Is their a video that explains how to change the fork oil on a 2018 Street Glide with no external drain plug.

 

I'm sure an HD service manual would cover this topic in sufficient detail. If you have to have a video, then I suggest google as a search engine.

 

Probably need to pull the forks off, do not know if the 2018 models have the cartridge system in them. Someone with more knowledge will probably come along and let you know.

Many videos out there on YouTube just type in what you want or purchase a Harley Davidson Service Manual, should have one anyhow if you are going to work on your bike.

 

The 49 mm front ends are not like the previous 41 mm ones that had drain plugs and a screw in the top cap to refill the oil with. On the 49 mm front ends, there is no drain plug at the bottom of the lower legs, and there is no fill plug in the tube caps to refill anyway. So you have to drain the oil by taking the lower bolt out, but then need to remove the top cap to refill.

But as mentioned, you really need a manual because removing and replacing the top plug requires some special tools to hold the tube and oil level tool when working on them, as well as a spring compressor to be able to put the top cap back on. You can't simply press the top cap down and thread it in, the spring pressure is too much. And, the instructions in the manual list a tool to get the oil level correct, which requires having the top cap removed to insert the tool to verify the amount of oil, with the tube level (vertical). In the manual they describe how much oil to add initially, then you use the oil level tool which allows you to remove some oil as needed, to be sure it is at the correct level. If you overfill the oil level, it will damage the fork seals causing them to leak.

I didn't have the spring compressor and holding tool, but was able to make a tool from all thread and use the lower tree to hold the tube. I used the upper tree with the all thread and a couple of nuts and some larger (than the hole for the tube in the upper tree) washers to get the top cap started after the oil level was adjusted to the correct level. It worked just fine, but having the proper tools would have made it easier and faster.

When I did mine, I installed chrome lower legs and replaced the seals and bushings while in there. Seal drivers are fairly inexpensive, but you can easily make one out of pvc pipe. But you can do the oil change without a complete disassembly of the forks. But I always like to check the busings for wear because it's too much work to re-do after the fact.

Paul

 

I replaced the fork oil in my '17 CVO Ultra with Maxima 20w without using HD's special tools. While you could theorectically replace the fluid without pulling the forks, the reality is you wouldn't change more than 50% of the fluid without pulling the guts out of the forks because of the way they are designed.

As for the actual refilling process, I used a metal ruler (that I cleaned with brake clean before using) and held it in place using a binder clip at the right depth. I then filled each fork to the bottom of the ruler and cycled the lower fork until all air bubbles stopped, then topped off the fork oil.

The absolute hardest part of the whole process is getting the top screw back in. I ended up using two pieces of wood that I sanded to hold the upper fork tube in my bench vise and took a piece of 24" long angle iron that I cut a 1" hole in to hold the screw down into the tube while my wife threaded in the top screw. Once you get a couple turns on the screw you don't need the angle iron to finish tightening down screw.

 

Home made " special tool "

 

That is quite ingenius! I'm stealing it for the next time I am going through forks.

 

Glad to share. I just can't bring myself to buy a tool for only a few uses. Specially when one can be put together with other tooling I already have.