hey guys, been a few months since i have been on here asking questions. now that the cold season is upon me and maintenance is required to the scoot i have a question or two or more . i pulled my front end off to replace fork seals and bearings and noticed that one of my tubes are pitted pretty good. i have some raised spots on the tubes also. question is can i get rid of raised spots without destroying tubes and will pits effect new seals that i will be putting in? the pits are not huge in the sense that they look like the grand canyon but they are close together, so i wasn't sure if that would have any effect on them or not.
another question is, will a wide glide front end work on the savage? a buddy has a wide glide front end that he probably wont use(procrastination at its finest) just curious if i would have to do a lot of modding to get it to work. making things are not an issue as i work in a machine shop, just want to know if anyone has tried it or not. thanks in advanced for the input and help.
oh and congrats to dave and bot for making moderators

the best i can explain high spots jog, is that it looks like a blob of chrome plating. not very big but it doesnt have to be to ruin new seals. the pits kind of look like bug spots unless you look at them with an eye loupe. then they look like pebble pits. just dont want to have to replace seals twice if you know what i mean.

If this were an aircraft, you'd replace anything pitted that would touch seals.  

Those bumps are just rust bulging underneath the surface,... future pits.

Sorry to be so pessimistic, but I'd scrap the parts with pits, bite the bullet, and just replace with new parts or unpitted (serviceable) used ones.  Putting new seals on pitted tubes is like polishing a cracked windshield, or putting new rings in a scored cylinder, or buying a new bikini for your 65 year old 250 pound wife,..... the improvement will be fleeting at best.

gyro, thats not the image i wanted about a bikini clad anything, but the message is loud and clear. i work in the aerospace industry. looks like i am in the hunt for new tubes or a different approach to a front end.

yeah yeah, i know dreaming of a cheap springer, but hey dream big if you can. not fond of mag wheels on a bike, let alone a bobber. which leads me to the question of a wide glide front end. would it work? and how much modding would have to be done?

ahh its cool jog, im just trying to get different opinions and insights as to what my options could be. im open to any suggestions on the front end. nothing is ever written in stone with this bike. i have changed the look of it for the last three seasons that i have owned it.

ohio thumper wrote on 11/21/12 at 19:43:01:



If you have to look through a loupe to see them well I'm with Serowbot in I'd take the chance and work them and do the new seals. Any chance of a nice clear pic Ohio or are the blemishes too small for that?

ToesNose wrote on 11/22/12 at 04:03:16:


Fuggedabaddit.  Those raised areas weren't there when the tubes were made.  When things started to rust years ago, what are pits now were initially raised areas caused by rust building underneath,.... embryionic pits.

Go ahead,.. smooth it all up, put in the new seals, and enjoy the lessening of the leakage.  Maybe you can sell the bike before everything starts leaking a lot.  Again.