How do I check front fork travel?

[Eric]

I'll be installing a Shinko 705 (130/80-17) on the front of my bike and wanted to know how to check the fender clearance. I do have the SW-Motech engine guard installed and plan to rase the fender for extra tire clearance. Other postings on the NC700 forum tell me that I may have a problem with the fender hitting the cross bar on the engine guard.
If I remove the top caps on fork tubes in order to check the travel limits and fender clearance will springs, seals and oil come flying out? My plan is to place a jack under the skid plate and lift up the front end until its just off the ground, then remove to top tube caps. Hopefully then I can slide the lower part of the forks (With the fender and tire in place) to check if there are any hits. I would hate to have a bunch of stuff falling out on the floor and not be able to re-assembly the thing.
Thanks for the help.

 

[Old Can Ride]

Howdy from Texas. Send a PM to Bamamate, as I believe he has done what you are talking about.

 

[bamamate]

The rubbing all depends on how high you raise the fender. I raised mine higher than most so yes I had a rubbing issue. I think if you only raise it the amount suggested in that thread then it won't rub or maybe only rub under max compression.

If you take fork caps off there is a spacer and the spring under it that will try to escape. Keep your hand over the fork cap so you can relieve the pressure slowly. It isn't a lot of pressure but is enough to fling the cap and maybe the spacer across the floor. Spring and spacer can then be lifted out. Nothing else will try to escape. You have to further disassembly to get anything else out. I haven't tried it but I'm suspecting that compressing the forks at this point would push some fork oil out of the tube when you got close to the bottom of travel.

An alternative, which I did, wrap the middle of the SWMotech bar with an old piece of bicycle inner tube as padding, handy to keep around the house, and then coat the bottom edge with bright red lipstick. Drive the bike over a curb or something and see if any lipstick transfers to the fender.

 

[hojo]

Fork travel and fender clearance are two different beasts. One easy way to check 'fork travel' is to put some tie bands (secured loosely) around each fork at, go for an aggressive ride (take a few speed bumps, ect) and then note the difference of where the tie bands are located on the forks.

 

[maxwellian]

You can compress the forks fully, and the oil will be 4 inches below the top of the fork tubes. The springs however, will stick out the top, and be dripping with oil, so use some rags to catch any drips. Also, make sure the bike doesn't tip too far or to quickly forward and fold your centerstand up.

 

[Eric]

Thanks for the ideas. It's still winter up here in Maine with over 2 feet on snow on the ground, so I'm looking for a good way to check my fender clearance while the bike is in the shop. I think I'll first try Maxwellian's suggestion for checking the clearance and if there is a problem, I'd like to find it while I'm not moving. Thanks also for the tip about securing the center stand.
- Eric