Rebuild front shock ST1100

[cjames431]

I see you list a 13 as your bike. Excuse the question but this is an 11 you're working on, which year? ABS? I'm guessing an ABS1 bike. I looked up a ABS1 bike. It matches your posted fiche. It also shows spacers in both side forks. Sorry. I did not realize that. With you posting in another thread I looked up at the OP's bike and seen it was ABS2. Never thought the OP and you asking the question was a different person. Not trying to be mean but this is why we start new threads. It helps us help you. If I had seen yours was a ABS1 I could have told you right off that it should have a spacer in each side. No worries tho. I think we are closer to an answer.

I don't have the time right now, but will see if I can find the spring length tomorrow. Unless someone else gets the Honda book out before me. I am curious how you have the stock length spring but no spacer?! Odd.

1993 ABS1 front forks.

No worries. You are right that I should have started a new thread rather than piggy back another.
I have a 94 ABS/TCS and a 2010 non-ABS (to help muddy the water ). The 94 N. A. fiche shows a spacer but does not list a part number. The list completely skips it.
I have stock springs as they measure roughly 18 5/8in or 474mm.

I pulled this over from the other thread to consolidate.
I did some searching on the Honda England parts fiche comparing the Police version forks to the N. America civilian model. The police variant was offered in England in 1993 (RH Fork Assembly P/N 51400MY3781) and 1995 (RH Fork Assembly P/N 51401MY3781). The 1994 N.A. civilian ST1100 ABS/TCS uses the RH Fork Assembly P/N 51400MY3781. The parts fiche do not show a spring collar for the RH fork.
The N.A. fiche calls out 3 spring joint plates used while the England fiche calls out only 2 used.
I'm not sure why the P/N is different from 93 to 95 as both fiche look the same.

 

[dwalby]

For the spacers its easier to use a piece of 1" PVC instead of the factory spacer. Its the same diameter, and thicker walled, so you don't really need the washers on the top/bottom of the spacer where it contacts the spring and fork cap. Those washers are there because the metal factory spacer is very thin walled.

The factory spacer length for the cartridge fork side is 50mm, for the conventional fork side its 132mm.

 

[cjames431]

For the spacers its easier to use a piece of 1" PVC instead of the factory spacer. Its the same diameter, and thicker walled, so you don't really need the washers on the top/bottom of the spacer where it contacts the spring and fork cap. Those washers are there because the metal factory spacer is very thin walled.

The factory spacer length for the cartridge fork side is 50mm, for the conventional fork side its 132mm.

Thanks @dwalby !!
Cartridge side is Left? Conventional side is Right? Are the lengths with or without washers added?
Curious, if you know why the part number for said RH spacer is not listed but are shown on the USA fiche?
I did some comparing of 1994 ST1100 models sold in the USA and Canada and the 1993 UK ST1100P (not offered in 1994 and the 1995 model has different forks.) All bikes from Canada and the 1993 UK ST1100P use the same RH fork ass'y while only the 1994 USA ST1100 standard uses a different RH ass'y. The spring collar P/N is the same for the USA Standard and all Canadian models. The Damper is a different P/N in the USA on the non-ABS/TCS but the same on all Canadian models.

USA
1994 Standard
RH Fork Assy 51400-MT3-612ZA
Spring 51401-MT3-003
Collar 51402-MS2-003
Damper 51430-MT3-003

1994 USA and Canada ABS/TCS models and 1993 UK ST1100P
RH Fork Assy 51400-MY3-781
Spring 51401-MY3-781
Collar Not given for USA and Canada list P/N 51402MS2003, 1993 UK does not depict or list collar
Damper 51430-MY3-781

 

[dwalby]

Cartridge side is Left? Conventional side is Right? Are the lengths with or without washers added?

I specifically avoided the L/R convention because as I understand it the non-ABS forks are reversed from the early ABS forks, even though the forks are essentially the same.

Your '94 ABS should have the cartridge on the left, non-ABS have it on the right.

as far as the spacer part availability goes, the fiche is very confusing. Each fiche appears to have one spacer available and not the other for both the ABS and non-ABS versions, but the availability is reversed. In other words, the one that is available for non-ABS, shows as unavailable for ABS, and vice-versa, even though both use the same forks. Use the PVC and forget about the factory spacers.

the washers are thin and have no real meaning when determining the spacer length, they're maybe 1-2mm thick.

