82 Seca Front axle

[BDxs400]

Recently spilled the seca front wheel was crooked. when I disassembled it I realized my lower triple tree was bent. Checked the forks to see if they were bent as well seemed fine had a few other people look at them as well. Got new triple tree in the mail from an 82 maxim, started putting everything back together and I notcied my front wheel wasnt quite stright with the top of the triple tree. So my question here is, Is there an order of what you need to tighten first as far as top lower triple tree or axle first?, and what goes where on the front axle im not sure where the washer is supposed to go if its on the out side of the fork or next to the fork in between the spacer?

I did notice that there was a nice size gap in between the wheel and forks when I was reassembling maybe something else is bent. I did have the both triple trees tight as i was putting the front tire back in maybe thats in wrong order or something. I looked in the mauals we have here on the web site as far as operations go or order of the axle couldnt find anything, wasnt sure if anyone else has had this problem.

 

[BDxs400]

anyone have any suggestions when i get home tonight im going to loosen everything up and try it again but was hoping for a helpful hint.

 

[smurfy71]

Not entirely sure what you are looking for, but here is a parts breakdown of the front wheel. It shows how it all goes together.
http://www.cyclepartswarehouse.com/fiche_section_detail.asp?section=3933445&category=Motorcycles&make=Yamaha&year=1982&fveh=177029

 

[BDxs400]

Still trying to figure this thing out here, I got new forks from a buddy who owns a seca, had new seals put in by a local shop. still seems the wheel is a little bent Im not sure if i am putting the axle together correctly. I went through the service manual we have here on the site and i did everything the way they say. maybe im just over looking something.

If someone can take a picture of the front axle for me so I have something to compare to that would be awesome. Just talked to a my buddy who has one and he said it sounds like its right just want to confirm though.

 

[BDxs400]

Still trying to get it together I am going to go step by step with what the FSM says and go from there still would like to get a pic of someones front end either maxim or seca xs400 to be able to compair it to something

 

[smurfy71]

Hope these help.

 

[BDxs400]

exactly what I was looking for thank you very much, ill post pics of what i have going on when i get home and get a chance to. I believe i just wasnt doing it right the first time since i didnt get to "bounce up and down" on the forks for the proper alignment of everything.

 

[smurfy71]

Let me know if you need anymore.

 

[Lou Ranger]

One thing to check and confirm before you tighten everything up, and that is whether the Maxim triple tree is the same parts number as the SECA triple tree.
The reason I am cautious is that the wheels are different, the front discs are different (one is flat, the other bowl shaped - thus making the caliper mount different) - so maybe the width, alignment or angle on the tree is different.

Hopefully I am all wet, and I will be glad when you confirm it.

 

[BDxs400]

I believe they are I found a few different sites to confirm this, I don't remember the one but it had the diameter and the bearing size and numbers for the stem and both were in the same line ( maxim,seca) and I went on another site it was something like boat.net and it tells you which parts go on other models of your bike and same thing it said they can interchange. One more thing I used my seca top triple tree and it fits perfectly on top of the forks while through the maxim lower tree. but im still not quite convinced because if I try to install the axle the way they say it in the manual I cant get it to stay without sucking the axle in through the fork. Its like the forks are being pushed apart. the whole that you can stick a screwdriver threw in order to torque the axle nut gets pulled through the fork once I remove my tool. I read the steps over and over again and had a buddy read them just to make sure I wasn't overseeing something. so I tightened the lock nut and then torqued the nut down and bounced on the front end and checked over everything for straightness and it seems fine, I cant imagine me doing anything bad by doing this but without doing this I cant get it to go back together correctly. maybe the triple trees aren't the same but I haven't seen one thing saying that they are not and I cant get a good measurement between the two since my old lower is tweaked a little. Im going to finish running all the cables and ride around the block to see if it isn't right unless someone has a fix for me.

Had a buddy helping me hold the bike up while I was working on it and he accidently snapped my ignition switch on my clutch handle. looked over the schematic it seems like all it needs to see that the clutch is applied to start the bike, so if I just either jump this out or wire in a switch so I can get it running I should be good to start just have to make sure I hold the clutch in before I start. if anyone has done something like this let me know what you did. or if this is even right.

