Fork Top's Position in Yoke

[andyfazer600]

Hey folks,

Re-greased my head bearings the other week so had the whole front end in pieces. On cleaning the bike yesterday I noticed the fork tops are clamped at slightly different heights in the top yoke. I'm not talking a huge amount, maybe 1/2 to 1 mm at the very most (see photos).

Since reassembly I've covered about 300 miles without any issue, it rides the same if not better than prior the winter hibernation and went back together without any fuss. Should this be any cause for concern though? Just to put my mind at ease.

Cheers

 

[darius]

The forks will be operating at very slightly different points of travel. I don't think it would be noticeable IMO but you can correct it with 5min and a couple of hex wrenches..

 

[FinalImpact]

Think of the forks, triple and axle as a giant rectangle. For the axle and disc rotors, you want everything as true as possible. With the weak springs fitted to the front, the load is displaced and its a no harm no foul situation as the axle is stronger than the springs and damping efforts.

However, when the forks top out or bottom out, this **could** try and bend the axle in relation to that rectangle because they are out of square. So over time it can compromise and fatigue components but short term I would not be concerned.

As Chris mentions, loosen one side and fix it. It would just take a moment. Also I use the ends of Allen wrenches to set the fork depth. Just rest the end on the clamp and shove the fork up so its flush at say 4, 6, 8mm if need be. Mine are currently 8mm above the top triple (not stock forks tho/springs tho), as it helps turn in.

 

[andyfazer600]

That's great, thanks for the advice. I'll give it a "technical tap" next weekend

 

[andyfazer600]

All sorted! Really simple to adjust :thumbup: