hey guys, the front end on my 70 flh is leaking a little and starting to dive and not return very quick when I hit a pothole or get hard on the front brakes. it has 38,000 mls. on it . I've decided to put new seals and maybe aftermarket (progressive) springs in. question: do I need to remove the forks from the tree and the wheel and fender from the forks to replace seals and springs? seems like I should be able to leave them mounted. pinenut

 

 

In addition to the advice above, I recommend you replace all the other consumable parts inside, in other words the bushings too. That is best done by removing the forks from the bike IMHO. If you plan on changing fork springs at least use single-rate ones, matched to your weight - Race Tech supply them and have a calculator on their website. You could also consider using Ricor Intiminators while your forks are apart, to provide improved damping.

 

hey guys, I'm back with more questions. I dismantled the front end on my 1970 flh this weekend. everything went smooth but now I'm scratching my head trying to figure out how to get the bushings out of the sliders. I know h-d recommends specific tools for this, but I'm the homemade tool guy (i'll spend twice the time and money to not use the 'B' word) without destroying the tubes, does anyone have an idea about pulling the bushings? thanks for any help. pinenut

 

There used to be a couple of videos on HDF sponsor Motorcycle Metal's website, in which Amy shows us how to strip and rebuild them. I seem to recall it requires a bit of brute force to drive the bushing out of the slider. Yes I've done it, a while ago, but really don't recall! It didn't require any dedicated tools, as best I remember....

It's bound to be in your FSM or on other on-line videos!

 

thanks G R i'll check it out, and what the hell you doing up so early! thanks again pinenut

 

I'm across the Atlantic, so it is mid-morning here, almost time for another coffee!

 

that explains it, I just watched amy's video ( she looks just like abby on the ncis show) and her bushings came out with the inside tube, mine are still in the slider. still looking for the secret. enjoy your coffee, pinenut

 

Coffee now to hand! As I recall the slider bushings come out with the fork tube, which deals with them, but that leaves the challenge of wrestling the tube bushings off. They are split, like a closed 'C', to enable them to be fitted in the first place, which is also the way to get them off - if you can persuade the blighters to open up.....

 

I may be overthinking this, because of the slot in the lower bushing I think I can fish it out without damaging the tube, next I'm wondering weather to hone the slider, you can't really feel the inside of the slider to know. probable a good practice anyway