in the process of pulling my front end apart on 06 street bob to have fork tubes and upper and lower triples powder coated. i searched but didnt find any good info on the reinstalling process of the triple trees. im guessing its not as easy as just bolting everything back together? Will my front end alignment be off? how do I make sure im back to the way it was before i took it apart and all is straight? Ive already prepared mysself for someone to tell me to go buy a service manual but I like reading this forum cuz so many people have such great information. thanks

 

Putting them back together is fairly easy. Pretty much it is the reverse order of taking them apart. The biggest issue is getting the correct amount of fluid in the forks and doing the fall away adjustment. A manual will be a big help too. Plenty of threads on putting fluid in the legs as well as the fall a away procedure, but having the manual there for reference is a big help and it will be one of your most valuable tools in your tool box.

 

I've done mine about 3 times now. It's pretty easy just take down notes where and what everything is also you may need a press to put the lower tree bearing back on the stem. Fall away is fairly easy.

 

Just to make sure know this, if you powder your fork tubes there is a very good chance your lowers are going to leak. Not saying they will or that you shouldnt do it because there is always the one guy whose done it. Just saying that they will almost certainly leak. Also if you just do lower sliders and trip trees. Make sure the inside areas were properly taped off or cleaned of powder before you reinstall. I had an issue with my old bike where I got my lower sliders powdered and the seals would leak because of a little bit of clear powder overshoot.

 

mine dont leak on any of my 6 bikes... all of them have powdered lowers, now if you are saying that you can not powder the fork sanctions you are 100% on that... but the lowers, no problem! you can see how clean they are when they leave our shop, no blasting, media, or powder is on the inside of the tubes at all... i have coated and assembled well over 100 sets of lowers, granted i have had faulty seals, but never due to any of the lowers we have powdered... also be sure you install your fork seals in the right way. i have had customers bring their bikes in saying that the seals where leaking from powder only to find out that they installed the fork seals upside down it happens

 

I can't imagine a competent powdercoating ship screwing this up to the point that the seals leak. I just got a set of lowers back from Joe and they are at least as clean up top as they were when I sent them to him.

That said, reassembly is simple. Just take your time.

 

Joe: He said fork tubes not sliders. I just wanted to clear that up. As for mine leaking I always check mating surfaces and so far my guy has been top notch with his coating. Just this one slider one time must've had a bit of clear over spray or run that I didn't catch with a visual inspection. I just broke down the fork, sanded and put it back together with a new seal and i was all set.

 

As to the quality of your work from what I've read it is A+. I just prefer to go local. I can stop by the guy's shop and shoot the **** and he always gives a very good deal. They mostly do big jobs ie. Playground equipment for parks, aviation ground support equipment, and the like so most of my stuff gets done on his spare time. Obviously if I didn't have anyone local I'd go to you as I would encourage other members who don't have a reputable coater nearby to do likewise.

 

sounds good man!