My left front fork had been seeping since October. It started gushing last weekend. Reddish brown crud all down the fork leg. I was very concerned that I had picked up a nicked fork(we have a lot of gravel trucks and oil field trucks on the highways around my area.)

I assembled the necessary parts, tools and fluids and tackled the repair job this week. I want to thank all the posts on this website that gave me clues/hints/insight into some trouble spots. They were all most helpful.

When I got to the leaking fork, I found evidence of an intrusion in the dust cap cover, dust seal, fork seal and fork seal seat inside the slider. It looks like I might have sprayed a piece of grit or sand or ??? into the dust seal when I was washing my Dyna at a car wash. I usually only use the low pressure setting on the washing wand. Some foreign object had worked past the dust seal and eaten into the fork seal. It had ruptured and was the source of my slowly over time developing leak. No scratches on the tube, thank gooodness! I have worked on front forks before on my other motorcycles(honda, yamaha, etc) but I have never seen a seal blown like this.

Just something different that I wanted to share with members of this forum.

Oh, some of the helpful hints include:
1. use the fork trees to hold the tubes while breaking torque on the 12mm bolt at the bottom of the forks.
2. slide the forks down but not out of the trees and use the trees to break torque on the 35mm fork tube cap.
3. Clean everything!!
4. Reassemble the fork after draining the oil, to remove the 12mm dampener bolt.
5. Drink your favorite beverage.
6. Use a piece from a plastic grocery bag over the fork end when sliding the new seal onto the slider tube.
7. To more quickly install the fork tube caps, hold down the preload pressure and rotate the tube counter clockwise until it "clicks" and then rotate clockwise to install the cap on the fork tube.(hope i don't have that backwards)
8. I made a measuring tool out of a paint stirring stick. Just marked down 4.3 inches and kept checking and pouring until the bottom of the stick got wet. Pretty painless, took 5 minutes.

Some unexpected things.
1. The left hand fork tube needs a 12mm extended bit socket(2.5 inches minimum shaft) to reach the dampener rod bolt. I ended up finding a 12mm allen key. I will be buying the correct socket soon.
2. I knew that the toughest job was the preload and screwing on the fork tube caps. I still managed to carve a nice divot out of my right hand index knuckle. Hurt like hell... I guess I am "blooded" by this motorcycle now!
3. The dampener tube kept spinning and not catching the bolt during reassembly. I carved an angle on a paint stick(I had some laying around) and jammed it into the top of the dampener rod while threading the bolt. Worked okay, but I think I am going to dress down a wooden dowel for next time.
4. The pictures in my shop manual(boy has that paid for itself) were a little unclear about where to put a washer during reassembly. I read the correct order in the written directions, but tried to second guess myself while looking at the diagram. I had to pull the cap off the first fork I finished and put the washer under the tension tube and above the spring. When I disassembled this first fork, I was tired and didn't pay attention to what order everything came out of the tube.
5. After 26K miles, the fork oil still had a red pigment too it, but it was going dark. I should have done this sooner.

I will post a picture of the ruptured seal as soon as my batteries recharge for my camera.

Ride Safe!

 

Thanks for the post. What do you mean about the grocery bag bit?

 

I saw a tip where you place a piece of a plastic grocery bag tightly over the top of the fork. You then side the oil seal over it and onto the tube. I did use fork oil to lube the seal first on the inside diameter.
The idea is to protect the seal from the sharp edges of the top of the fork where the fork cap is installed.
I thought it could not hurt. Years ago with my Virago, I replaced fork seals 3 times in as many months because I kept getting small cuts in the oil seal when replacing it.
Maybe it helped, maybe it didn't, but I included it as one more example of information that I found on this website that assisted me.

One additional tip which I forgot to mention. One link mentioned using "gun cleaning" techniques to clean the tube and slider. I pulled out my trust Hoppes cleaning kit and used it to run rags down the interior of both pieces as well as the preload tube. I had to poke the rag out from the opposite side of the with my cleaning rod. I also used one of the those paint stirring sticks to rotate the rag and pick up the debris still remaining after spraying the parts down. Worked like a champ!

I wish I was more prolific with my picture taking. I get so involved with the mechanics of my projects, that I forget the camera is there until I have everything finished.

 

I had the same problem with that 12 mm Allen head bolt in the bottom of the lower. I tried 3 automotive stores as well as Harbor Freight and could not find an extended 12 mm allen head socket. Ended up buying the hex key from Sears and then used a mallet to tap the hex key until the bolt came loose. Haven't reassembled yet. How did you torque that bolt back down to specs with just the hex key?

 

That is the part I dont like. I did not torque to speck just to "feel". What I did was use a 7/8" box end as a handle on the short end of the allen key. You can put it on at an angle and use it like a handle. I use this technique when I am breaking loose bolts that need more leverage. I paid attention when torqueing the other fork and tried to apply a similar amount of pressure. Not scientific or precise, but I am monitoring where I park and wiping down the fork everyday looking for leaks. I have to take the forks off this June to service the steering head bearings and hopefully I will be putting on new risers as well. I have an extended 12mm on order from Grainger.com. It was around $5 plus shipping. I will torque that leg to specs then.

 

The torque specs are 35ft lbs on the stove pipe bolts.