FZ07 Andreani Fork Cartridge Kit Install

[iiCaptain]

I recently got the Andreani fork cartridge kit and definitely got a more involved install that I expected. I figured I should post a detailed install because the instructions the kit comes with are very vague and I had to do a lot of research to figure out how to install it. Once I learned the process and got the necessary tools it really wasn't bad. It should also be mentioned that before this I had never taken apart any motorcycle fork which is why I didn't know what to expect. That being said, if you find anything in my process to be incorrect please let me know. 

Start off by removing the front forks. I'm not going to explain how to do this. If you need any help, I suggest you find the service manual that matches your bike’s generation. The 2014 fz07 manual that I used started the front fork section at page 4-75.

The following steps are the same for both forks.

Using a 17mm wrench, take off the upper cap of the fork and drain the oil from it. Remove the spacer, washer, and spring.

The next step is where it gets difficult. The screw on the bottom of the fork is an 8mm allen, but requires the damper on the inside of the fork to be held from rotating. The tool specified in the manual is a damper rod holder 9089001460. However, I could not find one for a decent price. I found something on amazon for about $25, but it was made of soft metal and just deformed instead of holding the damper in place. In the end, I used a long pry bar similar to these.

With the fork fully compressed and in a vise horizontally, my dad pressed the pry bar down onto the damper rod while I used an impact on the bolt. It surprisingly was extremely effective, and since the damper rod is being replaced it doesn't matter if it gets damaged. I did need a socket with an extra long allen because the opening at the bottom of the fork was too small for the socket to fit in. The same effect could probably be achieved by cutting the turn off of a long 8mm allen and putting an 8mm socket on the end. Just an idea to try if you need it.

The next step is to remove the dust seal, and remove the oil seal clip. Be very careful when removing either with a pick, as you do not want to scratch this part of the stanchion. 

Next, with the base of the fork in the vice horizontally, pull the stanchion "forcefully but carefully" out of the lower tube. According to the manual, excessive force could damage the oil seal and bushing. 

This is what the fork looks like at this point with everything laid out in order. Everything circled in red can be discarded.

I should also note do not clean the fork oil off until you are ready to reassemble. I cleaned the insides of the stanchions a couple weeks before I put it back together and ended up with a small amount of surface rust developing on the inside.

The next step uses a lathe, although I have seen people get away with using a grinder or some other tool to remove the lip that holds the bushing in (Pictured below). The bottom of the fork doesn't touch anything when it's put together, so whether it is evenly cut down or not theoretically shouldn't matter. I recommend using a lathe, but I don't think a grinder would ruin it. Just be sure to clean the edges.

I used my university's lathe and got away with wrapping some tape around the stanchion to protect it from scratches, although the more proper way would be to use soft jaws.

Using a rotation speed of about 300 rpm I cut the lip back 10 thou at a time. In total I took 60 thou off, but definitely could have gotten away with 50 thou (Picture was taken after the bushing was removed when I was cleaning up the edges).

To remove the bushing, you need to hammer it out from the other end. I used a long piece of tube in the stock room, being very careful to not smash the opposite edge of the stanchion into the rack while hammering it out. You can also use a socket with extensions to hammer it out. In the end it will look like this:

Throw away the bushing as it's not needed. Or keep it. I don't care.

Now for reassembly.

There are several items here that may need replacing depending on the type of condition they are in. My piston rings (marked by the blue arrow in the fork assembly photo, and number 18 in the picture below) were worn out and needed replacing. I also went ahead and got a fork seal kit replacing the dust seal and oil seal (7 and 15 below) as they should be replaced while it is disassembled. I used the same snap rings and oil flow stoppers as they were in good condition (8 and 17 below). 

To start off the assembly, if you took the piston ring off the bottom of the stanchion, put it back on and use a little fork oil to lubricate it. Andreani should tell you what fork oil to buy, for me it was Ohlins 01309-01. Each fork takes a little less than half a liter of oil. Put the stanchion into the lower part of the fork and slide on the oil flow stopper, the washer, and the oil seal (17, 16, and 15). Again I put a little fork oil on to the oil flow stopper to help it slide in, and ended up needing a very small amount of grease on the outside of the oil seal to get it to fall into place. Here you can use a fork seal driver if you have access to one. I used the plastic fork cover (pictured below) that comes with the bike and the old seal to hammer the above in all at once.

Then simply put the snap ring in place followed by the dust seal.

The next step is to install the cartridge. Replace the copper washer if you want. You do not need any special tools to hold the cartridge from spinning while tightening the bolt. I torqued it to 22 ft lbs. I put the rebound cartridge on the clutch side and compression cartridge on the brake lever side. Not sure if it matters or not.

Remove the cap from the cartridge and the pushrod (instructions call it a "shaft") from the inside of the cartridge, along with the spring spacer. Be careful not to flip the cartridge upside down as without the pushrod inside the damper, a spring and another small piece will fall out and easily get lost.

With the stanchion fully depressed and the fork vertical in a vise, fill up the fork with oil. For the next few steps, you can get by without specialized tools if you make your own but they're not too expensive and really help. I bought a Fork Oil Level Tool, Fork Spring Compressor Tool, and Damper Rod Bleed Tool. Here is the amazon link. 

Bleed the damper by slowly raising and lowering the damper rod until the fluid coming out doesn't have any bubbles in it. I did about 20 repetitions but if in doubt just do more to be sure. Next set the air gap/air chamber level given on the side of the box that the cartridges come in. Mine was 120mm, and I used the tool to suck out the fluid above the 120mm mark from the top of the fork (with the fork fully depressed!). The air gap is set without the spring, spring spacer, or push rod inside the damper.

Next make sure the nut is on the bottom of the threads, and leave a gap between the nut and the o-ring below it. Put the spring and spacer back on and put the pushrod back into the cartridge. The nut and preload adjuster are both 17mm, so you will need two wrenches. 

Next use the spring tool to compress the spring and spacer to below the nut. Set the cap to a phase of 4 meaning set the damping adjuster to 4 turns from the top with a 3mm allen. Thread the cap on the damper rod all the way down until there is resistance, and then bring the nut up to lock it in place. 

Finally remove the spring holding tools and tighten up the cap to the top of the fork. It helps to lubricate the o-ring on the cap with a little fork oil just to make sure it goes in smoothly. 

The recommended base tune from Andreani is set preload to 4 turns from the top, and set both compression and rebound damping to 2 turns from the bottom.

Putting the bike back together is easy. I'll include some torque specs below for ease of reassembly, along with a link to the google sheet I got them from. They are also in the service manual.

Item	Thread Size	Q'ty	Tightening Torque Nm (m•kgf, ft•lbf)
			Nm	m•kgf	ft•lbf

Front Wheel Axle	M16	1	65	6.5	47
Front Wheel Axle Pinch Bolt	M8	1	23	2.3	17

Front Brake Caliper Bolt

M10

2

40

4

29

Lower Bracket Pinch Bolt	M8	4	23	2.3	17
Upper Bracket Pinch Bolt (left and right)	M8	2	26	2.6	19

And that's it, really not too bad of an install once I figured out what to do. Also sorry for the bold font, couldn't figure out how to save a draft so I had to copy/paste from google docs and am unable to make it not bold for some reason, or resize the pictures. Overall the bike feels a lot better up front and I can't wait to put in some actual seat time to see how it feels. Next I have to tackle the rear shock but will cross that bridge when I get there. Just posting this to help others that were also lost by Andreani's weak instructions.

Edited January 27 by iiCaptain
formatting/font