Have not been on here for a while as just not been riding much but plan to do more now. Bike; 08 Blade, had it since 600 miles and now done 15,000, never been over and only ridden on road. Last year the MOT through up an advisory on a bit of fork play, so had the forks apart but the bushes looked fine. Replaced the bushes and seals with aftermarket ones which made things worse, so stripped things down again and measured the new bushes...they were thinner than the OE ones so were returned. Then bought a set of Honda ones, these were the same thickness OE ones, installed them but still have a little play. I have put the fork bottom on a vice and the fork tube can move sideways a little, less than a millimetre I think. The bike rides fine, no wobbles or juddering etc but am stumped as to what to do next. Can the bushes be shimed ?? I've done many forks before with no issues but not had this, do the 08 Blade forks have a little play ?? Any help much appreciated. Thanks
The only logical explanation for forks to develop free play (assuming they have not been crashed, bent, etc.) is if the top bushing (with the sliding surface on the outside) has worn into the inner surface of the upper tube. However for that to happen, the bushing must have been completely stripped of the Teflon coating. Is there anything of the sorts? Furthermore 15k miles is practically nothing...
Thanks for your reply Martin, as said above, the original bushes were showed no signs of wear and obviously the new Honda ones do not but still have a problem...but I may have sorted it. Need to get it all back together and the mot is soon so that will be interesting.
