Vintage Dirt Bike Q & A

Is it possible to change the fork seals without disassembling the forks?
I dread the thought of having to undo the allen screw at the bottom as I used locktight and an air wrench last time I assembled them.

I imagine it's possible - I've replaced countershaft seals with the motor on the bike - but it would have been really difficult on my bikes (both my CR and MR seals were epoxied in place at the factory). If yours have already been replaced this won't be an issue, but there's still the possibility of tube and/or slider damage, obviously.

Re the Allen screws - I remove the oil drain bolt and run a longer 6mm bolt in against the damper rod, then push a very large, long screwdriver into the damper rod piston top to hold it - combined with a power impact wrench it's worked well for me. I've heard of shops making up a holding tool for the early damper rods with the piston retaining pin - probably just a rod slightly smaller than the damper rod I.D. with a slot in the end.

Ray

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'74 CR125M (175cc), '75 MR175, '82 RM250Z, '08 YZ250F, '14 Zero FX electric, '14 Zero MX electric, '18 Alta MXR electric

OK Thanks. I will give it a try.

don´t use loctite again on this screw.
it´s not necessary.

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80 CR250Ra
80 CR250Ra
78 CR250R
80 CR80
82 Bultaco Sherpa 340
78 Bultaco Pursang 250 MK12
76 Bultaco Frontera 370 MK10
76 Bultaco Alpina 250
73 Bultaco Lobito 125 MK6
76 Suzuki RM125A
90 Kawasaki KX250

Drain the fluid, hit the bottom with a butane torch to soften up the locktite and immediately hit it with air impact. Then as advised above, don't use locktite again.
Good luck.