oil damper rod =(

[greaseman]

Please help me, holy crap. I have an 05 GS500f and one fork seal was pretty much spraying oil out of it. I decided to throw some sonic springs while i changed the seals, so i try to loosen the oil damper rod bolt from the bottom and of course it decides not to budge for a while, then it just spun with the rod. I took off the cap, springs and washers, got a tapered broom handle and jammed it into the damper rod. Stuck it in a vice, and tried loosening it like that. Still wouldn't budge. Destroyed the hex key, though.

I definitely searched first and it seems like older models had patterns on the top of their damper rod which they could fit a tool into, but I'm pretty sure mine is completely round. Is there a secret to this? I took it to a shop to do it with their impact wrench and they said they couldn't break it free from the rod either. They also suggested trashing the forks, but I think they forgot that I don't piss gold. Any advice would be hugely appreciated.

[birdhandler]

yes they are round unlike the earlier versions that were hex shaped
When the broomhandle trick did not work on mine i ended up drilling out the hex screw on the bottom of the fork
my other thought is to staple sand paper to the broom handle taper and see if that works or buying a cheap tapered reamer and welding that to a steel rod or grinding the head into a hex shape so you can use your socket set
good luck
Cheers

[greaseman]

Thanks for the advice! If it comes down to it I think I'll go with drilling the head off of it  Did you replace it with a specialty bolt or just one with the hardware store?

[burning1]

I'd advise you to go OEM on parts like that. The bolt that retains the damping rods is a pretty critical bolt. It also takes a crush washer, FYI.

[zirconx]

My dealer says they will do it for $120 in labor if I bring the forks in. I think I will probably go that route. I was planning on doing it myself until I found this is so much harder to do on the newer forks. How is this new design better than the old? Almost seems like it was designed to make the dealers money.

[burning1]

Probably was. FWIW, the forks I'm selling are the old design that can be held with a long 5/8" bolt.

[greaseman]

I'd advise you to go OEM on parts like that. The bolt that retains the damping rods is a pretty critical bolt. It also takes a crush washer, FYI.

Yeah I was thinking the same thing. Just ordered the bolts and washers from the dealer so should be back up and running in a week =(

[werase643]

easiest method.....
leave the fork assembled and on the bike
remove the wheel
air impact the bolt

might want an oil pan under the fork leg

[greaseman]

easiest method.....
leave the fork assembled and on the bike
remove the wheel
air impact the bolt

might want an oil pan under the fork leg

Already tried that at the motorcycle shop, no luck =(

[gsJack]

If you can get the old seal out you can put the new one in without removing that bolt holding the damper rod.  Some have done it by carefully prying out the old seal with a screwdriver driven into the seal with a hammer. 

I had a badly leaking left fork seal on my 02 a while back and I got the bolt out by sticking the short end of an allen wrench into it and tapping the long end with a hammer.  Dissassembled the fork leg with it still clamped in the triples then removed it to clean up and reassemble.  Wouldn't work on the right fork leg so I just let it go unchanged.  That was back in 5-09 with 68k miles on the clock and now 2 years later with 85k miles on it neither have leaked a bit.  If I do have to replace that right seal one of these days I'll try prying it out without removing the bolt.  I'm not familiar with the new F bike fork assemblies.

[greaseman]

Finally got it out today using 3 really crappy drill bits and my friend's end mill. Just kept drilling until we saw copper, then punched it out. Put the oil damper rod in a vice and used channel locks to get it out. Stupid. I'm glad I finally got it out though, and spent the whole afternoon refinishing my tubes so I don't get another leak for a while. You guys have any special method to do this? I have a few pits here and there so I wet sanded with WD-40 going perpendicular to the tube from 320, 600, then 2000. Then I used turtlewax chrome polish.

[jmelchio]

If you can get the old seal out you can put the new one in without removing that bolt holding the damper rod.  Some have done it by carefully prying out the old seal with a screwdriver driven into the seal with a hammer. 

I had a badly leaking left fork seal on my 02 a while back and I got the bolt out by sticking the short end of an allen wrench into it and tapping the long end with a hammer.  Dissassembled the fork leg with it still clamped in the triples then removed it to clean up and reassemble.  Wouldn't work on the right fork leg so I just let it go unchanged.  That was back in 5-09 with 68k miles on the clock and now 2 years later with 85k miles on it neither have leaked a bit.  If I do have to replace that right seal one of these days I'll try prying it out without removing the bolt.  I'm not familiar with the new F bike fork assemblies.

I have a 2006 F model. Couldn't get the damper rod out no matter what I tried so after reading this I decided to try prying the seal out from the top. After a lot of fiddling I did end up pulling it out and now all I have to do is clean up and put the new seal in place.

The seal has a metal core which makes it very hard to pry out. I tried getting a screwdriver through but was unable to do so. I didn't want to use too much force because I was afraid I'd damage the fork which would guarantee future leaks so I used tiny screwdrivers to scrape the rubber off to create some room so I could wedge a dental cleaning implement underneath to pull it out (my wife used to be a dental assistant).

Thanks for the idea gsJack!

[adidasguy]

The true Suzuki "Special Tool" doesn't work well. That is the conical one. I modified the tool for a different fork - making one that is pointed with sharp edges. Using that on the long handle with an impact wrench (aka Harbor Freight) makes it super simple to take apart AND re-assemble the newer forks. Under a half hour to do a pair of forks.

If you drill out the bolt - remember you still have to put it back together. If you don't do it properly, the bolt will work its way out. It must be in there really tight.

Close up of modified tip next to the one you are supposed to use:


The tip on the long T handle ready for use.