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Rider Magazine had a great article on suspension cures for the gl1000 in a 78 or 79 issue, a mag I have "somewhere" in my stash. Bottom line. The rear is responds well to aftermarket shock upgrades but the forks were dubbed a lost cause, with high stiction-poor damping/quality control in the lower stanchions etc. I can visualize the cover of the mag and the article contents all this years later, now to find it ~:<)

https://racetech.com/HTML_FILES/DampingRodForks.HTML

Um... Not to be pedantic but when I studied acoustics in college our prof drummed it into us that "dampening" means making something damp (moist, wet) and the word for reducing oscillation is "damping" as in to damp the vibration.

From the vaults May 1977 says it all back in the day.

Interesting comment kind of says it all.

All the genuine Honda parts and tools I need have arrived so I have set about taking a look at whats happening.

With the forks partly disassembled I can move the lowers up and down the stanchions, whilst not stiff like I had perhaps hoped they certainly dont move completely freely -
The PO has applied some silicone sealant to one of the left side spindle clamp fixing studs. Trying to figure out why, any ideas?
One of the studs on the right side is missing and replaced with an allen bolt, handnt noticed this at all and will have to be fixed, I might as well replace all the studs whilst I am at it -
On with the job, going to take the lowers off now

Doesnt look particularly clean down there -
Old seals are marked 37V-01, the Honda ones 37-02 so I dont think they are original parts -
I have one seal out and the new seals in the freezer, I will spend the rest of the day making sure everything is clean then tackle fitting tomorrow

Why don't you pop up the dust seal on the right fork and see how it affects the seal stiction. So you move the left up and it drops down by itself while the right hangs correct ?

Thanks for your help.

Yes, actually both fork lowers stayed in place and didnt fall under their own weight on the stanchions. I have replaced the seals now and rebuilt the forks, they do feel smoother than before.

I think the problem may have actually been an over adjusted axle, PO had tightened the spindle sleeve hard against the wheel hub, I noted that the speedometer drive housing was stiff to turn when I was dismantling but with everything back in place and the gaps correctly adjusted in relation to the brake discs it is now loose.

I cant take a test ride as the weather is awful here but I am hoping I have solved the problem, I didnt find anything else untoward during the strip down.

Back in the day, they sold stiction free fork seals, whatever that meant ? I don't see any reason to replace all you fork cap studs for the sake of ?

Happy to say after my ride in to work this morning my front forks are very much improved.

I am not sure what the cure was, the new seals definitely improved the smoothness of travel but not signifcantly. I do think the PO had adjusted the axle spindle sleeve too tight and not checked the clearance of the left brake caliper causing the forks to splay inward.

I think it was just a matter of disassembly a good clean up and correct assembly thats done it

Thanks everyone for your help