Damper Rod Holding Tool

[NateDNW]

Hey Guys,

Does anyone know what the proper damper rod holding tool is for the front fork?  Those stupid f***ing bolts are harder to get out than any other bike i've worked on. 

I have something on order from partzilla but im not super confident that its the correct part.  The first part of the part number matches the service manual but the second part doesnt.  Does anyone out there have the actual tool and know what it is/where to get it?  If not, what DIY did you come up with? 

Thanks

[DewMan]

5 hours ago, NateDNW said:

Hey Guys,

Does anyone know what the proper damper rod holding tool is for the front fork?  Those stupid f***ing bolts are harder to get out than any other bike i've worked on. 

I have something on order from partzilla but im not super confident that its the correct part.  The first part of the part number matches the service manual but the second part doesnt.  Does anyone out there have the actual tool and know what it is/where to get it?  If not, what DIY did you come up with? 

Thanks

I was able to loosen 4 damper rod bolts on FZ-07s ( two different bikes) on the first try by using an air impact gun.

I placed the fork upside down over a wooden dowel... aka broom handle or similar, after pulling springs and dumping the fork oil.

Just don't let up on the trigger until the bolt is all the way unthreaded so it's less likely to free spin the damper rod. 

 

Good Luck. 

 

 

[Evill_Ed]

I had used a few long 1/2-in drive socket extensions with a 9/16 tapered socket. The extensions reached down to the damper rod and the tapered socket tip wedge fit in the top of the damper rod. I held pressure on it while I hit the bolts with an impact gun and got them out. BTW - I had to cut down an allen wrench to make my own allen socket, my standard one was too short (what else is new ?) to reach the bolt. 

I have also used  PVC pipe (1/2-in maybe) tapped (jammed) into the damper rod on other forks to hold them.

 

Good luck

[Mad]

If you are talking about the bolt at the bottom of the fork ... I hate those... installing the k-tech cartridges= 30 min , removing that bolt on the left fork = 5 h 

I was so close to a complete fork swap 

[NateDNW]

23 minutes ago, Mad said:

If you are talking about the bolt at the bottom of the fork ... I hate those... installing the k-tech cartridges= 30 min , removing that bolt on the left fork = 5 h 

I was so close to a complete fork swap 

Yeah its been a huge pain in the ass.  its probably been one of the most difficult bolts that ive ever encountered and I design/build industrial machinery for a living...

[NateDNW]

3 hours ago, Evill_Ed said:

I had used a few long 1/2-in drive socket extensions with a 9/16 tapered socket. The extensions reached down to the damper rod and the tapered socket tip wedge fit in the top of the damper rod. I held pressure on it while I hit the bolts with an impact gun and got them out. BTW - I had to cut down an allen wrench to make my own allen socket, my standard one was too short (what else is new ?">) to reach the bolt. 

I have also used  PVC pipe (1/2-in maybe) tapped (jammed) into the damper rod on other forks to hold them.

 

Good luck

Ha, thanks.  I've tride a tapered wooden dowel, broom stick, and some other random stuff but the 9/16 tapered socket sounds like it would do a better job as its metal on metal and wont deform like the wood. Ill give it a shot!

[Evill_Ed]

16 minutes ago, NateDNW said:

Ha, thanks.  I've tride a tapered wooden dowel, broom stick, and some other random stuff but the 9/16 tapered socket sounds like it would do a better job as its metal on metal and wont deform like the wood. Ill give it a shot!

Here is the actual socket I used.  The tip is 18.7mm so if you find something 19mm or 3/4-in o.d. You should be good.

[YZEtc]

If you're wondering where to get the same tool shown in the Yamaha Service Manual, it would be from a Yamaha motorcycle dealer.

They will take your part number from the Service Manual and order it through the official Yamaha dealer special tool supplier.

These bolts being troublesome without the damper rod holder is nothing new, that's for sure.

Has been the case since damper rod forks came into being.

