sbaussie

130 mm it is , so I'll assume yokes are correct and spaced properly. Lock nut was definitely above the upper yoke , but may have been assembled the wrong way in a previuos life. So i'll put it back together, add some oil and head on out. Thanks for the input everyone..

Thanks all for the replies. I have checked the tapered sections and they look clean , ran some 180 over them then some 400 and steel wool. very nice now, A little oil too , a litttle heat but still only go in the same distance . If I snug them in there using Stanchion nut then remove them there is a definite line where the top of the fork tube was, in fact there is a distict ridge where it "cut" into the softer alloy. It is possible that the fork tubes are not original , I am not the original owner and the last owner did quite a nice restoration job. It is obvious that the bike was used for some serious competition or fun as there are a few deep gouges in the fork legs, and some nice after market bits, Renthal bars, domino throttle etc etc.. Bearing lock nut is good and sitting snug against bearing race. These forks came out of these yokes . I have tried to snug the the fork leg into just the upper yoke (lower swung out of way ) same result.... So it is quite possible he replaced fork tubes with tubes from some other model? I did not look closely at the forks where they enter the lower yoke before I removed them so maybe they always were 5 mm off !!. Anyone out there have a Model 156?? If so what is the distance between the bottom surface of the upper yoke and the Top surface of the lower yoke? ie how much fork tube showing between them ?. Thanks again Mike

I have a Sherpa T 125 model 156 that has 30 mm forks. I removed fork legs, repacked steering/ ball bearings (what a pain) , put new seals in forks legs (also a pain) and reassembled. Problem : the fork tubes are tapered at the top and fit up into the top yokes, lower yoke is split with two bolts. The fork tubes only go so far up into the yokes (about 7.5mm down from top ) Both sides are the same . I have gently heated and tightened Stanchion nut to snug them up. Where the forks fit in the lower yoke (criss crossed markings) there is a definite mark where they fit into the yoke before (slight rust mark from the steel lower yoke) but it is a good 5mm below the lower surface of the yoke. I have the lower yoke openings separated with wedges so its not binding there. It looks like they need to still go up 5 mm but they really don't want to go up into the upper yoke any more!! If I slacken steering tube nut they will go up to previous marks bit all that is happening is upper yoke is moving up the collar of the bearing lock nut and now I have a 5mm gap between the top of the bearing lock nut and the bottom surface of the upper steering yoke and barely any thread showing on the bearing luck nut collar to attach steerer tube nut. Did I miss something obvious here???