Just rebuilt the front forks (new seals, bushings, dust seals, Maxima 10wt fork oil) on my 2005 xb9sx and all I can say is WOW....it's like a new bike. Rides better, turns better, and brakes better. The process was very easy, took about 5 hours total, and required no special tools. It also cost just around $50 and I purchased all the seals and bushings at the local HD dealership. I'd like to thank this forum and many of the users for various tips they have posted on the process. When I bought the bike in November it had a slight leak in the left fork. I tried the "film" trick and it would work now and then but the fork still seeped oil every once in awhile. It started to finally affect my handling so I decided it was time. Here are a few tips I'd like to share to make the process easier for anyone wanting to do the rebuild:
- You don't need a fork seal driver....use Electrical tape as a fork seal driver and save $35. Wrap the masking tape around the fork leg (about 1/8 thick) a few inches below the fork seal, hold the fork upright and lightly drive the fork up and down a few times until the seal seats and you can seat the retaining clip. then remove the tape and put the dust seal in place.
- You don't need a fork tube holder. Loosen the fork tube caps while the forks are still held tight by the triple clamps in the bike.
- You don't need a fork "bullet" to protect the new seals while putting them on. Wrap the top of the tube and first few inches (to cover the grooves in the forks) with Electrical tape and coat in oil. Seal will slip on easily with no chance of damage.
- You don't need a spring compressor....but you will need a helping hand for a few minutes to compress the spring while you put a 17mm wrench on the dampening rod nut to get the fork tube cap completely off and again a bit later to put the fork cap back on. Have one person slide the tube down (It is not that easy, quite a bit of strength is needed to compress the spring) while the other person quickly slides the wrench onto the nut. Once the wrench is on the nut there is a lip that will hold the wrench in place and the spring will remain compressed. May take a few tries.
- Make sure you use lots of oil on the new seals and bushing while putting them on. Coating them before putting them on the fork will make installation much easier.
- No need to disassemble the dampening rod if you are just doing the fork seals and bushings. Remove the rebound adjuster and clip off the preload adjuster before removing the fork cap. Your suspension setting will stay the same that way and you will not have to readjust if you do not remove the dampening rod.
- Have the correct Buell service manual for your bike at your side during the process.
Hope this helps. Thanks
I machined a fork seal driver but that is a good idea. I haven't heard of that before. You get aYou don't need a fork seal driver....use masking tape as a fork seal driver and save $35.Â* Wrap the masking tape around the fork leg (about 1/8 thick) a few inches below the fork seal, hold the fork upright and lightly drive the fork up and down a few times until the seal seats and you can seat the retaining clip. then remove the tape and put the dust seal in place.
Thanks. The electrical tape worked great. It took about 10 seconds to get the seal in place.
Curious what you did for a fork oil level tool. I used a piece of stainless swagelok tubing and clamped it in vice grips at the correct length and then hooked it to a turkey injector with some clear tubing to suck out the excess fluid.
That sounds like a good idea for a fork oil level tool but I actually had a fork oil level gauge on hand that I had for my mountain bike. It only cost about $15 on Amazon. I think it is made by Progressive Suspension. It is worth every dollar.
This thread's hints are worth their weight in solid gold for anybody planning on doing this job... This is some great info and advice.. I've done a few fork seal changes personally between my dirt bike, my 954, my r6, and a friend's gixxer 1000.... The Gixxer was the worst because you needed about 7 special tools to complete the job... =/
keith; great post...great info. very nice job.
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