Fork rebuild (NC24)

[castrol101]

My forks seem incredibly soft. If i roll the bike forward and hammer the front brake it very nearly bottoms out!!

When i got the bike in september they said theyd sorted the forks out, but i think all they may have done is replaced the seals.

Is this a case of topping up the fork oil?? (if so how do you top up fork oil )

Or do i need to replace the fork springs?? Anyone know a good place in the north east (lincolnshire) as i wouldn't feel confident rebuilding them myself, they look very very complicated in the manual!!

[Sligeach]

i assume you have downloaded the manual?
its only the seals that are slghtly challanging to do!! if it just oil and springs you want to do, they are a piece of piss

[fastdruid]

80's honda's seem very soft as std, my RC24 and MC17 are very soft, to the point where I can almost bottom them out.

If someone has done the seals they have to refill with oil. I'd have hoped if it was a garage they would have done a proper job and used the correct oil.

Suspension has moved on a lot since then...

Druid

[Neosophist]

80's honda's seem very soft as std, my RC24 and MC17 are very soft, to the point where I can almost bottom them out.

Suspension has moved on a lot since then...

Druid

Beat me to it! That NC24 forks are soft as hell. Most 80's hondas are really soft! You can pump upto 11psi in them to try and stiffen them up a little, bear in mind if they have original springs in them they'll be 20 years old.

Fork oils straight forward, unbolt the cap off the forks (the thing with the air valve in it) (hold the front of the bike up else the springs liable to come shooting up. and add fork oil.

To drain the old oil remove the screw in the side of the forks at the bottom.

[fastdruid]

Beat me to it! That NC24 forks are soft as hell. Most 80's hondas are really soft! You can pump upto 11psi in them to try and stiffen them up a little, bear in mind if they have original springs in them they'll be 20 years old.

Same as the RC24 then, dunno about the NC24 but I found mine ate fork seals when I tried upping the PSI. I ended up using 0 PSI and just got used to soft forks, works better on the gnarly back roads I like than the NC35 anyway. :)

Druid

[duncan]

Do not feel tempted to pump more air into the valves on the fork tops as that just blows fork seals.The answer is to fit heavier duty springs which you can get from Maxton or to stiffen your existing springs by putting spacers on top.If money is no object then you could send the complete forks to Maxton who would rebuild them with modern cartridge internals.

[castrol101]

Cheers for responses. I was loooking at hagon progressive springs, about £55. Is that a good price for springs/good manufacturer?? Don't wanna skimp but at the same time i am a student :D

Whats the procedure for replacing springs?? will the be small parts flying everywhere? as thats what looks like will happen in the manual

[fastdruid]

Yeah, that sounds about right for springs.

Again dunno about the NC24 but on the RC24 it's a piece of piss to replace fork springs. (NC30's and NC35's are rather trickier)

1) Put bike on stand so front wheel is off the floor (this is very important).
2) Remove fork dust caps
3) Remove fork caps keeping pressure on the cap so it doesn't fly off.
4) Remove fork springs (try not to drip oil everywhere).
5) Raise front wheel up as far as it will go
6) Measure oil height, adjust as required[1]
7) Fit new springs
8) Refit fork caps and dust caps
9) Enjoy!

Druid

[1] Hagon will recommend oil and heights, you may need to drain the old oil first[2] if it's different weight to standard. You will lose a bit from taking the springs out so you will probably need to top up.
[2] Not sure if there is a drain screw on the NC24, if so remove the screw with a large pan underneath, wait for it to drain then pump the forks to get the dregs out, when you replace with fresh fill up to the correct level then pump a few times and check level again.

[veefer400]

Raising the oil heights will make the forks more progressive as this will make the natural air gap "spring" at the top of the fork less - be careful to make the oil heights match or you will have one side harder than the other = 1 side with a blown seal...

I do agree that they are far too soft tho, too much dive under braking for one!

[castrol101]

Druid thanks that sounds very simple

however, err, what/where are the fork dust caps and fork caps??

Cheers