When it comes to removing them without the special damper rod holder, what I've seen done lots of times is removing the fork from the bike, turning the fork leg upside-down, and then use an air impact gun to quickly break the bolt free and unthread it.

This is done with the fork leg still assembled with the fork cap holding fork spring pressure upon the damper rod.

This helps to keep it from spinning.

Myself, I just order the tool shown in the Service Manual.

Never owned an air impact gun, myself.

Edited November 21, 2019 by YZEtc

[sansnombre]

Another one who used an pneumatic impact wrench . . .

Major PITA!!

[norcal616]

Back when the FZ-07 came out and I had Matt do my forks- he had to enlist professional help to remove the bolt, even tho he had the proper tools to do the job... some silverbacked gorilla on the assembly line used like 2gals of loctite to secure the bolt...

[cornerslider]

7 hours ago, YZEtc said:

If you're wondering where to get the same tool shown in the Yamaha Service Manual, it would be from a Yamaha motorcycle dealer.

They will take your part number from the Service Manual and order it through the official Yamaha dealer special tool supplier.

These bolts being troublesome without the damper rod holder is nothing new, that's for sure.

Has been the case since damper rod forks came into being.

When it comes to removing them without the special damper rod holder, what I've seen done lots of times is removing the fork from the bike, turning the fork leg upside-down, and then use an air impact gun to quickly break the bolt free and unthread it.

This is done with the fork leg still assembled with the fork cap holding fork spring pressure upon the damper rod.

This helps to keep it from spinning.

Myself, I just order the tool shown in the Service Manual.

Never owned an air impact gun, myself.

I've done a couple FZ-07's, and a few other bikes as well...... I've always been successful either "cracking" it with a hex key, or enlisting a broom handle as a holdback . I'm putting Racetech Springs & Emulators in my wife's Yamaha R3 in a couple weeks. I may try the "upside down" method. This makes sense to me! I'll try to post the results -

[Mad]

Just  out of curiosity, what should the right tool be ? 

 

[twf]

4 hours ago, Mad said:

Just  out of curiosity, what should the right tool be ? 

 

Metal tube with end like pyramid. Basically same as square bolt extractor. 

[mjh937]

12 hours ago, norcal616 said:

Back when the FZ-07 came out and I had Matt do my forks- he had to enlist professional help to remove the bolt, even tho he had the proper tools to do the job... some silverbacked gorilla on the assembly line used like 2gals of loctite to secure the bolt...

I was considering doing my own forks but decided to have Matt do them.  After reading some if the threads about the problems people have had I am glad I did. 

[elmo]

As others have mention best to break the nut lose before releasing  any load on the spring. Also using racket strap can add some additional compression tension if needed. Had success with cutting a 8mm allen stub and  inserted into cord less impact. After bolt is loose hand tighten to minimize oil leakage, or drain oil and reassemble  before removing bolt. Also good to have extra copper compression washers before starting. 

 

Edited November 22, 2019 by elmo
photo

[NateDNW]

On 11/21/2019 at 12:59 AM, YZEtc said:

If you're wondering where to get the same tool shown in the Yamaha Service Manual, it would be from a Yamaha motorcycle dealer.

They will take your part number from the Service Manual and order it through the official Yamaha dealer special tool supplier.

These bolts being troublesome without the damper rod holder is nothing new, that's for sure.

Has been the case since damper rod forks came into being.

When it comes to removing them without the special damper rod holder, what I've seen done lots of times is removing the fork from the bike, turning the fork leg upside-down, and then use an air impact gun to quickly break the bolt free and unthread it.

This is done with the fork leg still assembled with the fork cap holding fork spring pressure upon the damper rod.

This helps to keep it from spinning.

Myself, I just order the tool shown in the Service Manual.

Never owned an air impact gun, myself.

