So I've huffed and puffed and can't get my fork filling plugs out.

To whole top spins when I turn it...so I clamped the top bit and tried to get the Allen bolt out.  Any more pressure and I will snap the bolt.

Am I missing a trick?

Mike

Don't believe there is a secret Mike, I had my trusty Missus hold the big spanner onto the fork top bolt (the thing that spins around, and I had an allen key socket and ratchet with extension and just undid the allen bolt. Didn't seem to be too bad. Maybe some penetrating oil might help.
I did this with the fairing on so was a bit cramped. I did not see any signs of Locktite stuff when I got them out.
Good Luck.

Of course the top just spins around, it's not a bolt. There is a filler bolt in the middle of the plug, you need to stop the pug from spinning and undo the bolt itself.

If you ant to remove the entire plug, you need to push it down on the spring then remove the wire circlip that stops it from coming out.

Al

Try some heat.  Given the O-ring, penetrating oil won't help.

All sorted chaps.  A good squirt of WD40 eased it off.

But my god the oil that cakes out was a slight metallic colour and a cross between snot and water.

No idea how long that has been in there but now there is some nice purple 10w in...let's see if it makes a difference when I ride it next.

Mike

Sounds about right for fork oil but you forgot to mention that it smells like........ Ummmm........well.......two truck loads of it.
Probably pay to give it a second change after a short ride.

So i changed my oil and went for a long ride to see what differance it made.

It has made the brakes feel better....there is less dive in the front...less jaring over bumps throught the bars....all kind of what i expectd.  But not much on the handling.

The rear tyre is sqaured off a fair bit now so it will go at the weekend..but i am getting some strange handling thingys going on.

I can ride along quite happily and then hit a groove in the road.  The bike will lurch to the left or right and klean over at about 20 degrees and stay there...riding along in a straight line until i heave it back up straight.

Another vevry odd thing i get is when filtering in lines of traffic...if i hit a seam in the road or white line the bike will not ride over it straight but will again lurch one side or the other.  This frankly is dangerous when close to cars.

I've have ridden many other bike with worse tyres than this and never ever had this happen.

I am hoping that new rubber will fix it...well it can't hurt.

Mike

Sounds like normal behaviour of bias-belted tyres. Some are worse than others and as the tyre wears and squares, it will be more noticeable. 

It's a phenomena that those of a certain age will know well. I've known younger people brought up on radial bike tyres be horrified.

The reality is that they will skip off road studs, follow gouges and step off wet road markings. However, it's a momentary thing and even the worst bias-belted tyres that feel like wooden hoops, will grip once the moment is over.

It's often made worse by the rider who tenses-up and grips the bars in anticipation.

Have you checked the tyre pressures recently? Low pressures coupled with worn tyres can give you some really odd handling.

true indeed

new tyres are good .. highly recommended

The tyres are 2 years old and pilot activ sports so not an old design.

Mike

Mike101 wrote:The tyres are 2 years old and pilot activ sports so not an old design.

Mike

Hmm.

Michelin make great radials and I have no experience of the Pilot Activ but their older bias-belted offerings were among the worst for feel and reacting to studs and over-banding.

I'd recommend swapping to Pirelli Demon Sports when you next need a pair.

+1 mike

they don't seem to follow lines at all ....till well over 15,000 k on the front ...even then plenty of life left in them ....just over 25,000 for this one ...but needs a change soon

Sport demons ordered for fitting this Saturday..i'll report back next week.

Mike

That's if you aren't still out riding 

RicK G wrote:That's if you aren't still out riding 

I wish..i have to go home sometimes...the wife needs me..to take out the rubbish!!

Mike

New boots fitted and wow what a difference.  The  K now handles like a bike should and not like it's out to kill me at every opportunity.

So a great result.

Mike

good result ....enjoy !!!

Mike101 wrote:New boots fitted and wow what a difference.  The  K now handles like a bike should and not like it's out to kill me at every opportunity.

So a great result.

Mike

In your case it's not quite the case but the tyres just creep up on you and you don't usually notice them going away until you get to a familiar place and oops what's up and then spend the next hour analyzing what is wrong then Oh DOH its the tyres dopey.  I think that would be the one that still occasionally catches me out, more so now that I don't put up the miles like I used to do.
Then of course when you put a new set on, oh gee I had almost forgotten how nice it feels.

I think the problem here was that I got the bike with knackered tyres so didn't know any better.

But all sorted now.

Mike

indeed mike 
I think I had to relearn all the bad things that I needed to do to stay on the bike ...after months and months of riding

wow what a difference it made

hows the demons ? after you have had time to scrub then off a little ......good ?

I've only done 50 miles on them but so far the mid corner wobbles are gone. There is smooth a true tracking from the front now also.

When I go into a fast corner the K will do what I want now rather than what the next bump or rut tells it to do.

Mike