Forks Removal

So I called up my best friend Dennis - you may know him as DennisH on STLAR and ST-Owners or as BusaWhipped on Hayabusa.org - and we started removing the forks. Pretty much a textbook procedure;

Remove handlebars (2 allen head bolts and one special bolt per bar) and center plate (2 allen head bolts).
Remove handlebar riser plate (Helibars in this case).
Unbolt brake calipers and support them with wire.
Remove steering stem nut (our plan was to pull both forks and wheel together...).

Well, here's where our plan started to go South. The aforementioned steering stem nut is supposed to be torqued on at 76 ft-lb. We think this one might have a little more on it. We were both pulling on a 16" breaker bar and couldn't budge it. We soaked it in PB. We tried heating it up, but as it's steel and in direct contact with the aluminum upper bridge, the heat just dissipated in the aluminum. We tried everything short of pulling out the air chisel and the steering stem nut is still solidly in place. Oh well - plan B.

We ended up pulling the wheel off and pulling the forks individually. Here's some pictures!

The right fork is visibly bent - just above where the slider and the tube meet. The wheel is definitely out of true. Another friend is going to help with trying to straighten them and then I'll see if I can find a machine shop to x-ray them and make sure there are no cracks.

Here's the ST up on the new jack. I got the jack at Sears for $169. Weighs in at 44 pounds and will lift 1,500#. The best feature, though, is the automatic safety catch that will prevent an accidental let-down.

And then, of course, Dennis had to be a nut.

And I certainly couldn't be outdone!

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