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front forks
- Thread starter galaxie
- Start date
wecm31
Luddite Looney
I didn't find any threads on this when I searched, so I'll step up and offer some advice. I spent a fair bit of time on my forks this past year, after Bambi bent things up a bit I actually replaced most of the front end of the bike. I am pretty sure we have the same forks. Wouldn't hurt to check your manual (bike owners/Clymer/Haynes) for some picture of all this.
- Drain the fork oil via the drain nut on the bottom and the vent plug at the top, under the plastic covers on the upper triple. Don't mess with the large nuts on the top, just the small plug inside the top assembly.
- Remove the front wheel (support your calipers, don't let them hang by the hoses) and axle.
- Remove the lower fork brace and the fender.
- Remove the bolt at the bottom of the lower fork slider, its hiding in a cavity on top of the axle bore. You can only see it by removing the axle and looking up into the fork. Lets hope at this point that the fork internals are under enough spring pressure to not rotate. I was able to get mine out without the internal rod/spring assembly spinning. If the whole internal assembly spins....
- Pull the slider (the aluminium casting) off the stanchions (the chrome fork tubes). You will see the damping rod hanging down from the stanchions.
- Carefully pry out the old seals from the aluminium slider (don't scratch any metal now!!) and press in the new seals.
- Slide the sliders back onto the fork tubes and reinstall the bolt to the damping rod up inside the cavity. Again hoping that the internal spring pressure is enough to allow you to torque the bolt. I have heard of using a thread sealer on this bolt, I have not done so and have no leaks.
- Reinstall the axle and tighten snugly the pinch bolts (not torqued, just snug) to keep the fork tubes straight as you reinstall the brace and fender.
- Remove the axle, then install the wheel and axle with the brakes.
- Refill correct amount of new fork oil, drain plug first of course and then the top filler/vent plug
You want to use all the correct torque values from your manuals and new crush washers. Then jump up/down on the front end to get the fluid settled into the forks.
While you have all this apart, I would suggest you ponder putting bellows on your fork tubes. They protect the chrome tubes from getting pitted and will keep your seals intact longer. Now's the time, everything is apart.
Funny thing.... I have only had an airhead ten years, that puts me just above rookie status on this forum. Any old timers/moderators/gurus etc, please feel free to jump in here and correct/ridicule/support my work plan. I am going from memory but feel pretty confident of this work.
- Drain the fork oil via the drain nut on the bottom and the vent plug at the top, under the plastic covers on the upper triple. Don't mess with the large nuts on the top, just the small plug inside the top assembly.
- Remove the front wheel (support your calipers, don't let them hang by the hoses) and axle.
- Remove the lower fork brace and the fender.
- Remove the bolt at the bottom of the lower fork slider, its hiding in a cavity on top of the axle bore. You can only see it by removing the axle and looking up into the fork. Lets hope at this point that the fork internals are under enough spring pressure to not rotate. I was able to get mine out without the internal rod/spring assembly spinning. If the whole internal assembly spins....
- Pull the slider (the aluminium casting) off the stanchions (the chrome fork tubes). You will see the damping rod hanging down from the stanchions.
- Carefully pry out the old seals from the aluminium slider (don't scratch any metal now!!) and press in the new seals.
- Slide the sliders back onto the fork tubes and reinstall the bolt to the damping rod up inside the cavity. Again hoping that the internal spring pressure is enough to allow you to torque the bolt. I have heard of using a thread sealer on this bolt, I have not done so and have no leaks.
- Reinstall the axle and tighten snugly the pinch bolts (not torqued, just snug) to keep the fork tubes straight as you reinstall the brace and fender.
- Remove the axle, then install the wheel and axle with the brakes.
- Refill correct amount of new fork oil, drain plug first of course and then the top filler/vent plug
You want to use all the correct torque values from your manuals and new crush washers. Then jump up/down on the front end to get the fluid settled into the forks.
While you have all this apart, I would suggest you ponder putting bellows on your fork tubes. They protect the chrome tubes from getting pitted and will keep your seals intact longer. Now's the time, everything is apart.
Funny thing.... I have only had an airhead ten years, that puts me just above rookie status on this forum. Any old timers/moderators/gurus etc, please feel free to jump in here and correct/ridicule/support my work plan. I am going from memory but feel pretty confident of this work.
bikerfish1100
New member
http://www.ibmwr.org/r-tech/airheads/forksealreplace.shtml
also,
buy yourself a shop manual. Clymer's or Haynes, or both. Amazon is good.
also,
buy yourself a shop manual. Clymer's or Haynes, or both. Amazon is good.
wecm31
Luddite Looney
Nice link Bikerfish!!!
Some good details that I skipped over...
But one key difference to the late -85 and on forks, AFAIK..
The large Allen bolt on the bottom of the fork in the link, the one that releases the sliders is not present on the later forks. Instead you need to access the bolt above the axle bore. That had me hunting around when I first did mine.
Some good details that I skipped over...
But one key difference to the late -85 and on forks, AFAIK..
The large Allen bolt on the bottom of the fork in the link, the one that releases the sliders is not present on the later forks. Instead you need to access the bolt above the axle bore. That had me hunting around when I first did mine.
M
