Boxerworks.com

So I've gone ahead and decided on doing a rebuild/alignment on my new /5 and its not getting any better the farther i get into it.Initially I thought the one of the lower bumpers was gone due to one fork extending lower than the other but upon taking the forks apart today I found the remains of 1 bumper,all of the others are gone! A few questions for anyone who has done this--Is there a bumper on top of the spring? It looks as though my springs have been rubbing metal to metal on the bottom of the large 36mm under the bars. How to remove the dampener rod without destroying the rings? Unfortunately the left side rings didn't survive the extraction,I stopped before the right met the same fate.

I don't know any method of removing them without damage, unless you can get a couple thin feeler gauges in there prior to extraction. You will definitely need to use them to install the new ones.

I thought there might be an old trick of some kind to do it;) It seems that as soon as they hit the threads the whole operation comes to a halt,I drove the one side out with a soft hammer and a dowel rod.It sure doesn't seem like the proper way but its all I came up with.

Do you have a manual? Mine says to not remove the damper rod if possible, but you really need to in order to clean everything... The feeler gauge trick for installation is mentioned, too. For an idea of what goes where, check out the fiche (or picture in manual): http://www.maxbmwmotorcycles.com/fiche/ ... d=04302013

I sent mine up through the top, with a gentle wiggle to get by the upper threads. I was able to reinstall the same way, but it would do to check the piston as it goes by the vent holes to be sure the rings are still in place. A couple .003" feeler gauges made things a bit easier on the second leg I did (reinstall).

Still nothing on the /2 BMVW?????

The clymer manual along with some sites I've visited online say " remove the dampener through the top of the fork tube" no warnings in the book of this situation.I wanted to take it apart to get all of the old bumper bits cleaned out. On the 1st one the rings actually chewed the threads inside the tube,not so bad that the nut wont still thread in though. I would say I'm in a bit of a pickle on the other one,it wont come out and it wont go back down either.The top ring seems to be hung up on the bottom thread.Melville what would you like to know about the VMW? Its too fast for the stock brakes,kickstart only and really rolls to the right when you get on the throttle! Its a cool bike,I'll probably always have it but its definitely a labor of love.

Well I got the other one out,it wasn't pretty and I'm not proud of it.I would warn others to not take out the dampeners unless you think you really have to,this could have turned bad in a hurry. Now due to my lack of thought I get to buy 6 new rings that I didn't need 2hrs ago.

It is very rare to need new rings on the damper rod, unless you bent them up. They go in from the bottom with a tool to allow the rings to get compressed enough for insertion. You can make it up.

So when I install them they should go up from the bottom? I was going to try the 2 thin feeler gauge method in my manual. I saw a tool made for inserting them on Brook Reams page about restoring a /5,it was tapered to allow them to pass the threads,would this tool help with removing them too? I know that I went about this operation the wrong way but thankfully I got out of it without major problems ie- severly damaged threads. How would you remove them without a special tool,or is that the crucial part I missed? There was no wiggle room or free play at all,both sides locked solid as soon as they hit the threads.

I have removed many dozens of them and can't recall a single one getting stuck on those inside threads.