Please help, 73' Z1 fork rebuild gone bad !

Well...I am sort of restoring a Z1 for a very good freinds father,as it is his last wish to ride his old bike that had been sitting for atleast 10 years.

Heres the problem---I took the fork apart to clean it,new seals and dust boots.Filled it with ten weight.Now it just feels sticky and you can almost lock it down.Also drained it and tried atf,same deal.

Instead of going uuuuppp-dooowwwnn it goes u-u-u-u-p- d-o-o-w-n.. :blink:

Thanks in advance,I have about 60hrs in this bike and would just like to be done,so I could actually ride my own. :silly:

Any possibility the tubes are bent?

As long as you put them back together right, there not much to them
so I duet that.

My first guess would be the springs. If they are OEM and bin
under a compression for all those years there probably (bound)
Was the top cap hard to put on or did the spring stick up past
the top of the tube?

XENU

Actually the spring is level with the top of the fork tube with the fork fully extended.

I have done them before...I can't imagine they are bent.They weren't before.

Sometimes it helps to loosen the axle clamps and then work the forks up and down allowing the lowers to re-set onto the axle. And assure the clamps are properly oriented (arrow pointing forward) before re-tightening, with gap in the rear and no gap in front.

Could also test fork action with front fender bolts loosened, to see whether fender fitment is somehow binding the lowers from being in the correct positions.

Also sometimes helps to loosen all the fork clamps and then retighten them.

Good Luck!

Try 20 weight. Pump them at least 20 times.

I don't recommend this, but you could shim the spring at the top.
A pice or 3/4 conduit 3/4 to 1 in. long between the spring and cap.
Found them that way lots of times. Cheep way to stiffen them up I guess.

XENU

Thanks guys...I will try all of these ideas.

Unfortunately I got it running last night and there is something rattling in the gearbox.

If it's setting a long time you may have broken a couple of clutch plats on
first start up. easy fix Id check that first.