LCGB Forums

Is there a knack to removing bottom push in fork buffers.
Iam using the ring spanner method to hold up the fork links but buffers won’t shift.
I don’t want to damage anything.
Is there way to easily remove these.

Looked for videos but they are all bolt in buffers which appear more easy to remove

I use a wide blade flat screwdriver. push it into the rubber about 5-10mm up from the fork boot surface. when you push in it should push the rubber out of the location lip on the forks.

gp200ts1 wrote:I use a wide blade flat screwdriver. push it into the rubber about 5-10mm up from the fork boot surface. when you push in it should push the rubber out of the location lip on the forks.

Same as

I did this recently:

Stop Removal by KTM Marky, on Flickr

You need to get the spring compressed and as said above just go at the rubber with a good sized flat blade screwdriver. Just need to get it out of the channel it sits in to pop it out. Don't worry about destroying the rubber, but be a little careful not to destroy the channel that's spot welded (I presume) to the main fork.

Getting it all back together is equally entertaining!

LambrettaMarky wrote:I did this recently:

Stop Removal by KTM Marky, on Flickr

You need to get the spring compressed and as said above just go at the rubber with a good sized flat blade screwdriver. Just need to get it out of the channel it sits in to pop it out. Don't worry about destroying the rubber, but be a little careful not to destroy the channel that's spot welded (I presume) to the main fork.

Getting it all back together is equally entertaining!

Thank you for that much appreciated.
I’ve made the mistake of removing the fork link bolt and trying to do it with forks still on.

Pleasure mate - all sorted now?

Whilst I think doing this with a spanner is good, for those that struggle with this, Keith Newman has made some of these which I think have been made by others.

https://k2customs.co.uk/products/fork-s ... essor-tool

nickw wrote:Whilst I think doing this with a spanner is good, for those that struggle with this, Keith Newman has made some of these which I think have been made by others.

https://k2customs.co.uk/products/fork-s ... essor-tool

Less chance of decapitating yourself with a flying 27mm ring spanner too!

nickw wrote:Whilst I think doing this with a spanner is good, for those that struggle with this, Keith Newman has made some of these which I think have been made by others.

https://k2customs.co.uk/products/fork-s ... essor-tool

i made a batch of these for taffspeed over 30 years ago

Hmm. Spanner and ratchet strap......Russian Roulette springs to mind!

Fast n Furious wrote:Hmm. Spanner and ratchet strap......Russian Roulette springs to mind!

Yep - gotta be careful

Fast n Furious wrote:Hmm. Spanner and ratchet strap......Russian Roulette springs to mind!

I totally agree, especially as a ratchet strap can have one end in the top of the forks, the other around the link

Eliminate the spanner, before it eliminates you!

I can assure you I made sure it wasn't going to move and if by any odd chance it did I was out of the way. It takes a few seconds to remove the rubbers then the spanner came off in a controlled manner.

No drama if you keep out of the firing line & do it quickly..

LambrettaMarky wrote:I can assure you I made sure it wasn't going to move and if by any odd chance it did I was out of the way. It takes a few seconds to remove the rubbers then the spanner came off in a controlled manner.

No drama if you keep out of the firing line & do it quickly..

I get that, but the task can be undertaken with just a ratchet strap

Even with the forks in situ, the strap can be wrapped around the forks near the crown with the other hook positioned anywhere stable. TBH I doubt the spanner would fail, it’s just that I can see no benefit in using it. If the ratchet hooks are too large to fit the the link slots, the strap itself will fit with the hook around the strap itself…..

I must have been lucky over the years but I've never used anything apart from a spanner to remove or insert new blocks. It has always been a simple process not an eye losing one

Warkton Tornado No.1 wrote:

LambrettaMarky wrote:I can assure you I made sure it wasn't going to move and if by any odd chance it did I was out of the way. It takes a few seconds to remove the rubbers then the spanner came off in a controlled manner.

No drama if you keep out of the firing line & do it quickly..

I get that, but the task can be undertaken with just a ratchet strap

Even with the forks in situ, the strap can be wrapped around the forks near the crown with the other hook positioned anywhere stable. TBH I doubt the spanner would fail, it’s just that I can see no benefit in using it. If the ratchet hooks are too large to fit the the link slots, the strap itself will fit with the hook around the strap itself…..

Leverage is the only reason to get the spring well compressed & yes it could be done with a strap alone.

Maybe my Indian springs were part of why I needed a lever.

They were rock hard and pretty much didn't compress when riding which is why I wanted to change them, so getting them compressed for disassembly needed reasonable force. For sure the replacements from Cam Lam were more forgiving to assemble & haven't ridden with them yet, so expect a good improvement with these and the new dampers.

LambrettaMarky wrote:Pleasure mate - all sorted now?

No can’t get the buffer to budge, even resorted to pushing hot iron in to destroy it.
Bit concerned how much the gp spring is compressed as I don’t won’t it flying out

Have you got the forks out and upside down in a sturdy vice secured to a workbench? If you have, then you should be able to do this with a ring spanner (10 or 11cms, I can’t remember which). If you put the ring spanner over the end of the fork link and push down hard, wedging it into your chest, you should have a free hand to hold the screwdriver as mentioned above.

The only time I have not been able to do this is when I stupidly thought it would be a good idea to fit double thickness spring stops (they last no more than a week, if my memory serves me right).

No forks are still in scooter