I have done a couple fork seal and spring upgrade projects now without a Fork Spring Compressing tool, so I looked on line and found some but decided not to pay the money. Then I remembered, (you know how old guys are) that I had a motorcycle shock spring compressor and after a few ideas for searching for a tool I came up with a tool built out of stuff in the garage and is very compact. All the pieces fit in a one gallon zip lock bag. The unfortunate part of this is that I did not take any pictures of using the tool. You are just going to have to believe me that is works well.
This was built so I could work on my ST1100's. It may work on other forks as well, maybe it would just require a different dampening rod hook.
I am not a welder but have a small MIG welder (so do not comment on the welds). The welds hold and that?s what is important. And I am not a machinist but have a small metal lathe and a drill press. So this was made with things in my garage, the only thing purchased were 3 eye bolts and a 10 x 1 mm Tap.
Materials that I had on hand.
? Shock Spring Compressor (I have had this for many years.)
? ?? steel bar
? 1 ?? galvanized steel pipe
? 2 big flat washers
? Fork spring spacer
I needed to make something that would screw on to the dampening rod. Some type of clamp to clamp on to the fork spring spacer and a spacer for the shock spring compressor. The shock spring compressor was left unmodified.
The whole assembly.
Shock Spring Compressor
The dampening rod hook is made from ?? steel rod with a 10 x 1 mm thread through the center and one ?? steel eye bolt. The eye bolt was welded to the opposite end of the thread.
Dampening Rod hook
The FSC Clamp was made from 1 ?? galvanized steel pipe and two 5/16? steel eye bolts. The ends of the bolts were ground to points to help grab the fork spring spacer or to center on the holes drilled in the fork spring spacers.
Clamp
Clamp with spacer
And a 1? long spacer for the Shock spring compressor, made from two lager flat washers and a piece of fork spring spacer tubing.
Shock Spring Compressor spacer
Here is the nice part of this. When you go to compress the fork spring you only need your two hands. I did mine without clamping the fork in a vise or have another person?s help. The dampening rod hook actually sits slightly above the spring spacer so it is easy to grab and put on the shock spring compressor hook. Once everything is hooked up just turn the crank and compress the spring until the retaining clip can be inserted.
Before reassembly I drilled a 1 ? 5/16? hole through both sides of the fork spring spacer so that the eye bolts could be screwed into the spacer.
Spring Spacer
Is this a perfect tool no and could use some refinement but I did build it before I disassembled the forks without any measurements. Everything was a guess. All total I have about 10 bucks in materials (eye bolts and the tap).
This was built so I could work on my ST1100's. It may work on other forks as well, maybe it would just require a different dampening rod hook.
I am not a welder but have a small MIG welder (so do not comment on the welds). The welds hold and that?s what is important. And I am not a machinist but have a small metal lathe and a drill press. So this was made with things in my garage, the only thing purchased were 3 eye bolts and a 10 x 1 mm Tap.
Materials that I had on hand.
? Shock Spring Compressor (I have had this for many years.)
? ?? steel bar
? 1 ?? galvanized steel pipe
? 2 big flat washers
? Fork spring spacer
I needed to make something that would screw on to the dampening rod. Some type of clamp to clamp on to the fork spring spacer and a spacer for the shock spring compressor. The shock spring compressor was left unmodified.
The whole assembly.
Shock Spring Compressor
The dampening rod hook is made from ?? steel rod with a 10 x 1 mm thread through the center and one ?? steel eye bolt. The eye bolt was welded to the opposite end of the thread.
Dampening Rod hook
The FSC Clamp was made from 1 ?? galvanized steel pipe and two 5/16? steel eye bolts. The ends of the bolts were ground to points to help grab the fork spring spacer or to center on the holes drilled in the fork spring spacers.
Clamp
Clamp with spacer
And a 1? long spacer for the Shock spring compressor, made from two lager flat washers and a piece of fork spring spacer tubing.
Shock Spring Compressor spacer
Here is the nice part of this. When you go to compress the fork spring you only need your two hands. I did mine without clamping the fork in a vise or have another person?s help. The dampening rod hook actually sits slightly above the spring spacer so it is easy to grab and put on the shock spring compressor hook. Once everything is hooked up just turn the crank and compress the spring until the retaining clip can be inserted.
Before reassembly I drilled a 1 ? 5/16? hole through both sides of the fork spring spacer so that the eye bolts could be screwed into the spacer.
Spring Spacer
Is this a perfect tool no and could use some refinement but I did build it before I disassembled the forks without any measurements. Everything was a guess. All total I have about 10 bucks in materials (eye bolts and the tap).
