Trying to remove forks and handlebars.. Bit stuck

Johnny|lucidcomposure

Johnny|lucidcomposure

Johnny|lucidcomposure

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5 Nov 2004
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Hey guys trying to remove my forks and handle bars.

Its a standard Claud Butler bike.
No suspension or anything.

Took off the alan key screw bolt that goes down the central portion and I assumed held the forks on.

also un done all the rings at the upper portion of the frame which has exposed the bearings but I can't pull the thing in two? Am I missing anything because theres little else to adjust?
 
Can you post pictures of what you've done so far?

Does your stem look like this (handlebars are held in place by the two bolts at the back) or like this (handlebars are a single unit which fits inside the frame)
 
Any chance of some bigger, slower loading pictures? lol :p

If you partially undo the allen bolt in the top of the handlebar stem and give it a tap, it will free the handlebar stem and you'll be able to wriggle it out. There is a little wedge at the bottom that gets jammed, which you'll see when you pull it out.

Then get a big adjustable spanner and undo the two big nuts. The top one is a lock nut, followed by a securing washer and the bottom nut holds the top bearing in place. Once wound all the way off, the fork will slide out the bottom. Make sure you catch all the balls that fall out ;)
 
Thats a quill stem you've got. they are held on by compression so it's common for them to be sticky to get off.
The stem looks like this inside the frame:
3t-pro-chrome-quill-stem.jpg

The bolt you've taken out goes into the wedge at the bottom of the stem then it gets forced outwards by the angle of the wedge.
To get it off, screw the bolt back in a few turns (not all the way in) then give it a tap on the top to push the wedge away from the rest of the stem. After that you just need to wiggle the handlebars about a bit to loosen them off and slide them out.

edit: haha beaten, almost word for word :( (but yeah, i forgot about the bearings falling out, dont lose them)
 
Yeah thats it above. I can't get the thing out I've tried hitting it with a hammer its not budging! Ive tried to look down it and it looks rusty but surely after how hard I've been hitting it you'd think it would separate.

Are an of the screw threads playing a part in stopping this thing from coming away?
 
How old's the bike?

You may find that if its' been exposed to rain at any point, that the base of the stem has rusted up, and possibly even rust-fused to the frame itself.

Be prepared to give it a VERY violent hammering, and possibly damage the frame in the process of getting it out.

Try positioning the bike upside down somewhere stable, so you're hitting the underside of the stem to tap it downwards and out... that might help.
 
The wednge is part of the stem piece really. I find loosening the stem slightly and hitting the bars sharply whilst holding the front wheel helps free them up.

If it's really siezed in then unscrew the bolt so it sits proud of the stem by like 10mm at least. Block of wood + hammer = unsiezed.

The big nuts and threaded part are totally seperate to the stem once you get that off. Once you unscrew the locknut and the race the fork will slide out.
 
Johnny|lucidcomposure said:
that wedge stays in frame right?
Click to expand...
Best not to. Even if you're going to be reusing it, take it out, clean all the rust and crap off it, and grease it so that it doenst get jammed the next time.

To get it out: Take the forks out of the frame and turn them over. Find something that will fit inside the bottom of the fork but wont fit through the bolt hole in the wedge (a big screwdriver or something - i had an extension bar for my socket set that was a perfect fit) and tap it out from the bottom.

Clean up the inside of the fork as much as possible as well if your refitting them.
 
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