I've been forking around in my workshop today...
These are the 929 forks I'm going to fit onto the front of my '99 fireblade, along with a 17inch front wheel. They weren't in terrible condition, but the stanchions had some very light scratches (couldn't feel them with your nail) and the seals were leaking a little so I was going to fit new bushes, seals and oil as a matter of course.
However, purely by luck I was browsing eBay over the Chirstmas holdiays and found something which is increasing rare...a genuine bargain. Two brand new Honda fork lowers including new bushes, seals, O rings and caliper bolts and I won the lot for just over £50.
It would be rude not to put a decent set of springs in at the same time...
Got the forks stripped down pretty quickly:
The original bushes are in surprisingly good shape, with a new set of seals the old lowers would be quite usable.
New O-rings for the fork cap and pre-load mechanism
And a nearly finished set of forks
I say nearly, as I didn't have enough fork oil (doh) so I've left the springs out until I get some more. The lower yoke needs to be stripped and repainted, as do the clip-ons (I filed down all the ugly ridges that Honda left on when they were manufactured). also the fasteners need to be re-plated, but I know a man with a zinc plating set-up in his garage so hopefully that will be done soon.
Whilst in the mood for forks, I reassembled these to keep all the bits together. These are from a Suzuki B120 that I'm (slowly) restoring. They should have shrouds over the springs, but they are safely wrapped up in a box for now so they don't get scratched up.
This is what the poor thing looked like when I got it:
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I've rebuilt the engine (all new bearings and seals, re-bore and new piston required as the bore was full of water), rebuilt the wheels with new spokes and rims, sourced a new (old stock) tank as the original was like a collander, and had the frame blasted and primed. I need to paint the frame, but as it's supposed to be the same metallic blue as the tank, I'll probably ship that out to get a nice job done.
If anyone knows of a half tidy seat (or just the base) for a B100P or B120, let me know. They just don't seem to exist, so might have to modify one from an A100 to fit.
1500km's does seem a lot but think of the epic adventure you'd have on the way!
Imagine on a 125 
You simply don't need winter gloves if you have heated grips and muffs. My hands were nearly too warm, heated grips getting a little too hot this morning and tonight on the ride to work, and it was a couple of degrees max this morning. I wear held racetex gloves, which are perforated too.
