Just carried out a pliminary fitting of the top and bottom fork yokes with the stantions (fork tubes) no way will they fit the ends of the stantions arnt even close to the holes on the top yoke. Removing the stantions i dropped the top yoke right down the tube of the bottom yoke and sure enough the holes for the stantion dont line up. Parts are W42/G3L/FF21 and W42/G3L/FF17 respectively.
I have a second pair of yokes and note that the tube of the bottom yoke is bent over towards the stantion holes .I unbent the one i'm pre assembling as i thought it should be parallel to the stantion holes but this makes the situation worst, error in the design? bending of the tube to make it all fit?, anyone had a similar problem?

email (option): cleehill66@yahoo.co.uk

Dan I've overhauled a 2or3 G3L forks in the past and although I had various issues, I never encountered your problem. The proper tool to draw the stanchions into the top yolk is useful though!!
The part that you call the bottom yolk tube (I call the steering stem) I'm sure should be parallel to the stanchions so that the forks are then parallel to the headstock.
One of my beefs with Matchless was their tendency to change lots of parts.....Like about five different shapes of oil tank for starters?? I also know that there were different types of G3L top/bottom yolks. Whether they are all interchangeable....I do not know? Ron

email (option): ronpier@talk21.com

Hi Ron,thankyou for the reply,I've since talked to Steve at AMC Spares and he said that once i assemble it all on the frame rather than in a vice it should all come good.The stanchions are bent so that's not helping either.Ron do you have AMC's part number for the fork assembly tool? Your right about 'same part..but different' a 41 isn't compatible with a 42 yokes though the bike came with this mix of both

Dan I bought my tool from Steve at AMC some years ago. Let me know if he hasn't got any and I'll show you mine. Ron

email (option): ronpier@talk21.com

Not behind the bike shed I hope Ron, lol. Andrew.h.

email (option): warbikes@gmail.com

You can make a pulling tool for the forks from an old fork top nut, drill a hole in the centre of it and put a threaded rod into it by drilling and bolting it in or threading it in , or even welding it in, then grind the hexagon off it so that it will pass through the top yoke and then screw the top nut into the forks, put a penny washer over the top yoke and then tighten the nut on the threaded rod and it will draw the fork into the yoke. The tool is quite expensive and this method works well and only costs an old top nut and a length of studding.

email (option): davmax@ntlworld.com

Thanks for that Dave, we have a full machining facilities at my place of work so i can get something knocked up. I guess having to use a tool to draw the stantion into the top yoke does kinda show that the two yokes dont line up? its something that can normally be done by hand...still it was after all the UK's first full production teledraulic forks.

email (option): cleehill66@yahoo.co.uk

Dan I think it's more to do with the fact that you can't really get hold of the stanchions inside the shrouds to pull them up. To my mind, the holes for the stanchions in the top and bottom yolks must be perfectly in line with each other.

Ron

email (option): ronpier@talk21.com

Here's a picture of my tool it is a universal one so you can change the dummy top nut, what I do is buy an extra nut every time I know I'm working on a different bike and just machine the hexagon off.

email (option): davmax@ntlworld.com

Here's a picture of my tool
Now Dave, that's rude

email (option): jeepfinger@blueyonder.co.uk

Thats quite a hefty tool you have their! (Editors of Razzle have nothing on us!) Anyhoo I think i've got to the bottom of it all. I've just built up the forks twice using the two bottom yoke/steering stems, once with the steering stem that is parallel to the stantions, and once with the steering stem that is bent towards them, as before neither allow the ends of the stanchions to enter the headstock by a wide margin, what i noticed this time is that on the first attempt the stanchions were 'overshooting' the holes in the headstock, and on the second attempt they were 'undershooting' the holes. The conclusion is that the steering stem has to be inclined towards the stanchions but at a certain angle for them to enter the headstock cleanly. So i need to rebend the bottom yoke after i went to all the trouble of heating it up and unbending it!
Seems a peculiar way to make the fork yokes but as they say "the past is a foreign country, they do things differently there"
Hows that start with Razzle finish with L.P. Hartley

email (option): cleehill66@yahoo.co.uk