| Author | Message | ||
     Whisperstealth |
It seems that my left fork seal is leaking. Just saw the fluid down at the bottom of the fork today. I have not done the film thing yet and will, but am asuming at 45K miles with no maintanence that the seal is bad. I have never worked on forks before, and am not all that confident in my ability to do the job. Any chance somebody that knows what they are doing and lives with-in a 150 miles or so of Highland, AR 72542 would be willing to help me out? Failing that any other help and info about tools needed would be of big help. Thanks! | ||
| Etennuly |
I'm not close enough, but wanted to advise a little.....just go ahead and do both of them. I did one at a time due to time constraints when it happened to me at about the same mileage. Within 2000 miles the other one crapped out. | ||
| Unholy |
If I was closer I'd gladly help you, but I can say its pretty straight forward once you do it once. If you have a buddy, you can get away with out and really special tools, but I bought the spring compressor to make it easy by myself. There's some good videos on youtube to help out. A service manual is nice to have too. | ||
| Skifastbadly |
I was in the exact same position you are in a couple of years ago. It's not that bad. Here's my writeup.... http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/142 838/641088.html?1309662479 | ||
| Thumper1203 |
This video should shed some light on the subject for you  | ||
| Tootal |
This isn't exactly what your doing but she's easier on the eyes!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuYnPQFI99o | ||
| Kenm123t |
TOOTAL she rides with Guy Glover in Broward County check so Fla rides | ||
| Jamba |
Thumper, can you make a list of all tools you used? | ||
| Arry |
A while back someone posted that they had put new seals in in a couple of hours. This made me wonder if the seals can be replaced without disassembling the forks.? | ||
| Uly_man |
If the dust seal is letting dirt under it it can then let dirt under the oil seal and make it leak. It did on my bike. I fitted Kriega gatters and its been fine. | ||
| Whisperstealth |
Thanks for the suggestions guys. I know many have said its not that hard, but I'm still uneasy. I been able to do all my own maintenance, take the wheels on and off, dealt with primary issues, belts, etc. But forks are voodoo to me. BTW: Anybody know the best place to buy the seals? | ||
| Schwara |
Yep, just look it up on American Sport Bike and then you will also find recommendations for the other things that should also be replaced ... the exact same thing I just did a little while ago. I'll be taking care of mine over the next week or as I need to get some other stuff done as well. | ||
| Schwara |
I should add that I'm a first timer as well, but my other job is an engine rotation so the forks are'nt scaring me quite as much now. Good luck. | ||
| Whisperstealth |
Watched the video Thumper put up. All it did was convince me I need somebody who knows what they are doing there to help. Amy's video is nice, but same deal. This blows. I learn by doing and having someone there, it's difficult for me to learn something like this by watching a video. | ||
| Schwara |
There are also write ups that you can find here as well. I'm a little slow  so having both the videos and written instructions helps me to better think through the whole process. You can also find slightly different process descriptions which I also find helpful because no one person has the exact same tools and garage as I do. Here are two more links that I found helpful when I was investigating this topic. http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/142 838/631716.html http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/142 838/442538.html?1236474150 I was going to break down and have someone do mine for me when the bike was in a local Harley mod shop for clutch work ... until the guy stated "Did you realize that your forks are upside down?" After that I decided I was probably better off trying to do this myself. I'll update with how things went as soon as possible. I'm starting my various efforts this weekend. | ||
| Desert_bird |
Dude, a newby heads up; if you choose to loosen the fork caps on the sliders while the fork tubes are still on the bike, just make sure that you first back-off the allen bolts on the triple tree. Otherwise you'll apply too much torque to those caps and strip 'em. Obviously, right? well .... i learned the hard way. Db | ||
| Whisperstealth |
>>>I was going to break down and have someone do mine for me when the bike was in a local Harley mod shop for clutch work ... until the guy stated "Did you realize that your forks are upside down?" After that I decided I was probably better off trying to do this myself. I understand, which is exactly where I'm at. And the fact the nearest dealer that works on Buells is a good 150 miles away, prompts me to go ahead and try doing it myself. Its that the bike is my only transportation right now and if something goes wrong I'm screwed. | ||
| Schwara |
That would change things for me as well. If I already had the experience of doing it once before it sounds from others like it really isn't that bad, but if it were my first time with no first hand experience, and I had no other vehicle then I would probably call around to some shops and ask them if they are familiar for inverted forks. Sport bike shops should be. A shop should be able to get it done quickly for you. I'm lucky that mine is an extra vehicle as is my wifes. It gives us flexibility with stuff like this. My bike is down so I rode hers yesterday. Then a coolant line went bad in her van yesterday afternoon so she had to take my car. When it rains it pours. | ||
| Whisperstealth |
Other than the oil seals, do the other seals and bushings have to be replaced? What about the crush washers? | ||
| Luftkoph |
The parts are so inexpensive might as well replace them,my bushings had wear marks at 18k,so I put all new in. | ||
| Unholy |
Definitely do the bushings, super easy and cheap and the Teflon flakes off them over time. I would say NOT remove the bolts at the bottom of the tubes that hold the cartridge in. No reason too unless you have other issues. Then there is no need to replace the crush washers. You do not have to remove them to service the forks! | ||
| Thejosh |
Follow the Vid step by step ( pause if needed ) you will see how simple it really is. | ||
| Whisperstealth |
Okay, got a couple of more questions. 1. Do I need a 1.25 socket, and what nut do I use it on? The top nut on the forks is less than an inch. Does it make a difference that my bike is an 09? 2. What size pvc piece do I need to make a seal driver. 2"? 3. Is one quart of fork oil enough for both forks? | ||
| Thejosh |
Not sure if its less than a quart, but I usually cut a piece of zip tie 4.45 inches and use that for oil level. | ||
| Arcticktm |
If you change your mind on doing it yourself: You do NOT need a Buell or HD dealer. These are normal Showa USD forks that pretty much any competent dealer can do the seals on if you wish. I have done seals once before (long time ago on a dirt bike), but had a time constraint and didn't want the hassle. I had the local BMW/Husqvarna dealer do them for a very fair price (off the bike, of course), including the seals that they got from Parts Unlimited. Did both forks of course, even though only 1 was leaking. Did not change bushings, as I have 29K miles and have done regular fork oil changes for the bikes life. That being said, they did mess up one of my rebound adjusters on re-assembly, so I made them re-do it properly. fortunately, I trust no one when it comes to my bike, so I checked everythign out before re-installing them. |
