fork reassembly

[flathead1957]

I am in the process of reassembling my "46" WL, and have come to the point where the forks have to be reassembled and reinstalled. I had them powder coated, so everything was removed. I am concerned about getting the two sections back together, since the springs are new and obviously not on the forks yet. If anyone has any guidance, it would be much appreciated. I have never restored a bike before, so all of this is new to me. Any other advise, with reguard to the rest of the assembly would also be appreciated.

[koanes]

I try something different almost every time I put a fork together. About a month ago I was assembling the fork on my 46FL with a little help from my wife. I was using my trusty c-clamp with a couple of small rubber pads to protect the fresh powder coat. The rigid fork was already mounted to the bike which was on a stand about 14" off the ground. I had asked my wife to make sure the clamp didn't slip off while I started the nuts. As soon as I went to start the first retainer, the clamp slipped off and the spring fork shot to the floor, landing between her big toe and the next. If it would have hit her toes or foot there would have been hospital bills to pay. I dug out some windsheild support rod studs and some allthread rod and nuts. I fastened the studs to the holes for the ride control/headlight mount, ran the rod threw the stud holes and pulled it together easily. An old fart (80) I know says his favorite method is to use a ratcheting strap tie down (without the hooks, like Harley uses to ship bikes) and some cloth to protect the paint to pull them together. Be sure and protect the bottom of the legs so they don't rub each other. Good Luck, Kyle

[Tommo]

Fork spring replacement

I built a very simple tool to compress fork springs with that works very successfully and does not endanger life and limb.
It is described in the custom tools section and can be viewed by selecting "the beginning" and hitting go. It will appear as "Recoil spring removal" by joekam.
Tommo.

[flathead1957]

I appreciate the responses to my question. I ended up going to the hardware store and buying an 11 inch "C" clamp. I attached each end of the clamp to either the fork top or bottom brace, then tightened it down. It worked easily and with a rag at each part to protect the finish, no paint was harmed at all.