Yeah, I think I'm going to order the tool from the service manual.  In the mean time, i might try the impact gun on the right side of the fork, as i have a couple in the garage.... unfortunately its too late for the left fork.  Already went down the rabbit hole of trying broomsticks, tapered damper tools, etc.  The one that I already have partially apart and drained clearly has a fat glob of loctite down there because i've tried quite a few methods and its been insanely difficult thus far.  Im about ready to light the damn thing on fire

 

[NateDNW]

On 11/21/2019 at 9:28 PM, elmo said:

As others have mention best to break the nut lose before releasing  any load on the spring. Also using racket strap can add some additional compression tension if needed. Had success with cutting a 8mm allen stub and  inserted into cord less impact. After bolt is loose hand tighten to minimize oil leakage, or drain oil and reassemble  before removing bolt. Also good to have extra copper compression washers before starting. 

 

Thanks for the info!  Unfortunately its too late for me to break it loose before releasing the spring (on half of it anyways), and i just found out that the tool is no longer available from yamaha.  So i'm going to take the forks down to my dealership and have them crack it loose for me so that i can continue the swap... i spoke to the tech and he said he'd sneak it in with no charge so hopefully he remembers that tomorrow when i get down there haha

[elmo]

 If possible post a pic of the removal tool  used for others.

[NateDNW]

2 hours ago, elmo said:

 If possible post a pic of the removal tool  used for others.

Yeah, I'll ask the tech if i can see what it is.  i was looking at the service manual and it sounds like a 60cm long t-handle to 3/8" socket with a particular size allen key at the end.  again, ill ask the tech tomorrow and see if i can sneak a pic. 

[DewMan]

1 hour ago, NateDNW said:

Yeah, I'll ask the tech if i can see what it is.  i was looking at the service manual and it sounds like a 60cm long t-handle to 3/8" socket with a particular size allen key at the end.  again, ill ask the tech tomorrow and see if i can sneak a pic. 

Sounds like something you can fashion for yourself with enough extensions, and probably cheaper than Yamaha would charge for it.

[YZEtc]

17 hours ago, NateDNW said:

...and i just found out that the tool is no longer available from yamaha. 

Incorrect.

If you want to get the official tool, your Yamaha dealer needs to contact the official Yamaha special tool supplier:

K&L Supply.

If the parts guy simply tries to order the part numbers shown in the Service Manual from the same Yamaha parts warehouse that Yamaha parts come from, it won't work.

I know these are available because I just ordered the damper rod holder and the T-handle for it through my local Yamaha dealer.

[_jdirty]

I ended up buying a damper rod holder but was never able to use it. Instead, i reassembled everything minus the oil. Used ratchet straps to compress the shock, put it in a vice, and then used an air tool. 

So now, that damper rod holding tool's collecting dust. 

[NateDNW]

7 hours ago, YZEtc said:

Incorrect.

If you want to get the official tool, your Yamaha dealer needs to contact the official Yamaha special tool supplier:

K&L Supply.

If the parts guy simply tries to order the part numbers shown in the Service Manual from the same Yamaha parts warehouse that Yamaha parts come from, it won't work.

I know these are available because I just ordered the damper rod holder and the T-handle for it through my local Yamaha dealer.

Yeah, when i said that it was no longer available, i meant through Yamaha.  The dealer i contacted made it clear that they could order it direct from the K&L Supply, but mentioned that it would take about 3 weeks to get here and would be pretty expensive.  So instead of doing that, and knowing that i am putting a cartridge kit into the fork from Ohlins, which does not require that tool at all, it seemed like a huge waste of money and time for me to special order a tool.  Instead, I convinced the tech to remove the damping bolts free of charge in-between jobs he was doing.  Now that I went down that road, it really seems like it was a waste of time for me to have spent so much time trying to get them out myself. 

[NateDNW]

So now that i have the fork apart, I realize that the seal driver kit that I have is not the appropriate size for the fork.  Anyone know what size seal driver the bike needs? other than that, the rest of the cartridge install is cake... just running into a continuation of this bike being a different size from bikes ive worked on in the past. 

[firstyammerha]

I'd like to pull my drods with the forks still in their clamps. Is there any chance of that happening? Disassembling the front end to do any work on the front suspension is daunting. Can anyone post a picture of the stock dr from an angle looking down at the top .