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Hey, so on the rebuilt '09 I noticed a small stain on the garage floor under the left fork the other day. Found it strange, thought that the brake caliper might not have been completely tight and had drained the MC. Not the case. It is oil. Found a small drip at the very bottom of the left fork leg, below the axle. So then I thought the drain screw might be slightly loose but, nope, tight as it should be. While wiping down the tube I found oil clear above the fender mount. Then I began to get concerned. Today I was out in the shop and found oil puddling on the top of the fork seal. Odd part about this is I have not ridden this bike in several weeks (unable to get VIN inspection for title due to COVID restrictions). So while it has sat in the shop the oil has worked its way out and around the seal. I am going to pull the front end apart (again) and begin the re-seal process. Anyone have any theories on how/why this happened?
As a recap, the bike was in a pretty significant accident last summer (https://www.hdforums.com/forum/touri...urrection.html) but the fork assemblies did not appear bent anywhere. I have put about 60 miles on the bike since the rebuild without any signs of issues. Photos below are of the spot on the floor, an attempted photo of the oil on the fork leg, and a shot of the oil pooling on top of the seal as seen thru the holes in the fork sliders.
Get a full rebuild kit, ,and make sure to change out the inner and outer teflon guides as well.
Hence if the guides are worn out, then the fork tube will not track straight in the lowers up and down, and this causes the seals to leak.
Also, clean the fork tubes, and check for any scratches or gouges in the surface of the tube plating that will allow oil to get past the seals.
As for all the parts, make sure they are fork oil lubed before installing them.
Drag specialties has the complete fork rebuild kits for around $60 with all the parts to do a full rebuild on the forks. Also, the kits come with the extra top shorty rubber cap, which helps to use since it keeps the grim down from reaching the lower seal that can get up under the fork covers.
So, I have started gathering parts for this fork rebuild. I picked up a Drag Specialties rebuild kit (Part# 0403-0022) and will be ordering a set of Progressive lowering spring. Figured I might as well while drop those in while I am in there. Anything else needed to make this project go smoothly? I have read up on it some and there are post referring to copper crush washers that may not be included in this kit but prove to be necessary. I also have a 41mm seal driver on its way along w/ a cheapy fork oil level tool from Amazon. Any advice from experienced folk that have done this once or twice? Thansk!
So, I have started gathering parts for this fork rebuild. I picked up a Drag Specialties rebuild kit (Part# 0403-0022) and will be ordering a set of Progressive lowering spring. Figured I might as well while drop those in while I am in there. Anything else needed to make this project go smoothly? I have read up on it some and there are post referring to copper crush washers that may not be included in this kit but prove to be necessary. I also have a 41mm seal driver on its way along w/ a cheapy fork oil level tool from Amazon. Any advice from experienced folk that have done this once or twice? Thansk!
Fork level oil tool not needed, and just check the manual for the amount of oil that you have to put back in. Hence Harley forks have lower bolts to drain and replace the shock oil while still in the bike, so manual will give you both the lower fluid amount for this kind of drain, and the greater amount that you use for a rebuild isntead.
So double check the kit, but the last time I rebuilt mine, I ended up ordering in new allen head drain bolts and copper seal since the Philips type screw head where a bit marred up, as well as new lower bolts and copper seals for them since it was not part of the kit.
If you ordered the 0403-0022 kit, then you are missing the lower fork copper seal washer, and would not hurt to pick up new bottom bolts with copper seals as well.
As for fork oil, I changed mine out to 15W, on both the front, and back air shocks at the same time. The ride is slightly firmer (more harsh on rough roads), but helped with the handling of the bike isntead (welcome to the trade off of stiffer dampening).
Also, if you did order the 0403-0022 kit, it going to come with rubber low profile and high profile seal caps in the kit. Your forks will not have rubber caps over the seals OEM, but would advice to use the low profile caps to help keep more crap out of the seals that can make it way up the tube covers.
And note that the large steel washer/metal sleeve rounded side goes downward towards the bottom of the forks.flat side upwards.
Also, use a little pipe dope or RTV on the lower and drain bolts, to help the copper seal washers to seal correctly so they are not leaking.
As for seal driver, I picked up a foot of 3" Delron rod stock for less than $10, than that I can make seal drivers as need on the lathe instead.
Fork level oil tool not needed, and just check the manual for the amount of oil that you have to put back in. Hence Harley forks have lower bolts to drain and replace the shock oil while still in the bike, so manual will give you both the lower fluid amount for this kind of drain, and the greater amount that you use for a rebuild isntead.
So double check the kit, but the last time I rebuilt mine, I ended up ordering in new allen head drain bolts and copper seal since the Philips type screw head where a bit marred up, as well as new lower bolts and copper seals for them since it was not part of the kit.
If you ordered the 0403-0022 kit, then you are missing the lower fork copper seal washer, and would not hurt to pick up new bottom bolts with copper seals as well.
As for fork oil, I changed mine out to 15W, on both the front, and back air shocks at the same time. The ride is slightly firmer (more harsh on rough roads), but helped with the handling of the bike isntead (welcome to the trade off of stiffer dampening).
Also, if you did order the 0403-0022 kit, it going to come with rubber low profile and high profile seal caps in the kit. Your forks will not have rubber caps over the seals OEM, but would advice to use the low profile caps to help keep more crap out of the seals that can make it way up the tube covers.
https://youtu.be/fz2033CxBwc
And note that the large steel washer/metal sleeve rounded side goes downward towards the bottom of the forks.flat side upwards.
Also, use a little pipe dope or RTV on the lower and drain bolts, to help the copper seal washers to seal correctly so they are not leaking.
As for seal driver, I picked up a foot of 3" Delron rod stock for less than $10, than that I can make seal drivers as need on the lathe instead.
@Dano523 Thank YOU! That is the kind of info I am looking for. Drain screws and bottom bolts, both with new coppers, are on their way thanks to you. This is not my everyday ride (yet) so I all not rushing this job at all. I'll probably start tearing into it in a couple weeks, must vacation first....
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Leaky Fork
