Disassembling the forks, updating the triple tree bearings and putting a fresh coat of paint on all of it...
The next big step towards getting the rolling chassis was the forks. While the fork seals and cleaning of the parts was relatively straight forward, getting them apart was not (surprise surprise). The problem arose when I went to remove the chrome covers from the tubes. As you can see in the picture below, they are located right at the point at which the fork tube enters the fork lowers, and are not threaded on, but instead simply a really tight fit. After hitting the seam with wd-40 everyday for about a week, I busted out the strap wrench and very very carefully attempted to get them to move.
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| Hard to get any torque on them without scratching the lowers. |
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| Finally got them apart. |
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| There are the upper fork covers. I am going to get them powder coated to match the headlight bucket and tank. |
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| Lower triple tree, before the lower bearing race was removed. |
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| After a scrub. Need to mount the new needle bearings, and install in the frame. |
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| Upper triple tree before cleaning. |
I now have the triple trees mounted on the frame with the new bearings, and am about to hit the fork lowers with a fresh coat of paint before I reassemble everything. Once that is done, I'll have a rolling chassis, and can start in on the other bigger projects like wiring and the engine. Hopefully I'll be able to get the dings out of the tank before it goes to the powder coater, though, I may leave the one on the top there to remind Carl of his brother. We'll see.
More soon.
