I made a boo boo

[Jakobi]

Well.. well.. First time in forks and I was doing a simple and straight fluid change only. All was going well. Measured the stock air gap at 130mm. Bit higher than I though but oh well. Thought I'll make a small change only. 135mm. Yep sweet. All good! Go to put it back together. Running smoothly until...

Go to test the rebound clicker on the first fork after assembly. Its not working right. Removed the top cap again and cracked the lock nut. The cap backs off and the clicker is still sitting there in above the damper rod. Threads stripped I expressed my frustration with a few common words before wondering how the hell I'm going to get out of this one.

I inspected the other leg and the only damage is to the brass screw (the clicker itself) which can be pushed out of the top cap. Essentially all I need is the new clicker, but will I be able to get one? or will this end up being than ben.

More than anything I'm disappointed in myself for doing this. Upon assebly I just failed to take enough care in making sure everything was lined up as it should have been. *sigh*

[GGEvo]

Oh bugger mate sorry to hear that!!!

I have nothing to offer other than give Scotty's a call in the morning and see what they think. Until then, crack open a stubbie!!

[Jakobi]

Had a few rums since and been googling. Theres sweet FA on anything apart from ohlins who definately sell these as a replacement part for some of theirs. I have heard of husky owners getting them replaced too. Unsure which forks they are running.

I'll be talking to my dealer tomorrow and have shot an email to les LT Racing, and to Scotty. Heres hoping I can get it fixed by next weekend. I guess at worste I'll be up for some new fork caps. Best case just the damaged part.

[Bailey28]

I can see it now in the for sale section:

"Want to trade, S3 head and inserts for Sachs fork internals"

Sorry to hear that, I guess these Sachs have a very sensitive top cap. I've changed oil before many times on other forks with no issues.

BTW, what oil did you buy to replace the Sachs oil?

Ohlins makes their TTX internals that fit the Sachs. At this point, I would look for someone who replaced their Sachs internals and maybe try to get a deal on those.

[Jakobi]

Its not the actual internals that are damaged. The cartridge and rod is still in good working order. Its just the brass screw that pushes against the rod for rebound damping. Nothing flash about it. To be honest I'm not even sure if the Ohlins use their own caps or just use the same as the Sachs.

I'm not stressing too bad.. I've learnt another lesson and whats done is done.. Tomorrow I'll find out how much this mistake is going to cost me

I have replaced with Silkolene RFS Racing Fork Oil 5W with 135mm air gap.

[GMP]

Les had a fairly detailed article on his site about this fork and its quirks, and this was one of them. Are the damper rod threads damaged as well?

[swazi_matt]

suppose you could take out the other one and head down to your nearest engineering shop and ask them to make up another one?

[Jakobi]

Glenn,

I luckily no damage to the damper rod. Only the screw itself. I have spoke to les who has passed on a part number and pointed me back to my local dealer. The dealer followed up with importer and advises can't get this part individually. What he suggested next was what Matt has suggested.

Taking the good and the damaged down to the dealer who will run them to one of his trusted machinists to work magic on. He advised this will be my cheapest fix as new caps are $150 a piece and the ones without the preload adjustment like I have on my bike are... unavailable!

Seeing that its only a small piece of brass with 2 o-rings and some thread I don't envisage it being too hard to have made up.

[Jakobi]

Sigh sigh.. Not too hard to make up but expensive.. Was quoted more than a cap for the hours involved in programming a machine to make up the one part.. Said person is going to see if they can do a shonky fix for me either by adding some silver solder and retapping the threads or somehow attaching a new piece of brass to thread up. What a pain and I'm still kicking myself.

Just found this http://www.ktm-parts.com/mm5/merchan...de=BE201402509 listed on ktm/gasser parts and have sent an email. Good price too. Hopefully will hear back soon but in the mean time I'd like to know if any kind souls may be interested in getting one and mailing it to me express in an envelope? I can imagine it's going to cost 300times more for postage than the part.

Love you guys!

Part in engrish - O-ring STOPPER MORE REGULATOR SUSPENSION

[swazi_matt]

just a thought, since it is not really a stressed part, have you thought about getting it 3D scanned and printed in polycarbonate, doubt the poly is much weaker than brass