Sarolea 350 1951 Front fork Link to main site  Swedish version

Update 2011-03-30

When I started to drive with my new bike I heard some rattle somewhere in the front wheel when I hit bumpy places. Aha no oil in fork legs. Very precise. It was long time since there  was oil there. The outlet hole was clogged with dry parts from the sealing. At this moment I thought it came from a simmering as sealing. I filled up with oil. This will be done by loosening the upper nut which holds the spring. Sorry to say the oil flowed right through the sealing and bushing. I was on my way to the national vehicle control and I hoped that all oil had flowed out till the inspector was going to look. The design is so simple that at slow driving the shock damping has no effect. Although this must be fixed.

Now it's time to take away the mudguard including the front bike support. It is never used today. Former, people used it when mending punctures. This is not anything curious. Keep order on all parts.

   
Note the bar without any screw is combined with the tightening screw for handbrake. Here it is narrow. Remember when remounting to first mount this screw before you assemble the wheel. See above at the picture of brake shield.

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So far it is time to have a break. Drinking coffee and visit the toilet. You see it is thrilling to do this the first time.
Now just for information you should know that the spring is fastened in the bottom of the fork legs in the same way. When clamp is taken away you cab see a hole from underneath. Look there. You will find a hexagon headed screw. This holds the same type of spring thread as the upper one. You don't need to loosen this. Hoist instead the bike up as much so you can bring out the fork leg down to stop, or to the bottom of the bushing. Not to be seen in my photos. Now it will be difficult. The upper bushing is threaded in the lower part of the fork. There are 2 ways to loosen it. First the good one. Buy a pin wrench which has the size of your bushing. Put

the center axle back so you can twist. You may need quite a force in the beginning.    
Remember when remounting to put on a small amount of copper paste on the thread. This is not the last time you do this.
If you have lack of pin wrench, use a mandrel, or last possibility and worst a large screw driver, and knock it up. They will of course be hurt but not much more than you can grind away the edges.
        

Bring out the lower part of fork with spring. Now you can see the lower bushing which is put in place with a seeger locking without heads. It is little tricky to loosen but with the help of 2 small screw drivers you will succeed. May be your girl friend helps you with a third hand?

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You now have three details. Bushings and the locker. Inside the bigger bushings  you find the sealing. One O-ring. In my Sarolea it was a standard 32.2x3.0. Check that the groove has the right dimensions for you O-ring. For mine it should have Broadness=4 mm and depth on diameter=38. Bring out the old one with a tool according to my picture.

     
Now we are going to remount again. But check first that the upper bushing slides easily. It must slide easy on the fork leg. If not you must trim. Check also that the seeger groove has no sharp edges and also where diameters are changing. There must not be any sharp edges which can destroy the O-ring when mounting. If you need, grind with fine (300-400) emery cloth. Put on some oil or grease and bring the bushing in place. The lower bushing may be hard to get on but no more than it is enough to tap it on. If you knock, it will be damaged and its diameter changed to oval. Mount the Seeger ring. Then just continue in the opposite order. Last you fill up with 2.5 dl automatic gearbox oil in each leg. This type of oil is always colored red. Mount lastly the spring nuts. Your bike is like new.
Use table of contents for next chapter.
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