96/97 Blade forks.

Parts Required

• 96/97 Forks
• 96/97 Triple Clamps
• 96/97 Wheel Spindle
• 96/97 Wheel Spacers
• Spondon Clipons for blade forks in VTR (5 degree drop) or V.3 Riser Clipons (the 2.25" rise would probably work) from Two Brothers
• Replacement mudguard (Triumph T955 fits and is much cheaper than the blade version)
• Mudguard fitting kit (Triumph kit £12 Honda kit £60)
• LH Bargrip

Fitting Steps

• Lift the bike onto paddock stands. Make sure its stable there is the potential for lots of damage if the bike falls over especially if you are under it at the time.

Remove the fairing

• Remove mirrors.
• Remove 4 allen headed fairing mounting screws.
• Remove 2 inner fairing plastic mounting clips (below radiators) the fairing is now loose.
• Pull fairing open to clear mounting brackets and slide forward.
• Disconnect Indicators.
• Disconnect Headlight.
• Disconnect Sidelight.
• Remove fairing.
• Remove front mudguard

Remove Front Wheel

• Remove brake calipers.
• Loosen axle Pinch bolts.
• Remove axle nut.
• Remove front axle and wheel.

Remove master cylinders and switch gear

• Unbolt brake pipe clamps on forks.
• Unbolt brake pipe from lower triple clamp.
• Unbolt front brake lever from clipon.
• Put the calipers and master cylinder to one side make sure the master cylinder is still upright or you will need to bleed the brakes later.
• Remove RH switch gear two Philips head screws underneath.
• Remove LH switch gear two Philips head screws underneath.
• Loosen pinch bolt on RH clipon.
• Remove mounting screws from Throttle body.
• Slide Clipon of the RH fork leg and remove the throttle body.
• Unbolt Clutch lever from clipon you need to keep the master cylinder upright I fixed mine to the LH fairing mount with a zip tie.
• Loosen pinch bolt on LH clipon and remove.
• Unbolt horn from bottom triple clamp.

Remove fork legs

• Loosen all pinch bolts on top triple clamp.
• Holding the right fork leg loosen the pinch bolt on the bottom triple clamp and slide the fork out downwards.
• Holding the left fork leg loosen the pinch bolt on the bottom triple clamp and slide the fork out downwards.

Remove Triple clamps

• Remove the nut from the top of the steering head.
• Remove the top triple clamp you will need to disconnect the ignition switch from the wiring loom.
• Remove the ignition switch from the top triple clamp you will need to use a stud extractor on the shear off nuts on the ignition switch.
• Push down the locking tabs on the bearing locknut.
• Remove lock nut and locking ring.
• Hold the lower triple clamp and remove the top bearing cup the triple clamp will slide out downwards.

Fit Blade triple clamps

• Slide the blade triple clamp up through the steering head and refit the bearing cup ensure you have the correct head bearings top and bottom and that they are not worn.
• This is a good point to swap for taper head bearings but it is a little more involved.
• Tighten down the top bearing to remove any freeplay and ensure the bars turn smoothly. Any notchiness means that the bearings a worn and you will need to replace them.
• Fit the locking ring and then tighten down the lock nut.
• Hold the locknut in place using the two tabs on the locking ring.
• Fit the Ignition switch to the blade triple clamp I used standard allen bolts instead of the shearoff bolts and applied studlock to stop them being removed don’t fix these bolts permanently until you have checked that the steering lock still works and the switch is positioned correctly. You can adjust the height with some thin stainless washers.
• Slide the top triple clamp into position and tighten down the steering head nut. Check that the steering lock works and the ignition switch is flush with the top of the triple clamp.
• Mount the horn on the bottom triple clamp.

Fit Blade Forks

• Loosen all of the pinch bolts on the triple clamps
• Push the RH forkleg up through the bottom clamp and at the same time slip the RH clipon over the fork leg.
• When the fork leg is flush with the top of the top triple clamp tighten the bottom pinch bolt.
• Push the LH forkleg up through the bottom clamp and at the same time slip the LH clipon over the fork leg.
• When the fork leg is flush with the top of the top triple clamp tighten the bottom pinch bolt.

Remount Switch Gear

• The new Clipons do not have any locating holes for the switch gear or throttle body.
• Trial fit the LH and RH switch gear and mark the position of the mounting lugs
• Trial fit the Throttle body. Move the steering through a full range of movement to ensure the throttle cables don’t rub on any bodywork (you will need to temporarily fit the bodywork for this.)
• Remove the clipons by either taking off the top triple clamp or sliding the forks down in the triple clamps.
• Drill the mounting holes for the switch gear. The LH side is not as critical and I used the original bars measured the position of the holes and drilled them. The RH side electrical switches can also be measured from the original bars but the throttle has to be marked on the bike to ensure there is clearance for the cables.
• Refit the clipons.
• Refit the LH Switch gear.
• Refit the clutch lever and master cylinder.
• Fit new LH bar grip.
• Tighten the top pinch bolts in the triple clamps.
• Position the LH Clipon and tighten the pinch bolt.
• Refit RH Switch gear.
• Refit throttle body.
• Refit front brake lever and master cylinder.
• Position the RH Clipon and tighten the pinch bolt.
• Refit brake hose to bottom triple clamp.
• Connect Ignition switch to wiring loom.
• Move the steering from lock to lock and check all of the cable routing ensure that nothing is rubbing and the throttle works without binding.
• Check the tightness of all the bolts and torque to the correct values.

Refit Front Wheel

• Fit Blade wheel spacers into front wheel
• Ensure axle pinch bolts are loose
• Position front wheel between fork legs
• Push the front wheel spindle through from LH side.
• Fit front axle nut and torque up to correct value
• Visualy check that the spacing between the brake rotors and the fork legs is even both sides.
• Refit brake calipers. Make sure the disk goes between the brake pads and check the clearance between the caliper body and the brake disk.
• Torque up Caliper mount bolts
• Torque up front axle pinch bolts.

Check Steering head bearings

• Take the bike off the paddock stands
• Holding the front brake push down and pull up on the handle bars at the same time hold a finger against the bearing cup under the top triple clamp there should be no movement or noise from the bearings. If there is any movement remove the top triple clamp and tighten the headrace bearings until the noise or movement stops. The bars should still turn smoothly if they have become notchy you should replace the bearings.

Fit front mudguard

• Mount the new front mudguard
• Mount the front brake hose clips (I had already changed to braided hoses so I don’t know if there are any problems with spacing etc with the standard hoses)

Refit Fairing

• Hold the fairing in position on the front of the bike.
• Connect up the sidelight.
• Connect up the headlamp.
• Connect up the indicators.
• Push the fairing into position and refit all of the mounting bolts.
• Refit the mirrors.
• Double check all of the cables and hoses are clear of obstructions.

The whole process took me four hours for a 98 blade fork setup which is a little more complex. The trickiest part is mounting the switch gear everything else just bolts into place.