Fork Maintenance

On Thursday, with some free time on my hands, I decided to work on my GSR. On an earlier trip, my passenger had unknowingly pushed the side bags backwards, melting my exhaust panels. I actually have a carbon-covered set I got from Oğuz, but I do not want to use them before painting the bike. I took the panels off and attacked them with sandpaper; when that did not work, I tried an angle grinder. A thin layer of filler, some more sanding and primer made them usable again. With my spray gun, I applied some paint I had mixed by eye. Just as I was thinking the colour did not match, the seals I had ordered arrived. I was surprised and delighted: DHL Express had brought them from the shop in America to my door in two days. When paying, I had grumbled about the high shipping charge; now, on the contrary, I thought it was worth it.

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As you can see, the seals are not original parts. They are products developed by All Balls. They supposedly last ten times as long as OEM seals, with half the friction; we shall see over time. After looking through the package, I sanded the panels a little and lightened my paint some more. I got it right on the second try. That pleased me too. I had expected matching it by eye to take more work.

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While removing the panels, I also saw that the left-hand seal, already in a poor state like the other one, had started leaking. I was not bothered; my new seals had arrived anyway.

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On Friday I went to Altunel Servis. While Murat removed the forks, I took off the headlight fairing. Oğuz started removing the handlebar. Oğuz and I fitted the handlebar together; there was still work to do on the forks. Fitting the old bar-end weights would have required some modification, so I gave up on that and decided to get weights that suited the new handlebar.

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Taking the forks apart is not really a big problem, but it is something of an ordeal if you do not know how. It was a good thing I had not attempted it alone at home; it requires tools, and even at the workshop we had to invent a small tool. Oğuz claimed the credit, but if you ask me, it was actually my idea. :P In the end we dismantled the forks and replaced the seals. Along the way we measured the other parts according to the service manual to see whether anything else needed replacing. I fell in love with Suzuki again: none of the parts had even come close to the specified minimum limits.

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We started putting everything back together. I think the whole job took us four hours. The GSR was ready for its first test, and Oğuz sacrificed himself (!) to take the first test ride. :)

There were no problems; the forks were as good as new. The wider handlebar had also added a little more mischief to the GSR. I rode home with a big smile. This is how servicing should be, I thought: when you collect your vehicle, it should be in a condition that makes you smile. Like making up with a lover after falling out...

Thank you to Altunel Servis. Not just for doing their job. I enjoyed the whole process and felt that I belonged. Like playing with Lego with our friends as children. It was lovely to spend time together among friends, joking around, and then feel we had accomplished something at the end. Thank you again.