Front fork damper rod bolt

[good4us]

I am trying to change the oil seal on the front forks on my 2007 Speedmaster. I have tried removing the damper rod bolt but it is obviously seized in the damper rod where it threads in. the bolt turns very easily, but the damper rod is also turning and I have tried all the book suggestions to free it with no success. The manual refers to a damper rod retaining tool as a last resort, but I am unable to find this tool online. If I am unable to find this tool, I see no way to remove the seal, and of course the copper washer on the damper rod bolt needs replacing too.
Help! any suggestions or sources for this tool???

 

[good4us]

OK, so with no help from the dealer and no online info available, I decided to drill out the stainless steel Allen head cap screw, AKA the damper rod bolt. With lots of effort I was able to drill it out. Once I had the damper rod removed from the fork I was able to make my own retaining tool to use on the next fork. Hopefully I don't have to drill that one out. The new bolts( one for each fork, just in case) and the copper washers are on order. The bolt size for anyones info is an M10-1 x 25mm, but beware, a standard American version of this bolt has a 16mm diameter Allen socket head cap, whis will not fit the opening, whereas the Triumph version is 15mm diameter. The cost for 2 new bolts with the washers from the dealer is about $18

 

[good4us]

The damper rod has a couple of holes close to the bottom that are about 6mm diameter. I purchased a 3' length of 1/4" diameter steel rod at Lowes for about $6. I filed down the one end to 5mm diameter, heated and bent it about 1/2" so it would slide down inside the damper rod. The other end I bent to form a handle. Finding the hole was easy and removing the damper rod bolt on the second fork was a snap.

 

[DirtieGirtie]

G - I'm new to the forum. I love your ingenuity! I do a lot of Home Depot engineering myself. Well done! And even though it looks like you didn't get much in the way of responses, thanks for following through and documenting your resolution. Without it, this thread, and ultimately theses types of forums, are useless. Thanks!

Did you think about grinding a half mm of the head of the bolt that had a 16mm head but a 15mm countersink hole? (I think that is what you explained)

 

[Rocky]

Well done

 

[good4us]

The American 16mm did. head was also special order from Fastenal so I ordered the Triumph bolt. I was surprised the dealers had no idea what the factory tool looked like.