Fork Rebound

[skiracer]

I recently put new seals in my 250 MC. When I was all done, the forks did not rebound properly.  They would go down, but would not come back up without pulling on the bars.  I have air caps on them, and I run about 10 pounds of air in them.

Did I miss a step in redoing the seals?

Thanks,  James

[thrownchain]

Did you make sure they are parallel? and sure one of them is not bent?

[DKWRACER]

Hello skiracer. It is hard to determine the cause, but it sounds like a bind. When the forks where disassembled did they slide up n down in a reasonable fashion? If so, then safe to assume that the forks where straight. An old dirt riders trick during final assembly with all the stuff in place is to leave the axle and pinch bolts, and stay arm somewhat loose. Have someone vigorously pump the front end up/down, and grab as much front brake and hold the forks in a compressed condition. then slightly tighten the axle, then the pinch bolts and stay arm...just before tightening, you can also wiggle the whole front end by holding the front wheel between the knees, while your buddy is holding the front brake....the intent, is to have the components align themselves......This trick was suggested by Mike Lenz in an earlier post, so maybe this will help...

Adios,
Tom Brosius

[skiracer]

Hi guys!
Thanks for the responses.  No, I don't think the forks are bent.  I have owned the bike since it was new, and they worked fine before.  Maybe I will try to loosen everything up,and see what happens.  Thanks again.

James

[bentrims]

Skiracer,

You may want to try using a permanent marker to put a mark on each chrome stanchion tube where they meet the lower triple clamp.

Next rotate one tube a quarter turn, tighten the triple clamp bolts back up and see if the action has changed. If not rotate the other tube 1/4 turn and check to see if the action has changed. Continue the (bent tube test) until the action has smoothed out. Find the best position for each tube.

In 1977 my friend would actually race the first moto on his Montesa then rotate both tubes 1/2 turn between motos to straighten them out.

[skiracer]

That sounds like a really good idea, thanks!  I'll try that this week.  The only issue will be the clearance of my air caps to the bottom of the hadlebars.  Thanks again!

James

Skiracer,

You may want to try using a permanent marker to put a mark on each chrome stanchion tube where they meet the lower triple clamp.

Next rotate one tube a quarter turn, tighten the triple clamp bolts back up and see if the action has changed. If not rotate the other tube 1/4 turn and check to see if the action has changed. Continue the (bent tube test) until the action has smoothed out. Find the best position for each tube.

In 1977 my friend would actually race the first moto on his Montesa then rotate both tubes 1/2 turn between motos to straighten them out.
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