLOPS with a rubberized lump hammer and a little swearing, the bastids came out. BP

Pointless

I saw this front end on a few Harley XR1200s at the Verona show. I was struck by the 1980s barnstorming lunacy of it. This is brand new, but seems like it's from the time of inboard discs and six-cylinder engines and mechanical anti-dive. I mean, really, what the hell is the idea? If you can't make telescopic forks that work without an external coil-over shock unit and massive horse shoe brace (and all the related unsprung weight), then you're in the wrong game, just buy someone else's that do work. Or are the sliders empty and it's trying to be a BMW?

If you're impressed by this kind of gadgetry, you're probably 12. G

Shave Your Legs

Jason Roche is a medically tidy welder and fabricator. His surgery Special '79 is in Worcester Massachusetts. This is his fork-leg shaving video.
There's only one TT race (that normally warrants a front brake) running in the UK at King's Lynn, even then not all short track UK regulars run it, so soap up! No one likes a bird with prickly legs. BP
UPDATE: The UK Short Track TT doesn't allow front brakes. G