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I just installed the Andreani Kit yesterday and should have taken photos at every stage so that could do a proper write-up, but I didn't. When your hands are all oily the last thing you want to be using is your camera or phone.
However, I did photograph all the bits that came out of the original forks and can give you a good idea how to strip the forks and fit the replacement cartridges.
This is what came out:
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The RH leg bits are nearest to the camera, consisting of the fork cap, plastic spacer, spring and damper cartridge.
The LH leg has a spring, 2 plastic spacers, the cap and a rod assembly.
I tried loosening the screw that retains the damper, under the fork bottom, before undoing the fork cap to release the spring but the screw only turned a little bit and jammed and the cartridge started to turn with it. So I took of the cap, removed the spring and spacer and emptied out the oil. I then took a length of flat alloy bar and shaped the end to form a wedge between the inner of the fork tube and the cartridge, it has 4 flats on the sides of it. This was enough to prevent the cartridge from turning while I removed the screw. Assembly with the Andreani cartridge was straightforward, filling with 7.5W oil to 110mm from the top of the tube before fitting the spring and the fork cap.
The LH was a bit more tricky. I undid the top nut and released it from the rod then emptied the oil out. I wasn’t sure about the rest so decided to take the fork bottom off first.
Firstly I slid up the dust cap, pried out the circle and used the fork top like a slide hammer to separate the top and bottom parts complete with the seals and bushes.
The infamous grub screw has had a cross-shaped wedge driven into it, expanding it outwards at 4 points into the alloy of the fork bottom. There was no way that was ever going to unscrew, so I drilled it out being careful not to drill to deep and into the fork tube. When I got to the bottom I used a small cylindrical grinder on my Dremel to grind away the remainder until the tops of the threads of the froth tube were just showing.
Then, using Elvisto’s tool (many thanks for that)
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and with the fork bottom held in the vice I unscrewed the fork tube from the fork bottom. The fork tube has 2 holes in the side of it and the tool can locate into one of them and with 2 bars fitted (one goes into the hole) the tube can be unscrewed. It was quite tight initially but after a turn or two came quite easily. Remove the o-ring and washer from the fork bottom for re-use.
I now had a look at what was left in the tube. I could see a plastic tube at the bottom that quite clearly wasn’t going to come out that end.
About an inch or so down the top is a plate with 4 slots. I poked a pair of long nose pliers into 2 oppose slots and found that the whole top of the tube unscrewed.
It looks like this:
![]()
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So the top came off along with the rod then the spacer and the spring, leaving the plastic tube in the bottom. I was able to push that out from the bottom of the fork tube using several long ¾” extensions joined together.
To fit the Andreani cartridge I started with fitting the bottom anchor plate into the fork bottom followed by the washer then re-fitting the o-ring. The fork tube was then screwed back into the fork bottom. I put some sealant on the threads but the o-ring should prevent any oil leaks anyway.
I then slipped the dust cover, seal and lower bush onto the tube and refitted the upper bush, fitted the 2 halve together and seated the seal, fitted the circle and push the dust seal back into place. Then I inserted the cartridge down the tube and screwed it onto the anchor plate that had been fitted into the fork bottom. For this I had to make a special tool. It is simply a length of 30mm OD x 3mm wall thickness alloy tube:
![]()
Once that was done it was simply a case of adding the oil and fitting the fork cap. I then fitted the forks back to the bike.
![]()
Alas I won’t get to try them out until April ,since I SORNed the bike at the end of October so that I wouldn’t be tempted to take it out on the salty Scottish roads.
However, I did photograph all the bits that came out of the original forks and can give you a good idea how to strip the forks and fit the replacement cartridges.
This is what came out:
The RH leg bits are nearest to the camera, consisting of the fork cap, plastic spacer, spring and damper cartridge.
The LH leg has a spring, 2 plastic spacers, the cap and a rod assembly.
I tried loosening the screw that retains the damper, under the fork bottom, before undoing the fork cap to release the spring but the screw only turned a little bit and jammed and the cartridge started to turn with it. So I took of the cap, removed the spring and spacer and emptied out the oil. I then took a length of flat alloy bar and shaped the end to form a wedge between the inner of the fork tube and the cartridge, it has 4 flats on the sides of it. This was enough to prevent the cartridge from turning while I removed the screw. Assembly with the Andreani cartridge was straightforward, filling with 7.5W oil to 110mm from the top of the tube before fitting the spring and the fork cap.
The LH was a bit more tricky. I undid the top nut and released it from the rod then emptied the oil out. I wasn’t sure about the rest so decided to take the fork bottom off first.
Firstly I slid up the dust cap, pried out the circle and used the fork top like a slide hammer to separate the top and bottom parts complete with the seals and bushes.
The infamous grub screw has had a cross-shaped wedge driven into it, expanding it outwards at 4 points into the alloy of the fork bottom. There was no way that was ever going to unscrew, so I drilled it out being careful not to drill to deep and into the fork tube. When I got to the bottom I used a small cylindrical grinder on my Dremel to grind away the remainder until the tops of the threads of the froth tube were just showing.
Then, using Elvisto’s tool (many thanks for that)
and with the fork bottom held in the vice I unscrewed the fork tube from the fork bottom. The fork tube has 2 holes in the side of it and the tool can locate into one of them and with 2 bars fitted (one goes into the hole) the tube can be unscrewed. It was quite tight initially but after a turn or two came quite easily. Remove the o-ring and washer from the fork bottom for re-use.
I now had a look at what was left in the tube. I could see a plastic tube at the bottom that quite clearly wasn’t going to come out that end.
About an inch or so down the top is a plate with 4 slots. I poked a pair of long nose pliers into 2 oppose slots and found that the whole top of the tube unscrewed.
It looks like this:
So the top came off along with the rod then the spacer and the spring, leaving the plastic tube in the bottom. I was able to push that out from the bottom of the fork tube using several long ¾” extensions joined together.
To fit the Andreani cartridge I started with fitting the bottom anchor plate into the fork bottom followed by the washer then re-fitting the o-ring. The fork tube was then screwed back into the fork bottom. I put some sealant on the threads but the o-ring should prevent any oil leaks anyway.
I then slipped the dust cover, seal and lower bush onto the tube and refitted the upper bush, fitted the 2 halve together and seated the seal, fitted the circle and push the dust seal back into place. Then I inserted the cartridge down the tube and screwed it onto the anchor plate that had been fitted into the fork bottom. For this I had to make a special tool. It is simply a length of 30mm OD x 3mm wall thickness alloy tube:
Once that was done it was simply a case of adding the oil and fitting the fork cap. I then fitted the forks back to the bike.
Alas I won’t get to try them out until April ,since I SORNed the bike at the end of October so that I wouldn’t be tempted to take it out on the salty Scottish roads.
