I took it to a dealership, and they told what would be called the struts on a car (not sure on a bike) are leaking hydraulic fluid all over my brake rotors. That's why my brakes feel like the rotors are warped. Anyway, they want to charge nearly $400 to refill the hydraulic fluid, and reseal the 'struts'. I'd much rather do it myself. Is it hard?
Where would I find the necessary parts and fluids?
Pictures:
The first one shows the residue from the hydraulic fluid. The second one shows the black seals I'm talking about.
Struts on a bike = FORKS. $400 is about right, should be a 3-4 hour job (for a shop that needs to make money of course).
If you get ahold of a service manual for your bike you might be able to tackle it. You'll need new fork oil and fork oil seals. You'll have to jack the bike up or suspend it then remove the front tire, the triple trees and then the Fork tubes. Remove the caps and dump the old fork oil out then replace it. Just like the suspension on a car though, you'll need to compress the springs that are inside at one point or another. They make specific compressors for the job but you can always use a ratchiting strap or similiar. You try finding a FZ forum like the org.??? They could probably walk you through it with pictures. GOOD LUCK!
CastorTroy24
I've tried finding a forum like this, but I can't.
Thanks for the input.
I'm leaning towards letting the shop do this after doing some reading.
The actual parts are about $50 for all the new seals/bushings/fork oil/etc. And it would take about an hour for each side to do (approx. $65/hour), so I wouldn't pay more than $200 to get it done. It's too bad you're not closer, or I would do them for you.
You can probably find a new set of forks on eBay for $150, so I'd try that route first.
I just called the dealership, all forks from '94 and before are interchangeable. So those works, unfortunately, there are lots of other bidders. Thanks a bunch for your help!
Get youself a shop manual and get to it.
Rob
Sold 2/2/05
For me, the trick is getting them mounted properly. Everything must be exactly alligned or the bike will turn in funny.
It's a messy job and if you screw up a valve you're SOL.
If you are handy, more than hanging a picture.. If you do your own brakes, and that kind of thing, you should be able to handle it... Provided you have the right tools for the job, it's not that bad.
Then you get to set up your suspension all over again.. Weee.....
Of course, it must suck pretty bad right now anyway.. Poor compression I bet..
Now's the time to think about a nice Ohlins suspension.. Or not.. Your call.
PAX
PS: This is what part of the alphabet would look like if Q and R were eliminated
- Mitch Hedberg (RIP)
too bad you didn't live near me, i know of about 6 salvage yards in my area and I"m sure one place could help you out with a second set of forks
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you can buy a new fork (or set of forks) and replace it yourself. it'll still be a bit pricey, but at least you'll have the assurance that you're buying something brand new, rather than getting something used off of ebay that you really don't know the condition of. it'll still be less than what a stealership will charge.
also, looking at the parts available for a fzr600, it looks like you can buy just the individual parts, rather than replacing the entire fork. that might even save you a lot more money.
Ridenow,
Ron Ayers,
Bike Bandit
Those are 3 places I order parts from online, they all have OEM parts catalogs online. Ridenow is usually the cheapest. As far as the cost at a dealer, I took the forks off my Bandit and handed them to the dealer. They put in new seals, installed my Progressive springs and installed the SV650 caps, for $130, parts included. One other thing you may want to consider is putting a set of fork seal protectors on, they keep some of the dirt and road crud out of the seals.
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