Gilera Nordwest, Workshop Manual

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Paioli front forks
Seals tend to show signs of leakage at fairly low mileage. Some later
bikes have small screws at the top of each leg and if you loosen them
you will release some air pressure. The two legs are not the same. Both
have a spring and oil (Nordwest has a spring ONLY on the left leg), but
only the right one has the damper mechanism, so if you want to
experiment with different grades of oil, you only need to change the right
leg.
Modified seals were fitted to bikes after VIN 228-71037 so if you
have an older bike you will need spacers to allow the fitment of the
modified seals. Part numbers Seal 952633, Spacers 952737.
A complete kit with all seals, bushes etc is available part number 344921.
A special tool is required to fit the new seals but some Suzuki models use
the same forks so dealers should have a suitable tool. (Alternative seals
are Vesrah ref AR4104 as fitted to KX250 1989/91 size 41mm X 53mm
X 8mm).
Support bike with front wheel clear of ground. (For Nordwest, ensure the
bike is secured if using a paddock stand under the fork legs, as when the
wheel spindle is removed, the right hand leg collapses and the bike tends
to fall over), Disconnect speedo cable, remove fairing, mudguard, brake
callipers and front wheel. Now you can remove the fork legs. Take the
top nuts out and invert the legs to drain the oil. You will find a nut on top
of the damper rod in the end of the fork leg, loosen this nut by tapping the
spanner sharply. Once the nut is removed, the two halves of the fork leg
can be separated, but first remove the dust seal and the spring ring
underneath, then hold the bottom of the lower leg in a vice and knock
the seals out by pulling the top leg up sharply. Fit the new seals etc with
the special tool which will ensure it all goes in straight, reassemble and fill
each leg with 400cc of SAE10 fork oil. Do not forget the lip of the seal is
very fragile and needs to be in perfect condition so take precautions to
keep it perfect during assembly.
Spark plugs (gap 0.6 to 0.7mm torque to 12 to 15 Nm)
NGK (heat range)
DPR 9 EA9 (normal) DPR 8 EA9 (cold) DPR 9 EV9 (wide)
Nippon Denso (heat range)
X27 EPU-9 (?) X27 EPRU-9 (?) X27 EPRZU-9 (wide)
Cables - oiling
Clutch and brake cables used to need oiling regularly with engine oil.
Modern cables are nylon lined and will work for ages with no attention.
When they start to get stiff, lube them with WD40 or similar.
Speedo cables may be nylon lined, if they are you should be able to see
a plastic tube around the inner cable if you look at the end that goes into
the clock. Disconnect the cable at both ends, pull the inner out and clean
it with WD40. Also spray down the outer. Now leave the WD40 to dry,
otherwise it will end up getting in the clock. If it is not nylon lined, pull the
inner out and clean it with a solvent. Once it is dry, lightly grease it all the
way from the bottom to within 2 inches of the top. If you grease it all the
way to the top, grease will work up into the clock.
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