Navigator fork top nuts

Hi Sam,

those nuts have very fine threads & may have been over tightened & stripped at some point in time

If that'sthe case, you might be able to pry up on the nuts with a forked tool, or 2 pry bars (one on each side). Have someone loosen the nuts, while you gently pry op on the nuts. Hopefully the fork tubes are not stripped, if the nuts are stripped, they are a lot easier & cheaper to replace.

If you have a friend in a machine shop with an EDM (electric discharge machine) they can burn out the old nuts without damaging the fork tube.

Worst casescenario (this would be the very last option, if all else fails!), cut ,or grind off the hex head portion of the nut, then the nuts could could be drilled outunder size so as not to damage the fork tube threads (assuming they are ok) & carefully pry out the thin shell thats left.

Any body else have any tricks for this?

Maybe they are hanging on the damper rods.Compress the legs a bit and you will be able to lift the nut enough to unscrew the rod.Regards John.

Previously wrote:

Can anybody help me with a problem I am having with the the large nuts at the top of each Roadholder fork on my '61 Navigator? I'm trying to remove the yoke and upper shrouds for re-painting and everything has gone as it says in the manual apart from removing the two top nuts. They unscrew about a quarter of an inch and then just keep spinning round. The yoke is nice and loose and moves up and down freely but these nuts will not come out even though they are moving freely in the thread. The yoke did take a bit a shifting from the forks but a tap with a mallet and a piece of wood did the trick. I wonder if the nuts have corroded to something. Any ideas anyone?

Sam,

It is possible for the fork tubes to rotate with the fork top nut. You would not be able to see this because the tube is hidden by the seal holder, the lower yoke and the fork shroud/headlamp bracket.

Try tightening up the lower pinch bolts just in case.

I hope you have not already embarked on thefirst suggestion. It usually takes a week or two for the best suggestions to appear on a forum query.

Peter Holland

Good call Pete, I assumed that the pinch bolts were still tight. Never assume! My comments were based on the nuts being stripped & last ditch effort to remove them.

Skip

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