Giff Posted March 21, 2023 Report Share Posted March 21, 2023 Can anyone help with advice. I have a Majesty 320 which I have had from new but not ridden since 1988. I am in the process of stripping it down for painting, new bearings etc. The forks have a large hex top cap in them which seems very stiff. I'm not sure how to dissemble them either. I will need to strip them down to refill and maybe fit new seals, and also the top of them is slightly pitted and could do with re-chroming. I think the bike, built by John Shirt, was a TY250, bored out with a bigger flywheel so the forks will be TY250 1978-ish. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feetupfun Posted March 22, 2023 Report Share Posted March 22, 2023 Yes a 320 Majesty would have come with TY250D or E forks. They are pretty much the same design inside as the forks on just about every dirt bike from the 1970s. Yes the TY250 top caps have internal hex drive, as do many Yamahas. A parts manual for TY250B,C,D or E and a service manual for twinshock TY250 will give you lots of info. As for doing the job, the fact that you are asking how to take the caps off tells me that you haven't done much work on motorbikes before. Here are a few things that might not be obvious but doing them will save you trouble. Loosen the top clamp bolt for the fork tube before trying to undo the top cap. Loosen the bottom fork bolt before you take off the top caps. It's the steel internal hex drive (allen head) bolt in the bottom end of the forks (not the screw in the side at the bottom). You may have trouble undoing the bottom bolt, because the part inside that it screws into can turn unless it is held still. There's lots of ways to hold them still. One way is to loosen that bolt with the fork spring compressed inside. When you do get to the point of unscrewing the top caps, beware that the cap might fly up and hit you in the eye. They usually have spring force pushing up on them. People have been blinded by doing this part of the job without precautions. Oil and sometimes a bit of compressed air will come out as you undo things. The oil can squirt out pretty fast if you undo things before letting any gas pressure out. The little screws near the bottom are for draining the oil. New aftermarket fork tubes are available. Re-chroming is also available but can be more expensive. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
majesty Posted March 22, 2023 Report Share Posted March 22, 2023 Hi Giff, Welcome to the forum. If you would like to PM me your direct e mail address, I can send you a folder with various TY/Majesty info which will help you rebuild the bike. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giff Posted March 22, 2023 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2023 Brilliant thankyou geofsmith@me.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giff Posted March 22, 2023 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2023 Thanks feetupfun Thanks for the advice and the safety warning. Yes I am not currently used to working on motorbikes as I currently ride eMTB and things are a bit lighter and lots of uTubes as well! Thanks for the new fork tube suggestion that maybe a good option….after I have carefully stripped them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
majesty Posted March 22, 2023 Report Share Posted March 22, 2023 4 hours ago, Giff said: Brilliant thankyou geofsmith@me.com Folder sent by Wetransfer. Hope it helps👍 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
section swept Posted April 25, 2023 Report Share Posted April 25, 2023 Don’t forget to support the bike before you do anything to the forks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giff Posted April 25, 2023 Author Report Share Posted April 25, 2023 Yes thanks. All stripped down now and I decided to go for new fork stanchions as the chroming was quite bad. The frame has gone off today for powder coating and lots of bags with labelled bits. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giff Posted May 10, 2023 Author Report Share Posted May 10, 2023 Hello everyone Can anyone tell me how to compress the springs in the TY250 forks to rebuild them. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feetupfun Posted May 11, 2023 Report Share Posted May 11, 2023 On 5/10/2023 at 5:19 PM, Giff said: Hello everyone Can anyone tell me how to compress the springs in the TY250 forks to rebuild them. Thanks. What stage are you at in the rebuild? I'm trying to work out why you need to compress the springs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giff Posted May 11, 2023 Author Report Share Posted May 11, 2023 Sorry I posted this before I started the re-assembly. Now I have done it I have just pushed it down with the top cap and it’s ok. Thanks for the reply. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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