I'm removing my front forks soon and was wondering if someone could tell me what size tools are needed for the fork cap bolt and fork tube plug.

Thank you

 

The socket for the cap nut is 1-3/8". Here's where I got mine:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Harley-Sport...c1484f&vxp=mtr

Not sure what you mean by the fork tube plug. But if you're replacing your legs, you'll also need a seal driver, I got mine here:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Motion-Pro-F...cc9c8c&vxp=mtr

 

It's 36mm.

Carl

 

The wrench in your tool kit will fit. Be carefull of the tank. If the drain plug is a phillips replace it with an allen head. Good luck,

 

I have found that a 2 inch piece of PVC cut about 4 inches long works well for a seal driver tool.

Cut a linear section out of the 4 inch PVC about 25% or from 12 to 3 o'clock. Now the PVC looks like the letter C.

Use a propane torch to heat it up until it's soft (but do not blacken it).

Use gloves, wrap the soft PVC around the shock shaft until it hardens.

The PVC will now fit properly over the seal and can be used to tap in the seal.

 

For the fork tube plug, do an ebay search. You will find the two sided socket needed. What I did was bring the legs to a local indy and he used his socket and impact wrench to loosen them up for me. I purchased the seals from him, so he agreed to take a few seconds and help me out with the plugs.

Don't bother atttempting to use an adjustable wrench, you won't be able to get a good enough grip on the tube to apply the torque. Holding it with your hands and an impact wrench is the best way to go. Some folks say use a strap wrench, the vise from Harley, and other ways. Take my advise and try the indy shop first, most will help you out.

Socket is the 1 3/8" or a 36mm. Ebay, J&P Cycle, and others have them, which are shorter than a standard socket to fit under the bars. If you use the standard socket, you may have to remove the bars in order to get it to fit over the top cap. If the top caps are exposed, blue tape them to prevent scratching.

The PVC method for the seals is all that is needed, but I did not have to heat it up. Cut the slit down to pipe and it flexes easily. Just cut it long enough to extend over the fork tube so you can strike the top with a rubber mallet.

I recently removed mine and replaced the inners with the Progressive Mono-tubes. Great improvement.

Good luck.

 

Top of the fork caps on a 2011 Road King touring is 1 3/8 or 35mm.

36mm is the rear axle nut. Not trying to bust your *****, just making sure he gets the right size tool.

 

I can assure the OP - the ebay link I posted above is the exact place I bought mine, it's the exact same low-profile socket I bought, and it fits perfectly.

Yes, you can use a wrench. But you can't access from the front, so you have to work around the tank. With the offset on the open end of the wrench, and the tank obstructing the swing of the wrench, there's not much room to make progress. I discovered a long tIme ago, it's just easier to buy the right tool for the job, specially if it's for something I'll own for a while and will use again. That being said, I'm not one to borrow tools either.

My general rule - if I need a tool more than once, I'll buy it. Within reason, of course. But some guys are more frugal... to each his own.

 

Correct. A silly millimeter smaller than the rear axle nut. Remember this is a Japanese front end, so everything is metric.

No substitute for the correct tools really. Yes, pvc can be fabricated into a homebrew seal seating substitute, but since you cannot see the seal when it is seating, wouldn't you rather not screw around with sanding and filing pvc and buy the correct tool for the job that will seat to the proper depth with equal pressure all around? If you don't get this part of the rebuild perfectly correct, and it leaks, guess what you get to do again?

You cannot torque the top caps properly without the low profile socket. Using the tool in a tool kit is maybe convenient, but not good shop practice in my opinion because you are guessing.

I am sure you have or will read about this in your searches, but you will need an impact driver with, I think, a 6mm hex bit to loosen the bottom screw that holds the internals in place. That screw will continuously rotate so you have to have a tool that will spin faster than it can spin in order to loosen or tighten the screw.

Here is a good video worth watching: