Getting ready to rebuild the stock forks. Need advise.

[Flatheadfever]

Hopefully this is the last thing I have to rebuild this summer. I bought fork seals and bushings when I first bought the bike. It now time for a rebuild.
The manual says I have to remove the mirrors master cylinder from the handlebars. Can I not just take off the handlebars and hang them? Can I remove the front wheel and rebuild the forks from the centre stand or do I need to put the bike on the lift?

[ParcNHawk]

If you take the front wheel off from the center stand the bike will fall forward. You need something to hold it up. Some people have used a floor jack under the front of the motor. But you have to be careful. It's not super stable. An under-stem front stand is the way to go.

You can leave everything on the handle bars and hang them, but you run the risk of banging up the tank and stressing the cables and brake line.

Again: if you're careful it can work. If one thing goes wrong, you'll be kicking yourself over doing some damage for a long time.

It's also tricky not to scratch up the front fender.

The last time I did forks (last week), I did them 1 at a time so I wouldn't have to deal with too much stuff flopping around. The fender stayed in place.

If you have a piece of plastic pipe (ABS or PVC) that is under 2" OD, you can shove it in from the top as you pull the fork tube out from the bottom. This will keep the handlebar in place.

[Flatheadfever]

If you take the front wheel off from the center stand the bike will fall forward. You need something to hold it up. Some people have used a floor jack under the front of the motor. But you have to be careful. It's not super stable. An under-stem front stand is the way to go.

You can leave everything on the handle bars and hang them, but you run the risk of banging up the tank and stressing the cables and brake line.

Again: if you're careful it can work. If one thing goes wrong, you'll be kicking yourself over doing some damage for a long time.

It's also tricky not to scratch up the front fender.

The last time I did forks (last week), I did them 1 at a time so I wouldn't have to deal with too much stuff flopping around. The fender stayed in place.

If you have a piece of plastic pipe (ABS or PVC) that is under 2" OD, you can shove it in from the top as you pull the fork tube out from the bottom. This will keep the handlebar in place.

Okay thanks. I’m pulling the tank to replace the air filter and check the valves. I’ll put the bike jack under it. Good idea to do one at a time

[k_49]

I actually just did this to my Hawk. I found the manual wasn't that detailed, but I found this series of (4 I think?) videos to be super helpful: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQbJzmb8gm8. Even though it's an NTV, the forks are identical (although he switched up the order of the spring and washer when reassembling, the fsm's diagram is super helpful for this).

If you don't have a fork seal driver kit (I didn't), you can make your own one with a section of PVC or ABS tube and hose clamps. Just gotta get something with the same/close ID as the OD of the fork tubes. He goes over this a bit in the video, it's just like maybe 3 inches of tube cut lengthwise in half, and hose clamps around that. You gotta really bang those seals in there though, I struggled a bit getting them down far enough to put the retaining snap ring back in. Also, I'd highly recommend using the old seals when driving in new ones with this method, just piece of mind so you don't damage the new seals.

I used a jackstand without the "jack" part underneath the engine, it was actually the perfect height. I also kept all the controls attached the handlebars, just tied the two together over the middle of the bike so nothing got strained.

Really was not a difficult job, just requires a bit of patience and time as you really don't want to scratch either of the fork tubes. It's also super messy, I used an old oven pan to drain the forks.

Hope this helps!

[rpcraft]

If you own your place and have a concrete slab what I have done is drill some holes in the concrete to put down some D rings with concrete anchors and just throw a ratchet strap over the wheel and crank down to lift the front end off the ground (using the OEM center stand). The way the bike leans on the center stand kind of keeps it all in check unless you do something really dumb, like try to roll the bike forwards without a front wheel or forks on it, which is not easy to do in that configuration. I don't do the concrete anchor any more because I have a bike lift but I just anchor to that now and still use the ratchet strap when doing fork and front end stuff. Same process, different floor mount is all.

[Forcerouge]

I just use two little wooden planks to support the front:
IMG_2543.jpg

Sure looks like a ghetto solution but it works perfectly fine.

The technique proposed by ParkNHawk consisting in rebuilding the forks one at a time works great as well.

Usually you can remove the handlebars without having to remove the master cylinder or anything, but sometimes the cables are a bit short. In which case, you just drop the fork tubes a bit before removing the handlebars, it does the trick.

I've also designed a 3D printable tool to help replacing the seals, it is available here if you need it:

https://www.hawkgtforum.com/forum/honda-hawk-gt-bros-discussions/mechanical-and-technical/how-to-s/900786-post-cad-drawings-here?p=966808#post966808

[Big Ian]

I've hung my head tube/bars from a stepladder with some tie downs in a pinch.

[6]

I've hung my head tube/bars from a stepladder with some tie downs in a pinch.

Hanging by the head tube is a good way to go.

[Flatheadfever]

I got the fork tubes off no drama yet
the bars are supported by a wooden handle I cut. Works good no dangle

[6]

ohhhhh............


Thats not what i thought we were talking about

[Yoshihns]

That's a neat solution.

[Flatheadfever]

It’s not pretty but it works.
What should I use for fork oil.

[6]

It’s not pretty but it works.
What should I use for fork oil.

Are you talking weight or brand?

Brand id argue doesnt matter much, others would say other wise. Weight can really depend on your preferance and what you have in there for a setup. I want to say we are using 12.5 on the racebike with 1.0's and i forget the emulator setup.

[JackalHack]

Are you talking weight or brand?

There is no standard for fork oil so brand determines weight...

[Flatheadfever]

I’m going to use this. Bought local