What’s the least wrong-est way to lift the forks in the triple tree?

[SS4Luck]

So I need to lift my forks maybe 1/2” to get good clamping area on my new triple tree. I have a garage full of tools, front and rear stands, and a head full of bad ideas.


Right now I’m thinking put the bike on jackstands at the pegs, have my wife sit on the Passanger seat, crack the lower triple bolts just past unsnug, use the front fork stand to push the forks up, torque the upper and lower triples and fall it a day.


Please tell me why that won’t work, because it seems too easy

 

[Kiwi Rider]

Sit the bike on the side stand.
Just loosen the pinch bolts on the top and bottom yokes ONE FORK AT A TIME and twist/slide the fork up til its flush with the top yoke. Then torque the pinch bolts top and bottom,
Do the same on the other fork.
Easy.
Remember, the forks have about an inch of spring sag, so this is achievable.

 

[sixpack577]

So I need to lift my forks maybe 1/2” to get good clamping area on my new triple tree. I have a garage full of tools, front and rear stands, and a head full of bad ideas.


Right now I’m thinking put the bike on jackstands at the pegs, have my wife sit on the Passanger seat, crack the lower triple bolts just past unsnug, use the front fork stand to push the forks up, torque the upper and lower triples and fall it a day.


Please tell me why that won’t work, because it seems too easy

View attachment 1666771

My concern would be the front tipping left or right and possibly off of that fork leg stand, especially with someone on the bike.
It could easily work or easily fall.
I like @Kiwirider 's suggestion above much better.
The best way is a front forklift stand that lifts under the lower triple-clamp, as they are very stable, and make moving forks easy.
Also, before you torque the triple-clamps, with them only snug, measure the fork heights in their clamps with calipers to make sure that both sides are even.
You will have bad handling, pulling, or vibration, if they are not, especially at high speeds.

 

[Bumblebee]

If it were me, I place the bike on both stands and slightly loosen both upper and lower clamps letting gravity move them up (with a little help from you).

It will move slowly enough that it will be a controlled slide.

That's how I've done it on my other bikes and it worked good.

The method you are thinking of seems as though it will work as well.

 

[Tony Nitrous]

I built my mezzanine with multiple points to lift or hold a bikes back or front from. Very rarely do it but it’s nice to have the option. I can take the weight of the bike, slacken all the bolts off and raise or lower it. Even without my set up it shouldn’t be hard to put the bike on a rear stand and work underneath a beam or roof truss.

 

[nintastio]

When I needed to do this I supported the weight of the bike with a ratchet strap to the ceiling. Then did one fork at a time like suggested and it went really smoothly. I needed to raise the front end though because previous owner has lowered it.

 

[HayaWakened]

My Gen 2 is lowered via riser so I have to raise the bike just to get the front stand's head pin in under the triple tree. I do what nintastio wrote: ratchet strap from a couple of ceiling rafters. Dicey the first couple times but there's a method to it

 

[Kiwi Rider]

Sit the bike on the side stand.
Just loosen the pinch bolts on the top and bottom yokes ONE FORK AT A TIME and twist/slide the fork up til its flush with the top yoke. Then torque the pinch bolts top and bottom,
Do the same on the other fork.
Easy.
Remember, the forks have about an inch of spring sag, so this is achievable.

This is how we do it at work, in the bike workshop I work at, and when I first started there I was laughed at for setting the bike up with front end elevated, removed wheel and fender, slide forks up, refitted wheel and fender.
I was shown very quickly how I’d just wasted 30 mins using my method (amateur) and the techs showed me the method I described first off, using the available static sag to raise the leg an inch one at a time, without removing anything.
Took 5 mins.

 

[Blkoutbusa]

I use eyelets in the ceiling (in the big beams) to hang a bike when I do fork stuff. Front stand can lift or lower, and then let out or in the straps as needed. I used the lift table when adjusting ride height. This pic was just from fork seals so they came all the way off the bike

 

[TonyM995]

I put my bike in a wheel chock, then strap the bike to my trailer to keep it steady. I use a rear stand to lift the rear wheel. Then put a jack under the motor to remove weight from the forks.

Here I have the jack in back when I tried to install an evil swingarm.

I don’t think you can get to the lower clamps very well without removing the air ducts. My bike has been apart most of it’s life so don’t listen to me on that one.

 

[sixpack577]

If the front of a sportbike is lowered, you can drive the front tire up on a short piece of a 2x4, and it makes getting a front forklift stand in much easier.
Always put a rag over the front fender while putting the bike on or taking it off a stand, and another rag over the lifting arm if the clearance is tight enough, to prevent scratching the paint.

 

[SS4Luck]

I did the Kiwi outlined and it worked like a charm. I did take all the fairings and head piece and ram air ducts off of the bike to do it because I had more parts to install anyway. My Neanderthal hands wouldn't have fit down in there reliably with tools.

 

[SS4Luck]

New ride height is perfect.