1998 December 5 (Saturday)
Horn/Light switch
horn switch
I removed the chrome cover from the high beam/horn switch and polished it. The cable ends also needed to be dressed so I removed the cable and replaced a bunch of ratty electrical tape with some heat shrink tubing. It now looks much better.
1998 December 13 (Sunday)
Dismantling the shock assemblies turned out to be a much larger pain than expected. One of the front shock assemblies was corroded so bad that it could not be removed from the lower leg. The end result is that I’ve got two pairs of Koni’s on order, one pair for the front and another for the rear.
Front shocks
Shock parts
I started to pull the front shocks apart yesterday. The picture shows what’s been done so far. The first shock came apart OK, but the the spring does not want to come out of the second shock assemblies. It should fall out easily, but it is quite stuck.
Shock removal
Lower shock cover
Front shock in lower mounting eye
The lower cover is pressed on to the lower shock eye. It wiggles off with a little help from a rubber mallet. The shock is not very smooth at the top of its range and will be replaced. The shock in the assembly with the stuck spring appears to be in even worse condition (but I won’t know for sure until I get the spring out).
A home made tool plus a little heat applied to the aluminum base lets me remove one of the shocks from the lower eye. The eye with the stuck spring and shock is soaking in penetrating oil.
Front swing-arm
Front forks with swing-arm
Front swing-arm removed
I removed the front swing-arm from the front forks. The shims on both sides were the same thickness. I have not removed seals or bearing yet. Joe has a jig to test if the forks and swing-arm are bent. I will do that soon.
Barely seen on the left side of the front swing-arm in the second picture is the grease fitting. It’s been painted over. The parts book says there should be a seal between the fitting and the swing-arm. I don’t see one.
Grease fitting
swing-arm grease fitting
Grease-gun nozzle
The paint came off of the grease fitting when I rubbed with a rag. I pushed some grease through the fitting to force out any junk that may have been inside. Actually, it was just an excuse to use the grease-gun adapter I’d bought a while back.