Front fork rebuild

[Darkchylde]

First time owner here and I am rebuilding a 94 Vulcan 1500. I bought this "project" since the building it was in caught fire. I have the whole thing torn apart and want to know if I should rebuild the front forks. They do not seem to leak any oil and other than soot marks and melted windshield pieces they are in good condition. Any ideas?

What would rebuilding these involve? Changing oil and seals? if that is the case if would seem to be not that expensive but oil amount and info like that is what I am missing. Also basically how to disassemble and reassemble. any special tools needed? So that is where I am any help would be great.

[jaydub77]

I'm no expert but...if there's melted plastic on the front forks then you might want to check/test the forks for stability...heat can weaken or even change the molecular structure of the metal, possibly making it brittle.

also one other area that may worry me is the springs themselves...if they took too much heat than it could have messed with the sring rate of the springs themselves...you may want to look at replacing the front springs...the front end of your bike is your livelyhood...take every procaution...other than that taking the forks apart is not all too difficult if you have a manual of some kind, but you may need a friend to help release the tension on the springs in order to get the circlips out to get the springs out...I don't really know what else to say...others will chime in soon too

[azwiley1]

fire, oil, plastic don't tend to mix too well. Personally, I would take the time to rebuild them. Why take the chance? You life is not worth the time it would have taken to rebuild them and it's not too difficult to do your self.

[azwiley1]

Originally Posted by Darkchylde

First time owner here and I am rebuilding a 94 Vulcan 1500. I bought this "project" since the building it was in caught fire. I have the whole thing torn apart and want to know if I should rebuild the front forks. They do not seem to leak any oil and other than soot marks and melted windshield pieces they are in good condition. Any ideas?

What would rebuilding these involve? Changing oil and seals? if that is the case if would seem to be not that expensive but oil amount and info like that is what I am missing. Also basically how to disassemble and reassemble. any special tools needed? So that is where I am any help would be great.

Pull them off the bike, remove the end cap/nut, remove the spacers and springs and dump out the oil. The outer dust seal will (should) pop off if you gently work around it with a very small flat blade screw driver.

As long as there is no outer structure damage to the fork, you maybe ok at this point to clean them real well, new outer seal, fresh oil and all done. Springs, maybe maybe not, depending on miles on the bike and damage it might be worth the cost.