pitted fork tube

[badguy]

I'll take whatever I can get

Really it would be cool to compare my bike with someone else's just to make sure I'm not missing anything, but I'm thinking it's just tweaked really bad. I got an email back from the guy parting his out - he said that he already sold the front end, but the list of spacers he described sounds like what I have on my axle. I need to take the fork apart again and see how bent they are.

[Laoch]

I think the major difference between 85/86 wad the addition of disc brakes. Forks are probably the same.

Mine leak and I did a partial tear down/clean. They still leak, but I wanted to ride until it got miserable cold and then tear down the forks proper. I have a set of seals I assume are for the forks. When I get around to tearing them down I'll call ya if I get stuck

[badguy]

Yeah I'm guessing the forks wouldn't have changed, but spacers are probably different with the drum brake. The forks are weird though - once you get the bolt out that holds the inner tube to the damper rod, the tube just slides out. There aren't any bushings on the tube itself and the oil/dust seals stay in the outer tube. Those were a bitch to get out.

[motojunky]

Thanks for the heads up. I'm waiting to hear back from the guy...I just hope he's close enough that I can look at the parts instead of just having them shipped.

Does anyone know someone else in the area with one of these? I saw that Daves08excr sold a TR34 to someone else on here, but from his pictures it looks like his forks are backward (or mine are...) so I'm not sure if they're set up the same.

I have a friend in Lancaster with one. PM an email address to me and I'll put you in touch.

The forks on Dave's were backward. Possibly intentional to alter geometry.

Get that thing together!

Still have the trials tires on the CRF? Want to ride with us at Granogue on 1/1? Greg the owner of the Beta I mentioned will be there (but not on his Beta).

[badguy]

PM on the way.

I can't make it for the New Year's ride, but I definitely want to get together once I get the Beta sorted out. I just swapped the trials tires on the 150 for knobbies to play in the mud at Wicomico this weekend anyway.

The Beta's put together except for the front fender, but I don't want to ride it the way the front end is. The front brake sucks, too...I thought the old pads were soaked with fork oil, but new pads didn't help. I cleaned the rotor with rubbing alcohol since I couldn't find my brake cleaner.

[Laoch]

Didja scuff the new pads and the rotor? Bleed brakes, new fluid, yada, yada? I have new pads, actually shoes, for mine. Gonna get them in sometime, it stops for now.
Just cut a load of logs and stumps

[Boom Boom]

+1 on what D-Grunt said.
Once a disk gets some fork oil on it expect a long burn off time.
Don't expect brake parts cleaner to do the job proper.
I take a torch to mine and heat just enough to burn off any oil then I work it over with some 80 grit sand paper to scuff the surface.
I also scuff the surface of the pads before installing.
Odds are your fluid is shot also. Take the line off and flush it out good. Even when new those brake systems would build up a goo in the line only after a couple years use and that goo made the brake power very soft and spongy.
Remove your brake pucks and clean well, for some reason on those older brake systems the inside puck was prone to stick and all your braking power come from the front puck trying to bend the disk to the back puck.
When working proper they do perform well.
Also keep in mind you are dealing with a very small disk vs a MX or enduro sized braking system.

[badguy]

I flushed the brakes and added fresh fluid, but I didn't do much to the rotor aside from cleaning it and trying to bed in the new pads. I was trying to avoid pulling the caliper apart since it looks like it involves actually splitting the caliper into two pieces.

I'll try the torch and sandpaper, thanks for the tip! If that doesn't work I'll look into the caliper. I'm not looking for superbike braking, just something similar to my CRF150F. I can DAMN near snatch a handful of brake on this bike without locking it up - it just slows down. Old fashioned ABS?

[badguy]

Ok, so I burned the oil off the rotor and scuffed it up along with the pads. Haven't had a chance to try it out yet though.

I tore apart the forks again and checked their straightness with a redneck runout gauge:





Both fork tubes looked as straight as I could see. The wheel is definitely way off though:



All the spacers are in the right place and the rotor is roughly in the right spot, so my only guess is that the rim is shifted off to one side for some reason. I was thinking about rebuilding the wheel, but someone suggested loosening the spokes on one side by 1/4 turn and tightening the opposing ones the same amount, then repeating until the wheel is centered. I think I'll try that...I can't see it making it worse

If that doesn't work I'll go look at that 87 Beta up in Glen Burnie and use it as a parts bike

[Boom Boom]

Put the fender brace back on before you get worried.
It plays a very important part of the suspension.