Jampot Suspension Wear limits...

[Boycey]

Hello all,
My lastest task has been to strip the jampots down as they appear to have zero damping (although I have never had the pleasure of actually riding the G3LS as yet!).
Having done plenty of reading last night, I armed myself with all the expected rags, oil catching pans etc, I spent a couple of hours making the required tools to reduce the risk of damage etc etc.
Unlike any of the examples I had read about, when I opened up both of my jampots, I was only presented with aluminium dust and not even the sign that oil had ever existed!
Consequently the internal bores of the outer tubes are badly scored, and one of them has worn oversize by nearly 0.015 eccentrically.
My questions to those in the know are 1. Is this fairly common and how much does it effect handling? 2. Should I scrap the outer tubes? 3. How much wear is acceptable generally and the damper bushes feel sloppy too, is there any data on tolerances for any of these issues? 4. I assume worn bushes & bores will cause premature wear of new oil seals? Why me? I only wanted to top them up and paint the blooming things!
The irony is they look quite tidy and are free of the usual damage and scrapes from servicing and I have a couple of spares that came with the bike which look like they should be in the scrap yard as they are covered in dents, gouges, rust, vice jaw marks etc but seem to be full of oil and working rather nicely....typical!
Any input much appreciated. Thank you.

[bitza]

If you are feeling a bit flush , I-e that folding stuff with her majesty's photo on , you could lash out on IKON inserts, straightforward swop , complete unit fits in the jampot cases.

[raffles]

The Club do exchange units
Tony

[ajscomboman]

The club also have new ali outer legs in stock.

[Boycey]

Thank you for your replies.
Those Ikons look tempting, 300 crisp ones certainly makes them a considered purchase!
I am currently disassembling the other two very scruffy ones to see if I can make a good pair out of the four....
I will probably turn some bronze bushings to replace the plastic ones if I decide to do a rebuild, failing that the Ikons look to be the way to go....are they frowned upon by anyone for not being original? From what I have read about jampots, they seem to have mixed opinions to how good they were even when new...and I like the prospect of the Ikons holding onto their oil as there are plenty of other opportunities for oil to escape on other parts of the bike😉

[adz25]

If you have access to a lathe (turning your own bushes) why not turn some slightly oversize steel bushes for the stanchion ends and ream/bore the alloy parts? The seal sits on top of the bushes so a little silicone round the edge will stop leak by the edges? Are the stanchions ok? They can be made from an old pair of 1 1/8" front fork stanchions as i have just made a pair for my resto! There was just enough clean metal on my old ones to be able to make a pair.

[Boycey]

Thank you Adz
It crossed my mind to rebore the stanchions, but the new oversize bush I believe would need to be hardened which adds another process (I ran a file over the old bush and it skated). I wonder if it would be acceptable to use bronze as well instead of steel?
I like the idea of using an old fork stanchion, that is smart thinking. I will see what the innards of my two others clean up like before committing to anything. I may be able go reduce to external crisscross vice hatching marks enough to look presentable.....these bikes sure have had a tough time in the hands of a stillson, hammer, blowtorch etc etc!
Thank you🙂

[Andy51]

Hi Boycey, while it is true the steel bushes are hardened (as are other parts, such as dynamo and magneto pinions to name a couple) this was done in the expectation of many years and tens of thousands of miles usage, and not a little neglect. Considering that most of our machines are unlikely to exceed 2,000 miles/year, and are well maintained, an unhardened bush will probably outlast the owner! If an oversize bush is the answer, I would just make it from mild steel, but it must have the bearing surfaces polished to a mirror finish, so make allowances when turning. Cheers, Andy

[Boycey]

Hi Andy

Thank you for your reply, that is a very good point, and 2000 miles is probably optimistic too! I have since managed to build 2 decent jampots from the four I had, I made a set of bronze bushes for the top and a set of damper bushes too as they were quite worn (I noticed how much diesel they were letting by during the jamjar test (I didn't have any paraffin!)). Overall I am well pleased with the result, and although I have not road tested them, they seem to operate perfectly and hang on to their oil too which is always a bonus...I did however end up using a small amount of threebond on the lower clevis threads to make sure, as I was getting a tiny weep of oil initially. It was worth taking them apart again to be sure and now I can at least tick that box.
A wiring harness is looming next...if anyone has an opinion as to the best place to source I am all ears.

Thank you.

[Boycey]

Hi Andy

Thank you for your reply, that is a very good point, and 2000 miles is probably optimistic too! I have since managed to build 2 decent jampots from the four I had, I made a set of bronze bushes for the top and a set of damper bushes too as they were quite worn (I noticed how much diesel they were letting by during the jamjar test (I didn't have any paraffin!)). Overall I am well pleased with the result, and although I have not road tested them, they seem to operate perfectly and hang on to their oil too which is always a bonus...I did however end up using a small amount of threebond on the lower clevis threads to make sure, as I was getting a tiny weep of oil initially. It was worth taking them apart again to be sure and now I can at least tick that box.
A wiring harness is looming next...if anyone has an opinion as to the best place to source I am all ears.

Thank you.