The fork system needs to be vented to work properly. The fork tube caps have a valve and a little hole in the side to let air (in? / out?).
The 1952-1953 Ks used the stainless steel cowbell covers, and the top of the sliders were sealed with a felt washer, a steel retainer for the felt, and a rubber-ish seal, so nothing was getting in/out of there. There must have been a problem with the lack of ventilation, because in 1954, they changed to the rubber boots, and eliminated the felt and retainer, but kept the rubber seal. The upper retainer for the boot had two screw holes
and a vent hole. Apparently this didn't completely fix the problem, because in 1955, they eliminated the rubber seal. Apparently this didn't completely fix the problem, because in 1957, they replaced one of the screws holding the upper retainer with a vent tube. That did it, and was the same through 1969.
- Fork configurations
- forks.jpg (91.43 KiB) Viewed 13170 times
So the rubber seals are really only needed for the 1952-53 with the cowbells. This page lists some info/sources for 1963 Triumph seals:
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=232&hilit=fork+seal&start=10I found two different modern seals that can be bought from your local friendly bearing supplier for a few dollars each. I know I posted the info on the site, but I can't find it now. Since I moved earlier this year, there's a lot of stuff still in boxes, and which box has those seals? I will look for them and post the numbers.
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In 1957, when they added the vent tube, they changed the 46007-54 Retainer Upper to 46007-54A. I think
(but I'm not sure) that the -54 have the vent holes, and the -54A do not. So if you're assembling your front end from pieces, make sure your 1954-1956 has holes in the upper retainers, and your 1957-later do not. Can someone with a collection of parts double check this?
- Fork Boot kits
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