Help with fork removal.

[daz]

I can turn this large nut each way to no avail. Must I hold the hex bolt inside? Or will the hex just screw out? This is on the '95 R100RT. Leaking fork seal. Nothing turns very easy but I have not appied heat yet. What's the process?

[Kurt in S.A.]

When I did the fork cap nuts on my /7, I used an impact gun with a 36mm socket that had the leading edge chamfer filed down. The nut on my /7 is much thinner than your picture...it could be that the '95 fork caps are different. But the impact from the gun knocked the nut loose so I could disassemble things. YMMV.

Kurt in S.A.

[SteveD]

Do you need to remove the fork to replace the seal on the monolevers?

Usually, just drop the lower leg from the fork tube, replace seal, reinstall the lower fork leg..

That top hex bolt should come out so you can replace the fork oil, but the big nut stays put.

Here's how on a 81-84 model...

1. Put new seals in the freezer for 1 hour beforehand.
2. Loosen, remove, the inner top fork bolt to allow drainage and refill of fork oil..move h/bars to get to bolt.
2a. To replace the springs, you need to remove the outer large hex bolt at the fork top. That bolt is very tight and easy to round off. Make sure your tool fits well.
3. Remove the lower drainage small bolt. Allow oil to drain.
3a. Replace springs, loosely replace top bolt.
4. Disconnect brake calipers from fork legs...hang carefully.
5. Loosen, don't remove, the retaining bolt at the bottom of the fork. Better leverage before the axle comes out.
6. Remove axle/wheel/front guard.
7. Now remove retaining bolt, drop fork leg down, leaving the fork tube on the bike.
8. Clean internals.
9. Carefully lever out the old seal. I use a blunted straight screwdriver. Insert new seal, use old seal to push new seal in.
10. Slide upper gaiter spacer then gaiters onto fork tube.
11. Install fork leg with new seal carefully over the fork tube..
12. etc, etc...both sides
13. Reinstall drain bolt, refill oil, tighten top bolt.
14. wheels etc back on...
15. fiddle with the gaiter spacer, locate it into the breather tube on the inside of the lower triple clamp.
Nomenclature: I called the chromed tube the fork tube. The fork leg is the lower forged bit that the calipers attach to.
1 hour max. Quicker the next time.

[SteveD]

That top ALLEN bolt should come out so you can replace the fork oil, but the big HEX nut stays put.

[John Falconer]

To remove the large cap nut you must (often, at least) keep the inner hex from turning (that's why it is there, duh!). An easy way to do this is to get a metric bolt with a head that fits the hex (I'm not at the garage so I can't measure it for you but it is obvious if you are) and then lock a couple of nuts onto that bolt. You then use a socket or box wrench to keep the inner hex from turning as you remove the large nut - easy to say but most comfortably done if you have a helper.

As to whether you need to remove that large nut to do what you're doing - well that's a different question and I confess to not having read your post beyond the first question re undoing the nut.

John Falconer

[dougie]

Daz - You need a big (17mm I think) Allen key to hold it.

[StephenB]

Not understanding some of the info provided. Also not sure whether the 1995 R-Boxer has a 40mm Marzocchi like earlier models. But it looks like it and in that case, the big nut shown on the OP's picture has no business to be there! You remove the large cap by using the 17mm Allen key. Do not use the M10 inside on the inside as it is the filler plug and not made to withstand torques created for the M36 thread! You need that big metric Allen key. But the torque doesn't need to be high as the cap is only sealing the fork tubes (there is an O-ring inside), nothing else. The triple tree clamps do the rest. It is a lot different than earlier bikes, the tubes are ONLY clamped and held in place by the triple trees.

The big nut now is actually only about half the thickness and used to mount the indicator stalks on earlier models. It has no other function AFAIK, This might be different for a 1995.

Maybe this picture helps, click on the link:

http://www.stephenbottcher.net/BMW/R100 ... CF3452.JPG

[dougie]

Nice to hear from you again Stephen.

[StephenB]

Hey Doug, how have you been? I kind of missed a lot of people here, so here I am again.

[daz]

Steve, do I understand this? The bolt that goes into the bottom of the fork holds the slider on. If I loosen that bolt will I be able to slide the slider (bottom of the fork) off of the chromed tube? So I really don't need too take the fork off the bike. If I slide the bottom of the fork off I can replace the seal. Carefully slide the bottom of the fork back on the chromed part and replace that bottom bolt? Is this possible? I'm using a 3\4 inch drive socket with a 24 inch wrench on the top nut and getting nowhere. I've not messed up the large nut yet and don't want to. The hole in the hex bolt on top is indeed 17 mm and my homemade bolt with two nuts tightened together would not move it either.