Just installed my x-mas present over the weekend on my Dyna. Have been wanting to change the fork oil since I have this bike almost two years now. Was not looking forward to wrestling with the fork tube caps, but had a few hours this weekend to change things out.



The previous owner chewed up the stock caps when (I assume) he tried to change out the fluid. Looks like he used an adjustable wrench. Not sure if he ever got the caps off as the fluid was black and nasty. He did succeed in chewing the up the caps and nicking the surrounding aluminum on the top triple tree.

Anyways put the DBI fork tube caps on the xmas list, as I liked the fact they have the removable plug in the center of the cap, so regular fluid changes will be a piece of cake from now on.

I picked up a gallon of iso-32 hydraulic fluid for 12 bucks (local auto parts store) as compared to moco charging about that much for 16 ounces. According to the manual my forks take 9.2 ounces wet, and I drained 8.5 out of one and 9.0 out of the other. Like I mentioned before, black fluid came out. The iso-32 is 10 weight, and from the info I got, the factory fluid is 5 weight. From reading here and other forums, a lot of people like the 10 weight, and if need be, I have some iso-46 (for log splitter) which is 20 weight. If the 32 is too thin, I will go half and half with the 32 and the 46 for a 15 weight. Just have to wait till spring to see how it feels. I changed the fluid, pumped and compressed the forks numerous times, and changed it again. (another advantage of having a gallon on hand).

The first thing I did to remove the old caps was to loosen the two top pinch bolts on the triple trees, if you don't loosen the pinch bolts, the caps will be a witch to remove. Probably the previous owner made this mistake. I used one of my wood working Irwin Quick-Grip clamps to compress the new caps down into the recess of the tubes and it worked great! One end of the clamp on the fork cap, and the other end on the lower triples tree cross section. I put duct tape on the clamp, and on the new fork caps to protect them before using the clamp to compress things back down. I was then able to get a wrench on the caps and get the threads to engage. Then I released the clamp and tighten up the caps, then tightened the pinch bolts back up.

http://www.matadorcoupe.com/seebee65/quick_grip.jpg

I picked up an oil/fuel filter socket for a ford 6.0 diesel at Oreilly auto parts for 10 bucks. It is low profile so it cleared my handle bars. It says it is for 35 and 36 mm hex head, and I found that after I put duct tape on the cap screws to protect the chrome, it fit perfect with no play. The socket is performance tool W80677, and Lisle makes one also (advance auto) part #14500. They say not for impact use, but still it is a good solid socket, and for 10 bucks, it works great.

http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/de...=filter+socket

http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/l...ntent=25981300

So 12 bucks for a gallon of hydraulic fluid in 10 weight, 10 bucks for the socket, I got off cheap and fluid changes will be quick and easy. No need to remove handle bars or gauges. The clamp and the socket all fit under the handlebars. I even took some time to sand out the nicks in the triple trees and polish them back up. Can't even tell they were ever mucked up. YD

 

I never knew it was that hard to change the fork oil on a Dyna!!!
The caps look cool and in your situation I would love them.

 

You'd need to CHISEL off the 6" layer of DIRT before they'd go on........

 

That's what I got the sand blaster for!!!!!
It takes all that built up gunk off in a hurry!!!!

 

I guess I need to ad that my bike is the dyna convertible. So it has the speedo and tach mounted on the bars like a sportster.

With that and the bars, it is a little tight. YD

 

I was looking at those earlier this week, but noticed they dont make 41MM just 39MM.

 

DBI's DB00138 (39mm) Fork Tube Cap seems to be out of production as of July 2016 but available here and there various sites, about $55 a pair.
Question: Is that 39mm the right cap for my 1999 FLSTC Heritage?
What is the wrench size?
I rtfm and parts catalog - it doesnt say.


just fyi for folks with some Dynas and some Sportsters I saw another brand -I have no knowledge about them, V-Twin Manufacturing E-Z Fill Fork Tube Top Plugs, $50, for L1987 models, JP Cycles http://www.jpcycles.com/product/230-343
They don't fit my Heritage.

 

If your talking about the DBI caps that I used:

I picked up an oil/fuel filter socket for a ford 6.0 diesel at Oreilly auto parts for 10 bucks. It is low profile so it cleared my handle bars. It says it is for 35 and 36 mm hex head, and I found that after I put duct tape on the cap screws to protect the chrome, it fit perfect with no play. The socket is performance tool W80677, and Lisle makes one also (advance auto) part #14500. They say not for impact use, but still it is a good solid socket, and for 10 bucks, it works great.

http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/de...=filter+socket

http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/l...ntent=25981300

35 mm is the socket size of the cap, but the 36 mm socket for the ford fuel filter gave me room to put tape on the caps to protect the chrome and it is low profile so I did not have to remove the handle bars. I should probably add that one of the fork seals started to leak later in the riding season, so I ended up pulling the tubes, disassembled the forks, cleaned everything, stripped the old clear coat off the sliders and polished them up, replaced the seals, and put Mobil 1 synthetic transmission fluid in the forks. YD

 

My first question is why do you want them???
It is very easy to change the fork fluid on a softail so I don't see the advantage to these fork caps for you.

 

This. The FL Softail fork springs are retained by another threaded plug below the fork cap. To change the fork oil you just remove the top caps and drain screws. No fork spring wrestling necessary.

This wasn't the case on the 39mm forks I had on my Sportster (and FXRs and Dynas). Some early Dynas came with special fork caps with a center plug in them to allow fork oil changes without fighting the springs. I remember buying a set for my Sportster (I may still have them somewhere, as I saved them when I sold the bike).

Softail forks are 41mm, by the way.