Lots of recent fork posts

Hello all,

There seems to have been an influx of fork posts recently but I do have another question and I am seeking the advice of some of the 500 boffins on here.

I have recently(within the last year) had my fork seals replaced and one has gone again. It is pissing out quite a lot of oil on a daily basis so I figured that my stanchion is out of spec/ pitted so I am looking at a rebuild. The stanchion look good but is pitted right at the top of the suspension travel so I think they have to be done.

Question is, what do you think is the best path to take. A new stanchion costs approx. £110 and everywhere I look it appears to be the same price and stanchion. I am sure my mechanic (who I trust) will rebuild it for about £50 coming to £160 for 1 leg rebuild. Here is the part;


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Honda-CB500-R-T-V-W-X-Y-2-1993-2002-Fork-Tube-Stanchion-Single-Sold-Individually-/381301615742?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item58c758ec7e


The alternative is to send the fork leg to these guys;


http://www.pittedforks.co.uk/fork-rebuilding.php



And have the fork disassembled, ground - rechromed above spec - then reground back to spec and reassembled. All new seals etc and everything measured against the specification. It comes out at the same price roughly so what does anyone think? Does anyone on here have experience with these guys?


Any help is much appreciated.

I have previously had some success in fixing mild pitting using epoxy resin (Araldite precision).

You degrease the pitted area of the fork legs (use brake cleaner, acetone, IPA or similar), mix up the epoxy and then blob it over the holes - it doesn't matter if you put a bit too much on, just make sure that the holes are filled.

Then leave the fork legs for 24 hours while the epoxy cures (preferably somewhere warm).

You can then remove the extra epoxy by shaving it back to being flat using a sharp scalpel or new stanley knife blade (or similar). You should then be left with forks that have the pitting holes filled by epoxy.

This should increase the life of your fork seals and should last a fair amount of time.

It's probably not as good as getting them re-chromed or buying new ones, but it is a lot cheaper

That is a pretty good tip but I think they might be a bit far gone. They kind of look like stone chips rather pitting. There is metal protruding as well as regressed into the stanchion if that makes sense. Plus the seals are completely toast by now anyway to they will have to come apart anyway at least for new seals.

only thing I'd add is that its not a big thing to rebuilt them yourself, there they are pretty simple forks.

as above, rebuild them yourself, they are stupidly easy/simple.

liverpool_f_ wrote:That is a pretty good tip but I think they might be a bit far gone. They kind of look like stone chips rather pitting. There is metal protruding as well as regressed into the stanchion if that makes sense. Plus the seals are completely toast by now anyway to they will have to come apart anyway at least for new seals.

OK, depending upon how adventurous you are feeling you can skim off some of the bubbling chrome (to get the level down) and then skim with the epoxy.... a bodge, but...

If you want it 'perfect' then the only answer is to either buy new stanchions or very good second hand ones.

As the other have mentioned, rebuilding them with new stanchions isn't too difficult.

If the stanchion's not too far gone & I could wait for the work to be done, I'd favour getting them re-hard chromed over replacement.

If you strip them yourself it's only £165 a pair at pitted forks or £105 for a single.

While I haven't had any experience with them yet, I've only ever heard good things with results often better than OE replacements. Perhaps most importantly I prefer to support British businesses where possible & with their hard chroming experience since 1941 I'm sure they know what they're doing.

I called Philpots and it turns out they have a turnaround of 6 weeks! So probably super quality if they have that much custom but that is way too much bike riding time to give up this summer.

Interestingly, Honda OEM stanchions only cost 30 quid more than the pattern parts so I will probably go that route. I was expecting them to be prohibitively expensive but the bill is still slowly creeping up. Still, needs done.

Cheers for the help guys

if you are going OE Honda have a friendly chat with the parts guy think I got them for £210 the pair - normally £135ea.

btw new OE Honda ones also come with a new lower bush which is £9 from Honda otherwise.

I've used Pitted Forks twice now (and that's twice on CB500s - mine and the girlfriend's).

They really are excellent. The price includes collection and delivery. However, as you say - you have a lengthy turnaround time (in fact I think the six weeks you got quoted is quicker than both of my experiences). I told myself on both occasions that my fork rebuilds will wait until winter in future!

The chrome they put on it is of a much better quality than the standard 'Honda' chrome that the forks originally come with. That being said - it's not as shiny so they will come back being just a TAD duller. You probably wouldn't notice it unless you had a treated and untreated one side-by-side. I agree with what everyone else says - strip them down and do it yourself. I've done a few sets of fork seals now and it really is not difficult at all.