gourmet Posted April 29, 2007 Share Posted April 29, 2007 Took my 2000 bird in for a fork oil change, it is now sitting in my garage and when I looked there is no spacer on the left side between the fork and the wheel. As dumb as I am mechanically me thinks there should be one there as there is on the right side (When sitting on bike). Correct??? How bad is this going to be for me to ride it the 30 kilometers back to the shop?? I rode it today and didn't notice a problem but I also didn't do a lot of leaned over cornering at speed. I also noticed the forks do not come through the clips ons by the same amount, again how much damage am I going to do to it by riding it at all? I can probably fix this problem myself by loosening the lower and upper triple clamp and adjusting to correct levels but I would like to take it back to the shop and show them their quality work. Oh yeah, this is the Motorcycle shop in Etobicoke Ontario Canada. Any help appreciated, Brian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackhawkxx Posted April 29, 2007 Share Posted April 29, 2007 For the answer, click on the link:http://www.ronayers.com/fiche/200_0351/front_wheel/front_wheel.cfm?man=ho&groupid=5580&parent=5570 If it is just the clip-ons that are at different heights, no big deal. If the forks are at different heights, I would go ahead and fix it. I'm guessing the the dealer didn't mess with the forks to change the oil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwimack Posted April 29, 2007 Share Posted April 29, 2007 For the answer, click on the link:http://www.ronayers.com/fiche/200_0351/front_wheel/front_wheel.cfm?man=ho&groupid=5580&parent=5570 If it is just the clip-ons that are at different heights, no big deal. If the forks are at different heights, I would go ahead and fix it. I'm guessing the the dealer didn't mess with the forks to change the oil. how do you change the fork oil without removing the forks? so theres a gap on the left side?what then is keeping the wheel spaced? the rotors? sounds pretty fucked up them leaving out the spacer.................and they are different sizes as well I think. I don't know what sort of damage you'd do but someone here may. you need to beat the shit out of the "mechanic" who serviced your bike. I have really nothing helpful to add.................. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockmeupto125 Posted April 29, 2007 Share Posted April 29, 2007 If you leave the forks on the bike and take the damping unit out by removing the retaining bolt in the bottom of the fork leg, the oil will generally (and hopefully) run out. What others said...is it your bars or your fork tubes that don't match side-to-side? Regardless, you won't damage anything by riding it. You can adjust them yourself by loosening the pinch bolts and positioning either the bars or forks where you please, and the factory settings are in the manual. Make it a point not to loosen both fork legs at the same time, particularly if your foot, a small dog, or children are playing underneath the motorcycle. You also might try not to do that if you don't feel like having a really shitty day. Oh..........the spacer. There's only one spacer.....on the threaded side of the axle. The shoulder on the "head" or non threaded side of the axle serves as the spacer, if you will. There IS a collar of sorts that fits between the shoulder of the axle head and the bearing seal. If you can actually see where the axle enters the bearing, you're missing parts, and I'd be miffed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redxxrdr Posted April 29, 2007 Share Posted April 29, 2007 Edit, Joe posted at same time and showed me my head was up my ass. I would still take pictures and ask the dealer to explain what happened. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gourmet Posted April 29, 2007 Author Share Posted April 29, 2007 Joe, and all else who responded, thank-you very much for clearing that up. I can adjust the forks on my own, it was the spacer that ws causing me deep concern. Especially since it is 70 here today. I will loosen the axle to see if the spacer is there, it is pretty thin if it is there. It will give me peace of mind before riding. I've really got to start doing my own wrenching. Brian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Posted April 29, 2007 Share Posted April 29, 2007 and the factory settings are in the manual. Just an FYI: I just finished reinstalling my forks after the GP Suspension rebuild; according to the Honda shop manual, the factory setting for the forks is 1.5" between the top of the top triple tree and the shoulder of the fork cap (not the top of the hex head nut). Before I removed them, I checked the height so I could record it and found that, from the factory, the left fork was 1 7/16" and the right was 1 3/8"; not only not to spec, but quite a bit of difference, IMHO. I would have expected better from Honda (unless the dealer puts the forks on during pre-purchase prep, but I believe the bike is pretty much completely assembled in the crate) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gourmet Posted April 30, 2007 Author Share Posted April 30, 2007 Keith, Thanks for that, I will adjust forks to the 1.5" as you say. Being the lazy bastard that I am it saves me the time looking it up Hopefully tomorrow as I need to ride for my sanity. Brian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackhawkxx Posted April 30, 2007 Share Posted April 30, 2007 how do you change the fork oil without removing the forks? Well, I must have been tired when I read your post because I missed the word fork in your oil change, sorry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stinger_916 Posted May 5, 2007 Share Posted May 5, 2007 DO NOT, I REPETE, DO NOT REMOVE THE BOLT AT THE BOTTOM OF THE FORKS!!!!!! I found out the hard way that it is not a drain plug. I had one hell of a time getting that thing to seal correctly. Do yourself a favor and get a front wheel stand and remove the forks and dump the oil out from the top. You will be happy you did Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
testrider Posted May 5, 2007 Share Posted May 5, 2007 Took my 2000 bird in for a fork oil change, it is now sitting in my garage and when I looked there is no spacer on the left side between the fork and the wheel. As dumb as I am mechanically me thinks there should be one there as there is on the right side (When sitting on bike). Correct??? Brian I just looked at my 97XX and there is a spacer on both the left and right sides of the front wheel and they are not the same length. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fast Eddy Posted May 5, 2007 Share Posted May 5, 2007 Correct me if I'm wrong but wouldn't the forks have to be at the same hight or else the front axle won't go through? With that in mind wouldn't it be more likely that they just didn't get the clip-ons on at the same level? I think I forgot a spacer once when getting a tire mounted and the wheel don't spin well, you would know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackhawkxx Posted May 6, 2007 Share Posted May 6, 2007 Correct me if I'm wrong but wouldn't the forks have to be at the same hight or else the front axle won't go through? The forks are not a solid piece of tube from axle to clip on. So no, they don't have to be the same height. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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