Help Save a Fork Tube, Pleeez!

[tonup]

Thought I went over the bike well after my incident. Then finally got to do a shakedown ride yesterday (about 180 miles) and got home and found some oil on my left knee. Under my fork gators, which look untouched, I found this crap. Is there any way I can SAFELY file/sand down the burr causing my seal failure? Would these knicks lead me to a life of more pain and suffering due to catastrophic failure? God damn it felt good to be back on. New gear, fresh paint and a new Shoei. Had a shit eat'n grin til this.

[csmutty]

That looks like pitting to me. Not something that can be sanded down. Is it an indentation or or is it strictly on top of the existing metal?

[Tricky Mike]

Looks like you need a new tube to me...

[BluGixxer]

File down the high spots , fill in the low spots . Replace sealed that is most likley damaged . Make sure that area is smooth with no ridges. JB weld will do the trick. Attention to detail is a must on something like this .

[loudog]

I'd get a new tube, but in the interim Blu's plan sounds solid.

[tonup]

That looks like pitting to me. Not something that can be sanded down. Is it an indentation or or is it strictly on top of the existing metal?

When I had my ass launched skyward the bike landed hard left then slid into the shoulder getting beat to crap by the gravel (small boulders). It's a small dent with sharp edges

Looks like you need a new tube to me...

Thats how I feel but if JB or epoxy with smart sanding will get me by for family visiting for bike week I'm golden.

Just hoping for a brilliant miracle and still be safe but alas.....Just gotta do what I thought I needed to do. But until then, order parts, weld, ride and hope for the best.

Any of you guys ever deal with "Forking by Frank" for your after market front end needs? I keep finding his name come up while searching for new tubes but that doesn't mean a thing from my perspective

[LN600K5]

I have no first hand experience with Forking by Frank, but i do know that my boss has used them in the past for a couple bikes he was building. He seems to have had good luck with them. I do remember him saying tho, that they run things VERY old school, and i think i even remember him saying that they dont accept credit cards.

[DaveZX6r]

If you look around there are metal based puttys that are made for filling in pits in hydraulic cylinders. I've never had to use them but that would probably be a little safer than merely job weld. Also I would recommend using a medium to fine grit stone to get down the burs and then "file" the putty jb whatever flat. It will be easier to keep it at the same level as the surrounding surface with out removing material from everywhere.
I also agree on replacement I'm assuming that you never inspected the run out on the forks since you didn't notice the gouges. Chances are good they aren't 100 percent straight anymore lol.

If you plan on riding this in the mean time I would at least turn all the damping pre load down and bounce the forks up and down by hand and make sure there are no sticking points. Even better would be to take them off remove the top bolt and cycle them slowly by hand. The last thing you want is to be riding and have one of the tubes stick.

Oh yeah and you'll probably need a new upper fork bushing two if this burrs dragged past it. But you'll know that once you pull them apart to do the seals.

[tonup]

If you look around there are metal based puttys that are made for filling in pits in hydraulic cylinders. I've never had to use them but that would probably be a little safer than merely job weld. Also I would recommend using a medium to fine grit stone to get down the burs and then "file" the putty jb whatever flat. It will be easier to keep it at the same level as the surrounding surface with out removing material from everywhere.
I also agree on replacement I'm assuming that you never inspected the run out on the forks since you didn't notice the gouges. Chances are good they aren't 100 percent straight anymore lol.

If you plan on riding this in the mean time I would at least turn all the damping pre load down and bounce the forks up and down by hand and make sure there are no sticking points. Even better would be to take them off remove the top bolt and cycle them slowly by hand. The last thing you want is to be riding and have one of the tubes stick.

Oh yeah and you'll probably need a new upper fork bushing two if this burrs dragged past it. But you'll know that once you pull them apart to do the seals.

Looking to get a gunsmith buddy's stone. Found the jb weld you speak up. Had no idea they had that many choices. I'm going to tear down both forks just because. JB will get me by for now but I'm not willing to risk my ass just for the sake of the ride. Will probably replace it regardless if the run-out is good or not. I don't feel any issues when cycling the known damaged fork but I also didn't see any damage hiding behind a rubber gator. I've gotten to the point I don't even need to look at the book for torque specs anymore. Good thing I embrace wrenching.

[SprintPoser]

Any new medium-to-fine grit abrasive stone (such as a knife sharpening stone) will be flat enough to get the high spots off nicely. The seals are always going to get excess wear from any occlusion on the surface. After you do a fill-in of the voids with JB Weld or similar product, be sure to again stone down of file down the high spots. Prepare the surface by removing any traces of oil. Use a detergent, then blow it dry and make it "surgically clean."

Unfortunately the right thing to do is also the costliest, yet the fastest and best. That is to replace the fork tube.

[FireboltEric_MA]

Fix the tube with another, you will always have problems no matter what you do. there is a reason it is shinny and chromed.

[DaveZX6r]

He said he's planning on replacing it regardless, which I'm hoping he sticks to lol. This was just a means to not dam age anything else so he can ride while waiting on parts.

Also tonup you live quite a ways from me but if you pull your tubes and drop them off with me I can bring them into work and check run out for you and you can pick them up the next day.

[gregp]

I have worked on tubes that look like that one. A knife sharpening stone and some JB Weld won't make it "like new", but it will function just fine for a long time, IMO.