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Ended up denting my upper fork sliders/tins on my Fat Boy. Going to replace them right off. According to the FSM, it would appear that I need to remove the front tire, fender, headlight nacelle, the tins behind the headlight, and unbolt the fork/slide the fork down enough to remove the 1 bolt that secures the slider to the triple tree? Looks like 1 bolt holds them to the triple tree?
Want to be sure and check with someone who has done this replacement before. Thanks in advance.
I did the chrome front end last winter and also replaced the stock springs with Progressive monotubes while it was apart (highly recommended). Once the nacelle is removed you can access the 4 bolts and loosen the cowbells (two in each cover), but in order to remove and replace them you have to completely remove the slider / tube assembly from the triple tree since the fork tube passes thru the cover. I've attached a photo showing the position of two front bolts, the other two are located 180* directly behind them. I've also attached the diagram showing the entire front end assembly. Take your time and retorque all the fasteners to the factory specs and don't forget to use Loctite!!
Last edited by gilmour68; Aug 4, 2016 at 10:26 PM.
I did the chrome front end last winter and also replaced the stock springs with Progressive monotubes while it was apart (highly recommended). Once the nacelle is removed you can access the 4 bolts and loosen the cowbells (two in each cover), but in order to remove and replace them you have to completely remove the slider / tube assembly from the triple tree since the fork tube passes thru the cover. I've attached a photo showing the position of two front bolts, the other two are located 180* directly behind them. I've also attached the diagram showing the entire front end assembly. Take your time and retorque all the fasteners to the factory specs and don't forget to use Loctite!!
Great post, thanks for the help. I will tackle this at some point very soon when I build up the ambition, probably towards the end of riding season but wanted to get everything together now. Should be fun.
I just blacked out my forks (monotubes) and slider covers, but I did not need to remove the headlight and triple tree covers entirely. The headlight remained in place while I took off what covers could be removed, then worked around the rest to remove the forks and slider covers. You need to 1) remove the wheel and fender 2) top fork caps, 3) slider pinch bolts, 4) each fork while keeping them as upright as possible so as not to spill fork oil out of the top with the caps removed (I learned this the hard way - be sure to replace the top caps while you have the forks off), and finally 5) the 4 slider cover bolts and slider covers. I've added a little more detail to Gilmour68's photo and re-attached it:
I just blacked out my forks (monotubes) and slider covers, but I did not need to remove the headlight and triple tree covers entirely. The headlight remained in place while I took off what covers could be removed, then worked around the rest to remove the forks and slider covers. You need to 1) remove the wheel and fender 2) top fork caps, 3) slider pinch bolts, 4) each fork while keeping them as upright as possible so as not to spill fork oil out of the top with the caps removed (I learned this the hard way - be sure to replace the top caps while you have the forks off), and finally 5) the 4 slider cover bolts and slider covers. I've added a little more detail to Gilmour68's photo and re-attached it:
Great post once again. I just ordered the new fork tins. This helps me a lot, thanks again.
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Fat Boy upper fork sliders/tins
