Mans disease......when all else fails read the manual.

 

They make a tool so that you can avoid having your fork cap take off like a rocket. Even fully extended there is pressure under the fork cap due to the heavy coil spring. Tool is good for removing cap safely and allows you to get the cap back on easily as well.

J&P sells them under the Trock name. It is part number 910-051. I have one that is made by Burgh, looks to be the same design.

Think it is the best and safest way if you are going to disassemble your forks.

 

HA...one of my "not so bright" cousins did this w/their lawnmower once...looked pretty funny w/short bangs, no eyebrows/eyelashes & red face - he was lucky.

 

Live and learn, sounds like you're getting your fair share.

 

So you learned 2 things, the second is always take the old part because the odds of getting the right part the first time are next to nil.
A pic of the buffed fork tubes would be nice.

 

Hey toecat when I first started racing I decided that I could go much faster if I changed my fork oil. My bike was tied down on our 3 rail trailer in the garage and I drained the oil out, seemed weird that the oil shot out when I took the drain bolts out. Well then I took the top bolts out to pour in the correct amount of bel ray fork oil that I had already in my ratio rite. Well with the front end tied down you can only imagine the pressure the springs were putting on the top caps......holy fn cow like a shot that cap blew up into orbit and for good measures so did the spring and some of the fork oil that was still in the damper rod. I felt so stupid but heck I was 14 and had a little attention span problem. No injuries, damn lucky!

 

Placing telescopic forks on motorcycles, with springs under tension, is just one of natures many and wondrous ways of attempting to thin out the gene pool!

 

I think one of the rules in the "Man"ual is when you do something stupid look around to see if anyone seen you. If nobody saw it then you are good to go. It didn't happen and you suck it up and try not to limp around other guys.

 

One of my best friends son was doing the same thing four years ago. Had no idea what he was doing, too smart for his own good. He thought he didn't need a service manual and certainly would never trust a dealer to work on his bike. After some front end upgrades he put it all back together and took it for test ride. Something on the front end came apart at 40 mph and he crashed. They buried him 3 days later.
Do not take these things lightly. If you are in over your head, don't be too macho to admit it. Have a qualified tech do it and ride with peace of mind.
Ride Safe

 

reminds me of when i changed the fork oil on my 1st bike when i was 13.
i took the top caps off the fork, then proceeded to grab the front brake & collapsed the forks with my head over the bars.

yep...instant oil bath

wasn't as dangerous, but just as dumb