K11 Owners Group

[Corkboy]

Well,
the words of Scott Anderson turned out to be prophetic

"'d probably suggest you replace the brass slider bushings as well as the seals.
Otherwise if you just replace the seals, and not the worn bushings, you will just develop a new leak shortly... "

I replaced the seal on the left leg less than 1000 miles ago, by the numbers. Fork off, slider polished, seal slid down from the top. Dust cover and gaiter back on.

Now, I'm looking at doing it all again. Lesson learned.

So, is there any trick to getting the bushings out? The one on the inner tube looks easy iirc, just a split ring that can be levered out of the groove and slid off. What about the one on the fork leg/ When the seal is out, and the washer , will it just pull out, or is there a knack?

I've never replaced them before.

By the way, the bike has 50k miles. Don't know if this is normal bushing-replacement mileage. The other leg is fine. (It would have to be the one with the ABS sensor that's leaking of course )
_________________
'08 K1200GT
'87 K100RS 0140995 (Gone)
'97 K1100LT 0188024 (Gone)
'08 Transalp 700 (Gone)

[Scott_Anderson]

While they aren't the same dimensions, they both are split for easier install/removal. When you get the upper tube out of the lower one, they should be fairly easy to change.

It wouldn't hurt to run your VIN just to verify your forks, but if they are the stock black ones. Then these should be the part #'s. I think the SE trim version might possibly be different but I can't confirm one way or the other, other than they are a different color.
31 42 2 310 346 is the part for the stanchion.(upper tube)
31 42 2 310 347 is for the fork slider.(lower housing).

It's not so much about the amount of miles, but more about the quality of road, throttle control, etc... of those miles.... how much up/down travel of the forks.

The stock fork fluid weight was 7.5, quite a few riders have gone to 10w or more(and new springs) to firm up the front end some and help reduce the fork travel(dive).
_________________
Ride safe.



1997 K1100LT 0302488
2017 FLHTK Ultra Limited
Garmin StreetPilot 2820
Garmin Zumo 550
Garmin Zumo XT
"One who does not ask questions is ashamed to learn" Danish proverb
1995 K1100LT 0302044(R.I.P.)
1997 R1100RT ZC62149(sold)

[Corkboy]

Thanks Scott,
They are standard forks. A call will be placed to motorworks tomorrow and looks like I'm getting up close and personal again this weekend.

My maintenance to riding ratio is going too far out of whack at this stage. I need to get some miles in to bring it back on an even keel.
_________________
'08 K1200GT
'87 K100RS 0140995 (Gone)
'97 K1100LT 0188024 (Gone)
'08 Transalp 700 (Gone)

[Jim]

Corkboy - there's a bit of information here, as a well as a pic that might help you some:

http://largiader.com/tech/k11forks/

That little split retainer all the way to the right of the spring cover in the pic linked above is a bit tricky - to say the least.

That pic shows the original progressive rate spring - I replaced the progressive springs with linear springs based on the advice of Jim Lindemann, suspension genius (RIP). I use 7.5 weight in the K. The springs had lost their springiness - I tried using heavier oil, but ultimately had both forks rebuilt.

While you're at it, you might as well do both of them.

Make sure you use the right amount of fork oil. They take more on rebuild than when you're just changing fluids - and one side takes more than the other - should be something in tech stickies about that.
_________________
Jim
1997 K1100LTSE 94,000 - still has gremlins!
1995 R100RT Classic 16,650 crashed - repaired!
1992 K75RTP 46,000

"We shall not all die, but we shall all be changed."