 

[cjames431]

I have cleaned my forks and started reassembly. I measured the one spacer that I do have and it measures 80.33mm. So, do I:
1. Fabricate spacers based on factory dimensions?
Or...
2. Reassemble as is and ride it like I stole it?

 

[The Cheese]

Was the non spacer side just rattling around inside the fork? Which side had one?

 

[cjames431]

Was the non spacer side just rattling around inside the fork? Which side had one?

Left side had the 80mm spacer
Right side had no spacer
I bought the bike and only rode it into the garage upon arriving home so I have no idea what the suspension feels like nor do I know the history of the bike.

 

[dwalby]

Left side had the 80mm spacer
Right side had no spacer
I bought the bike and only rode it into the garage upon arriving home so I have no idea what the suspension feels like nor do I know the history of the bike.

Hey, didn't you say you had an early-ABS1 bike, then the left side should be the cartridge side (no spacer). From your comments above it sounds like the other way around (because then each side would be 50mm less preload than stock). But you have the 474mm springs from the ABS1, not the 415mm like the non-ABS. So, is it possible you reported them reversed in your post? Even if that's the correct L/R configuration, the end result is the same, a total of 100mm of preload was removed either way, but it would be odd to add 30mm to one side and remove 130mm from the other.

That configuration is going to ride about 50mm lower than stock because of the 100mm of missing preload. I believe the available travel is something like 110mm, so half of it is gone already. I'd be inclined to put it back to stock configuration before riding it.

Also, you don't have to balance the left/right spacer changes, you can shove a 100mm spacer in the right side (non-cartridge??) and get all of the ground clearance back with very little work.

 

[cjames431]

Hey, didn't you say you had an early-ABS1 bike, then the left side should be the cartridge side (no spacer). From your comments above it sounds like the other way around (because then each side would be 50mm less preload than stock). But you have the 474mm springs from the ABS1, not the 415mm like the non-ABS. So, is it possible you reported them reversed in your post? Even if that's the correct L/R configuration, the end result is the same, a total of 100mm of preload was removed either way, but it would be odd to add 30mm to one side and remove 130mm from the other.

That configuration is going to ride about 50mm lower than stock because of the 100mm of missing preload. I believe the available travel is something like 110mm, so half of it is gone already. I'd be inclined to put it back to stock configuration before riding it.

Also, you don't have to balance the left/right spacer changes, you can shove a 100mm spacer in the right side (non-cartridge??) and get all of the ground clearance back with very little work.

Yes, I have an early ABS/TCS. I remeasured the springs to make sure which I had and they are the 473-474mm springs.
This is what my forks look like (ignore the police version):
#5 is 80.33mm
#7 only 1 installed on non-cartridge side

 

[dwalby]

yeah, that's the more logical explanation, that they took out the 50mm spacer entirely, and shortened the 130mm spacer to 80mm, removing 50mm from each side.

So, I looked at the 1994 fiche and it does show the same L/R orientation as the non-ABS versions, consistent with yours, so maybe only certain years of ABS1 had them reversed, dunno.

Anyway, try to shove as long a spacer as possible (up to 180mm if you can do it) in the left tube in place of the 80mm one and that will help bring the ride height back closer to stock. I had a 150mm one in mine for a few years, so with a little force you can get a longer than stock spacer in there.

edit: I looked at 1992-1995 ABS1 fiche and its shown as the same as the non-ABS versions for all those years. So now I'm confused regarding the claims here that they're reversed, is the fiche marked wrong?

 

[NuHondaGuy]

I recently blew the left front seal on my 97 when I encountered an unexpected harsh drop while crossing a railroad on a ride. Although I had rebuilt the forks last year I was not pleased with the feel. I had increased the fluid to 10w and had convinced my self that was the reason for the stiff action and the fact that I'm now weighing in around 150# plus gear.

So I took them both apart and replaced seals and fluid with the original 5w. The project is now back together and I have managed to put about 175mi since completed. The resulting ride is what I expected and was looking forward to originally.

I don't know if the seal was incorrectly sealing or if the fluid level was too high, although I originally used the measurement method as well. Regardless, the bike is back on the road, the ride is very comfortable and the issues I experienced with the initial rebuild last year are not evident this time.

Thanks again to the forum and especially to John Oosterhuis for the loan of the fork tool kit. It makes the project much easier and less intimidating.

Dave Watson \Nuhondaguy \STOC #7643)

 

[Larry Fine]

I recently blew the left front seal on my 97 when I encountered an unexpected harsh drop while crossing a railroad on a ride.

Yep. Dropping off of those trains will create quite the thump when you land.