 

[BDxs400]

i attached some pictures i hope they come out good but this is the spacing i have when its just sitting together i feel like im pulling the forks together to much as if the lower triple tree is in fact larger than the seca. or maybe this is normal and im doing something wrong.

broke a turn signal in the spill so im switching over to led's, about to order the resistors on amazon figuered it would be the easier route to take since i really dont want to get to the flasher relay.

 

[smurfy71]

Looking at the pictures, the gap on the speedo side looks to big. I will have another look at mine tonight and get you a similar angle picture. You mentioned the bolt pulls thru on that side when you tighten the nut on the brake side? Are you tightening the pinch bolt first?

 

[BDxs400]

in the FSM I believe it says, tighten axle nut first (76 ft lbs) then bounce up and down on forks for proper fork operation, then tighten axle pinch bolt (14.5 ft lbs). Tried it that way and as soon as I remove my tool from the hole it pulls the axle through the fork. I did then tighten the lock nut torqued the axle nut and everything seems fine, i compared it to the photos you sent me and everything seems fine,(looks exactly like what you have number of threads the placement of axle hole). The wheel spins freely and rotor minus rust doesnt get bound up at any point, the wheel stops at different points when i spin it. Im either doing something wrong or like i said the triple tree is different by the tiniest bit. I would love to purchase the correct triple tree (seca R) but really dont want to spend the money on something i already have.

Maybe if someone had one laying around to measure i will do the same with what i have but until then im going to assume its fine and continue on.

My deadline for the bike was this september and my budget was blown away when i needed to redo the new fork seals. Im not giving up just getting upset with it.

 

[smurfy71]

Maybe it's the axle or the fork? I am trying to recall how I put mine back together after doing the fork seals. As I recall the bolt would not push thru on that end. I didn't need to put a tool thru the hole, only to hold it from turning when tightening the nut.

 

[BDxs400]

i highly doubt it would be the axle cause wouldnt i see that in the wheel spinning like i high side or a wobble. i havent put it on a surface plate yet so i guess i should rule that out but i would imagine that if it were to be the axle it wouldnt even fit through the fork (on the none threaded side) due to a slight bend. maybe ill bring it to work tomorrow and roll it down a plate to see if it is bent. I work at a machine shop and we have an inspection lab maybe they can check for a bend

 

[Lou Ranger]

I had to loosen and re-tighten the forks after my accident in order to ensure everything was lined up and running true.

One of the things I read was a way to test for any warp in the tubes. Put the bike on the centre stand, jack under the engine so the front wheel has no weight on it and then loosen the bolts on the tree and the top just enough so the tubes can move.
Then, grab each tube and turn it. According to this source, if it can be rotated 180 degrees both ways without wanting to bind in any one place, then the tube is not bent.

I presumed that any bend would manifest because at 2 points in the rotation, a bend would cause the end of the fork to want to pull the end a bit sideways. Any sideways motion by one fork, either out or in, would create tension against the fixed width determined by the front wheel bolts, and you would be able to feel that as resistance against your rotation.

Could be real - in my case no resistance. If it does show up in your case, then it could be an indicator. Wish I knew more ...

 

[BDxs400]

I had this issue with my old forks, as far as it being tight while being rotated it seemed that at the same spot it would bind up as I was spinning it, im really starting to believe the triple trees are different in spacing but only by I little tiny bit cause like I said the top triple tree fits on without a problem, I had the top tree sitting on top of the stem and without putting my hand on it, or having the nut to hold it in place, I was able to slide both forks up into it not a problem using the maxim lower. And Id imagine that since the lower triple tree's "collar" where the fork goes through being about 1, 1 1/4 inch wide it wouldn't allow the forks to move enough to fit properly into a different size gap from fork to fork ( between upper and lower trees), if that makes since for you guys it does to me. Im truly stumped

 

[smurfy71]

Ok, took some pics at a better angle. The gap on yours is far bigger than mine.

 

[BDxs400]

If you notice in my pictures I didnt even have the axle nut on so i would assume there would be a bigger gap than yours, I have it assembled at my house ill take a picture later on of it tightened. But like i said though its put back together just not in the order of the FSM. I cant imagine it being bad but I dont know, there has to be a reason why they do it the way they do.

Mine assembled looks prety much exactly the way your is