Front forks bottomed out?

My 86 750 has been in the garage for a wile. I took it out around the block and noticed it was bouncy.
I was working on the bike today and tried pushing my weight on the front forks but they wern't compressing. I tried getting weight off of the front end to see if the forks would extend but the bike is pretty heavy.

Any ideas what the problem is?
Are the shocks toast? (no oil leaking)
Is it easy to repair on my own as i'm mechanically inclined or is it best to bring it to a shop?


Thanks for any help.

 

So the forks are stuck fully compressed?

 

hard to tell from the desciption... are these old skool "air" shocks or newer spring/oil jobs. I just changed the oil in my forks (very easy process) and it works miracles. But before we jump to that conclusion can you provide a better description?

 

kinda sounds like no or little oil in the forks

 

If the forks aren't compressing or extending AT ALL, then there is something froze up in the forks. It doesn't matter if the bike weighs ten pounds or 1000 pounds, you should be able to get them to move somewhat. I can sit on my dad's 900lb Harley (no joke here...) and just the act of sitting on the bike causes the forks to compress and lifting on the bars causes them to extend. No, I can't fully compress or extend them, but i can get them to move a couple inches in each direction. Same holds true for my 6th gen VFR.

Like Beta said, a little more info would be great.

As far as working on them, there should be no problem if you are mechanically inclined. You might have to get a little bit inventive with drivers for the bushings and fork seals but that isn't too bad. Different sizes of PVC pipe works wonders here.

 

I did lowside the bike last year so maybe something might be slightly bent. But I can't tell visually. I'll look more closely at it again today.

 

if you have a laser level, shoot from the front and side for a fast approximation

 

A little crash??

Remove the forks by sliding them down and out of the triple clamps, then pull them apart following instructions in service manual.

( slightly loosen fork caps while still mounted on bike.)

After springs are removed you can detect any binding in the full range of fork travel.

Sometimes even a small dent on the outside of the lower slider can distort the inner bore and cause binding.

Roll the upper fork tube on a flat table to check for bends.

While things are apart, check the free length of the springs against factory specs.

Refill to proper level with 10 wt fork oil, not ATF.

 

Lo0sen the front axle pinch bolts and see if they free up (don't ride with the bolts loose).

 

I lifted the weight off the front forks by jacking up the bike. Loosened the bolts on the axel pinch bolts, same with the lower triple tree clamps. Still no movment. They are bottomed out good in there. Pulling jiggling didn't move them.

I tried using a spirit level on the tubes but everything seams straight from what i can tell. Wile spinning the front wheel I noticed that there is some resistance at one part of the rotor and brake pad. Hopefully the rotor isn't bent/warped. I will have to check them when i get them off and on a flat surface.

If there is something bent on the tubes what are my options? Fixable or replacement?

Found thisi site that has oem parts that i will get replacement parts from
1986 Honda VFR750F OEM Parts, 1986 Honda VFR750F OEM Motorcycle Parts - BikeBandit.com


Thanks for the feedback

 

If all else fails. Forks Honda VFR700 VFR 700 1986 : eBay Motors (item 370327414615 end time Feb-07-10 20:51:06 PST)

 

It's been established that the forks won't move...... but no real evidence they're stuck in the fully extended or fully compressed or part way in between position.

If you measure the distance between lower tripple clamp and top of lower fork tube, someone can reply with normal distance on their bike.

If improperly over-fillied with fork oil, naturally they won't compress at all, so maybe try draining some oil ( about 1 oz) out through the hole on the lower leg???

 

Distance between the lower triple tree and the shock body is 2 7/16" so i think is safe to say there bottomed out. The fork oil wasn't replaced and it worked fine before.

 

THAT'S bottomed all right !!!!!!!

Hard to understand when springs are always pushing up.....