Front Forks

Well I broke down and finally purchased the RIII. I got it used with 5000 mi. Previous owner was older easy rider. A thousand miles later I have a blown front fork seal. And no I don't do wheelies. Its just out of warranty and Triumph won't cover it even though its the first one they have herd of or had in there shop. I have a Roadstar with 40,000 mi. that I put on it no problem with front forks or anything else for that matter. My Thunderbirdsport has 11000 mi. and no problemo's.
The only thing about buying Triumph is the dealers are far and few between when you need service. So I don't have to trailer the bike and save a little money I go to pull the front forks off and the only thing holding me back from getting the forks off is the front axle. The dealer said the spark plug wrench should take it off not! The axle needs a 19mm hex and the spark plug wrench is 18mm inside and at least 21mm outside. Can't find a 19mm anywhere near me so I guess I'll have to find a 19mm bolt and drill a hole in it or weld it to a bar so that I can have a tool in my tool box in case I may need to take the front wheel off again. Why would a manufacturer not provide a tool to remove the front axle? My bike has been down for 2 weeks now because you have to make an appointment to get your bike fixed.
I live in Texas and its motorcycle weather 12mo a year. I miss my new ride. After a 1000 miles and a 1000 smiles of ride time this suks.
Moral of this post get yourself a tool for the front axle if you want to fix anything up front yourself.

[REGULATOR]

go to auto parts store and buy a sparkplug socket that is 19 mm, should work, thats how I get the axle off my sprint..

[YETI]

hey picks, don't feel so bad I bought mine new and at about 3000 miles I noticed oil leaking on the left side of the fork, mine was taken care of under warr. but they told me that it happens because they have seen it before. its not a big repair it only took an hour and they did a oil change in that same hour. I'm sorry that yours is not covered by the warr. you might look into transferring the old warr. from the previous owner if you haven't already, if you cant its not a very expensive repair and it is not a common thing as I no other rocket owners who have had no fork seal problems, you and myself just got ones that the forks probably weren't sealed right on the assembly line. once you take care of this you probably wont have this problem again for many and many thousands of miles, hope you enjoy your rocket as I do mine. good luck! :chug:

Thanks for the good news yeti. Can't wait to get back on the road with my Riii.

[tbsrider2000]

Hey... You live just down the road from me.. I thought I had seen another Rocket once around here. Lets hook up some time and get some riding in.

I don't think the fork seal is a common problem. I have 19,000 miles on mine and have not had a problem. If you need someone to help you take it up to Austin, I can help. I have a trailer, or being a fork seal, I would think you would still be able to ride it.. I just retired from the Air Force, so I have plenty of time on my hands, so if I can help.. let me know..

I see you have a TBS too!!!! I sure do miss mine! I love my Rocket and it fits everything I need, but I put 38,000 miles on my '00 TBS before selling it to buy a Road Glide.. 6 months later, I sold the Road Glide and got back on a Triumph were I belong..
Dave

[ This message was edited by: tbsrider2000 on 2007-02-17 21:18 ]

Hey TBSRIDER2000 I met you about a year ago after you got your bike. You had stopped off at the Steak Co to get an order to go. You have a beautiful bike. I like those bags too. Anyway I took the forks off myself and took them to Lone Star BMW today so I wouldn't have to trailer the bike. I didn't want to ride it and take a chance on the fork going dry, it had already leaked considerablly. When I got it off and tested it by compressing it on the ground the fork oil wasn't dampening on compression or rebound. The Thunderbird I have is actually my wife's bike and she loves it but doesn't ride except on the weekend. We need to get together for a ride soon. Email me mhess@nbtexas.org.