ctag's Washington-or-bust ST1100 affair

Bike odo is about at 50k miles right now, so another 10k before a timing belt inspection is warranted. And the air filter is an amsoil re-cleanable type that looks brand new and oiled, so I'm not going to mess with it.

Bought a full set of OEM brake pads, new seals for the front calipers, and a new left mirror from adept. $270, a lot for brakes but not too bad otherwise. Thanks for looking out for me you all!
 
This is always my favorite part.

I had two friends growing up, Evan and Ian, who were identical twin brothers. They showed me that - yes- taking apart my bicycles brakes to see how it works is cool, but fixing and reassembling the brakes is /even cooler/.

Still taking apart brakes and putting them back together. I think of those two sometimes while working on a project like this.

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While the bike was together, I did the hold-brakes-and-lean on the front suspension and it felt a little off. So I removed the forks, one feels a little stiffer than the other, but otherwise the dust seals are in good shape. I'm not sure if the difference is due to anti-dive on one of them.

I decided I'd take them apart anyway. Here's the first one. Part of me thinks just fresh fluid would do it. Any input on the condition of the bearings would be appreciated.

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Slides are cheap. I would replace since you have the whole thing apart. Just my two cents.
IIRC....they are about $20 a set.
T
 
Fork bushings, seals, since it's apart consider a set of Sonic springs. If the caliper pistons are too pitted, OEM can be had but the aftermarket stainless replacements are tempting. Rebuild or replace the slave cylinder. Replace is easy.

RT
 
Service manual says to use "Pro Honda Suspension Fluid" for the fork rebuild but I'm seeing at least two types online: "SS-7" which is 5W and "SS-8" for 10W.

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Went ahead and got the SS-8 10W oil, and purchased the replacement fork bushings. Should be here next week sometime.
 
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Your fork bushings look fine, the sliding surfaces all show nice, new looking grey coating, although better pictures of the ID of the upper bushings would confirm absolutely. IINM, the spec is replace when 50% of the grey is worn away, exposing the copper colo(u)r below.

John
 
Thanks John. I wound up buying new ones anyway, might as well since it's already off the bike and disassembled.

Final drive and fork oil arrived.
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I'm stuck trying to replace a seal for the clutch. It's the oil seal on the plunger-puck piece, circled red below. I've bought two parts now that turned out not to match.
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Reassembled the right hand fork, on the left in the picture.
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Holy Crap!
You're rebuilding your friend's bike for him...
Good on you.

Is that an OEM seat? If so, plan on stopping every so often to get off the bike for a while.

When I rode my new-to-me VFR back from CA to MA, I made it a point to check out POIs within about an hour of my main route home.
Most of the route was slab, but I got a chance to visit the Grand Canyon, Meteor Crater, AZ, Windslow, AZ, Cadillac Ranch, NM, Nashville, TN, Blue Ridge Pkwy, in addition to visiting relatives at each end of the journey. I'd highly recommend you try to do something similar. Those opportunities don't happen often.
Your planned route passes by Yosemite and maybe Custer National monument, for instance...

On that trip, I had installed Grip Puppies and a throttle rocker. Some sort of throttle keeper is better, still.

Steve
 
ctag said:
I'm stuck trying to replace a seal for the clutch. It's the oil seal on the plunger-puck piece, circled red below. I've bought two parts now that turned out not to match.
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Reassembled the right hand fork, on the left in the picture.
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Yeah, I bought the whole slave cylinder just a few weeks ago. You'll probably spend as much on parts trying to rebuild it. Then might have to buy a new one anyway. Were you able to get the cylinder off without loosening the exhaust?

Clutch Slave Cylinder... | ST1100 Related

Looking forward to install this baby... :cool: It claims reduced heaviness of clutch action; design looks well made, piston seals with a V-ring plus a (Teflon or PTFE?) guidance ring to reduce friction in bore. Will see how it works... Source...
www.st-owners.com www.st-owners.com
 
steve3b3 said:
Holy Crap!
You're rebuilding your friend's bike for him...
Good on you.

Is that an OEM seat? If so, plan on stopping every so often to get off the bike for a while.

When I rode my new-to-me VFR back from CA to MA, I made it a point to check out POIs within about an hour of my main route home.
Most of the route was slab, but I got a chance to visit the Grand Canyon, Meteor Crater, AZ, Windslow, AZ, Cadillac Ranch, NM, Nashville, TN, Blue Ridge Pkwy, in addition to visiting relatives at each end of the journey. I'd highly recommend you try to do something similar. Those opportunities don't happen often.
Your planned route passes by Yosemite and maybe Custer National monument, for instance...

On that trip, I had installed Grip Puppies and a throttle rocker. Some sort of throttle keeper is better, still.

Steve
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tips!

I need to find 20 seconds at some point and actually investigate this route we're taking. It would definitely be nice to do some sightseeing, I've never been out west! But right now I'm just anxious about the prospect of riding that far in a couple days.

I'll look into the throttle keeper, thanks!

Ron said:
Yeah, I bought the whole slave cylinder just a few weeks ago. You'll probably spend as much on parts trying to rebuild it. Then might have to buy a new one anyway. Were you able to get the cylinder off without loosening the exhaust?

Clutch Slave Cylinder... | ST1100 Related

Looking forward to install this baby... :cool: It claims reduced heaviness of clutch action; design looks well made, piston seals with a V-ring plus a (Teflon or PTFE?) guidance ring to reduce friction in bore. Will see how it works... Source...
www.st-owners.com www.st-owners.com
Click to expand...

:doh1: I should have thought of that. I'll look into replacing it!
With how corroded or gunked up the inside of the cylinder and puck are it's going to be easier to swap out the whole thing anyway.

The clutch bolt under the exhaust just baaaarely made it out and I didn't have to loosen the headers or anything.
 
ctag said:
I'm stuck trying to replace a seal for the clutch. It's the oil seal on the plunger-puck piece, circled red below. I've bought two parts now that turned out not to match.
Click to expand...

I ordered the kit from brakecrafters.com and it came with the correct seal. I think it was $26? Cleaned up the inside of the slave cylinder and though maube not back to OEM spec, it's working great again. Still 4 times cheaper than buying a replacement unit.
 
Thanks Horsehead.
OK, ordered the kit. Sucks to have two of the other seals now, but for getting the bike on the road I guess I'm going to try the cheaper options first. Though the Oberon unit looks pretty interesting.

And I forgot to post earlier. How do you like my fork-re-assemble-er?
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Tidrick said:
Daggone, ctag... Impressive "visitor" treatment!

Hey, I gots a '98 Blackbird desperately needing some TLC. Can I be your friend???? :)
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You'll have to drop it off here in Alabama for a couple months haha :bl11:


Couple years ago we were rebuilding things like this friend's Del Sol in a tent. You guys probably have some idea of how excited I am to own a garage now!
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There's a clear difference between the "rebuilt" fork and the other. When I lean my body weight on the left hand fork (which has anti-dive stuff on it) it snaps back at release. The right hand (rebuilt) fork has noticeable dawdle and I can feel the damper slowing the spring back to full length.

Unless there's something about the anti-dive stuff I'm not aware of, I've put 10W in when I should have gotten 7.5 or 5W, correct?
 
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