probably obvious question here but the service manual diagram is not great.

I bought a James fork seal kit for my 76 FLH. I know where the large seals, spacer and snap rings go. l also know that the rubber seals go at the top under the caps. My question is about the paper gaskets. It seems clear that the large paper gaskets go inside the slider, at the bottom. Do the smaller paper gaskets go on the outside bottom of the fork sliders, where the nuts are at the bottom?

 

The very early kits supplyed from harley had paper gaskets on the bottom attachments

james copied the earley kits - if you have copper washers re use those instead

 

no copper washers. these have the damper with the stud and nut at the bottom, not the 6mm bolt like the new ones.

I'm guessing the smaller paper gasket from the set goes outside at the bottom with a flat washer, then the nut.

 

Nope small paer gasket goes inside lower bushing damper tube

 

so, there is no seal, or gasket, on the outside bottom? Just washer and nut?

 

Yes, just the washer and nut. The idea is that the 2 paper seals on the inside keep the forks from leaking. Probably a great idea when they were new almost 40 years ago years ago.

Never been able to stop my 49 froks from the occasional drip from the forks. Thinking of draining, cleaning, drying and maybe try some sealant. Just hate gooping **** up though.

 

Thanks for the help. I replaced the seals, using the paper gaskets in the James kit, refilled the forks with 7oz type B, corrected the length of the PVC spacer (it had too much preload, making the forks stiff), made sure the tighter wound portion of the progressive springs were at the top, and put it all back together.

No more leaks, and much better ride.