Piping

I think I'll have a pair of CBF600 forks in my possession tomorrow, I had been looking at a CBF500 spares/repairs eBay auction but fell asleep and missed it which was f**king annoying. Do you think there's anything else that I ought to do whilst the suspension is dismantled (to fit my stanchions into my CBF500 fork legs), bushes, seals etc (I have no idea if anything in my fork legs will be damaged by either the accident, by being dismantled, or whether there could be pre-existing issues/worn bits)? Surely I'll have to at least replace the oil as the forks haven't been used for a long time. It's a bit annoying I still don't have a replacement yoke... Anyone have any idea how much someone should charge to sort out the forks for me and get me up and running? Thanks a lot for the advice.

I still haven't got a decent camera or the parts, will update soon.

I've just had a good look with a torch but can't see any cracks. The rim is ever so slightly bent, I don't see how that be a huge safety issue. I should be getting a mobile tomorrow and the parts so will be able to take good pics. Anyone think swapping the stanchions in to my fork legs could be problematic (either because my fork legs are compromised or because the work is beyond my capability)? I wouldn't have thought they're compromised but I don't really know what I'm talking about.

Do you think further damage is likely? What other components could be damaged? In particular do you think the rest of my fork legs could be damaged meaning I shouldn't just swap in the replacement stanchions? Is the head stock the same as the head bearings?

What the insurance company doesn't see the insurance company doesn't need to know about... I've bought some second hand stanchions and a couple of other bits, when it's light I'll go out again and look at the head stock (not entirely sure what that is) not that I know how.

A little hard to see with the shit camera but they look pretty creased which would apparently invalidate them for straightening. I'll call the garage and see what they say but I think I probably need replacement stanchions.

I'm kind of thinking now I should just try to get another pair of stanchions, as I said CBF600 stanchions are the same part and are more readily available, could probably get them for about the same cost of straightening mine. My instinct is telling me this would be better.

At the same time I'm a bit of a perfectionist and something like that could annoy me, before I crashed it I was always fretting about whether my bike's handling could have been somehow off but maybe that was because I didn't understand it, I understand the components involved better now. Absolutely want the bike to be as safe as possible that's for sure.

I read somewhere that pretty much all stanchions will bend during their normal use, and I know my forks had new seals and oil last year so should otherwise be ok. The ebay listing says that the forks are pitted and a mudguard mount has broken off, I actually gave the seller a bit of a lowball offer and I don't think he will budge. If these guys in Maidstone are straightening stanchions on race bikes then I'd hope my CBF would be ok. Like I said I can't get carried away, I bought it for functionality. Really appreciate this input, that's a bit of a spanner in the works maybe I should do some more research but there doesn't seem to be a whole lot online about stanchion straightening which could be a bad sign.

Can getting them straightened be a bit of a half arse method then, or do think other suspension damage is likely? I had seen those on ebay but obviously would rather only have to pay £72 for straightening.

Thank you everyone! Seems I'm all set.

It turns out there's a place in Maidstone who do fork straightening and seem fairly reputable so I'm going to take them there where hopefully they can be done the same day so I don't have to wait a week to get them back. I'll take the forks off tomorrow and should be easy to see whether the yoke needs to be replaced as well (will probably replace it anyway). After the crash I had to ride it about 10 miles home, I hope that didn't "crease" the forks which would apparently mean straightening isn't possible. Do you think the top yoke is unlikely to want replacing (if bent replacements are a lot cheaper than getting them straightened)

Brilliant thank you. I've uploaded a couple more pics which aren't much better but best I can do at the moment using my laptop's webcam. You reckon they should be able to help with these (I've emailed them)? Also noticed the front wheel/rim is very slightly bent, don't imagine this is too worry some.

Thanks a lot for the replies. Thankfully I seem to be relatively unharmed. I've managed to get a couple of pics which aren't very good but show that both stanchions are substantially bent. I can't really tell at this stage what further damage may have been caused (e.g. yokes, but these seem to be easily available on ebay for about £20-£30 for both the top and bottom ones, is it easy to check the frame?). Looking at the photos of spare parts it seems that the actual stanchions on CBF600 (easier to find online than CBF500 ones) forks are identical but other parts of the forks are slightly different such as the bottom casings which have different part numbers compared to the 500. Are the stanchions all I really need (nothing internal should have been damaged? and assuming it wouldn't be worth it to try straightening these ones?) and my best course is getting hold of the stanchions as cheaply as possible and getting them simply swapped in to my fork legs, or am I better off holding on to find a pair of CBF500 forks? Unfortunately I think I would have to pay someone to swap the stanchions in as according to the Haynes manual (which I downloaded immediately after purchasing bike, thanks husoi) 'rebuilding' the forks would have a 4/5 spanner difficulty rating meaning I'm not sure I have the confidence to attempt it myself and I'm dependant on the bike as my main mode of transport (am actually looking at buying another bike to use while I await this one getting fixed). By the way husoi, "inexpensively" may be a better word than "cheaply", I want it fixed properly/well of course using quality used parts but don't want to spend more than necessary, I love it but can't get carried away, and I will be looking to upgrade/change at some stage. Pics seem to be upside down. Sorry about that.

I've crashed my motorcycle resulting in obviously bent forks, and I'm not sure whether there may be more (footpegs previously damaged). This is the reason I've joined the forum, being a cheap noob wishing to repair my motorcycle cheap (myself) and am in need friendly advice and not to be moaned at, I'm learning! Once I've sourced a mobile phone I'll upload pictures, the bike in question is a Honda CBF 500.