V-Man said:
How did it go? Any pics/tips?
It was easy. Just a few new tips (sorry, no pictures, hands where to oily), just read curlysir's instructions carefully. It required no special tools, just a 2" pvc pipe, no vice, just a rag on the garage floor and a friend to hold the fork assemble upright while working the top end cap off. I actually loosened the top fork caps while they where still mounted on the bike (a lot of fin threads so no worries of it popping off). NOTE: if you do it this way, make sure to loosen the top triple tree clamp BEFORE trying to loosen the fork cap. I also loosened the 6mm bolt at the bottom of the forks before removing the forks (these are tight and you need the support the bike gives to loosen them). Loosen the lower tree clame and remove the fork. Have a friend balance it upright. We backed out the top fork cap by putting a rag over the top (to protect your palm), then have your friend twist the fork slide while you apply pressure to the top end cap. It comes out easy this way and you can control the decompression of the spring (it will extend to about 4" above the fork slide). Have a bucket near to drain the fork into. Before continuing, make a mental note of the order the hardware is in as it's removed from the fork slide. You should also measure the level of the fork oil before anything is removed so when re-filling you know how high it was. Remove the spacer, washer and spring (Note the tapered end of the spring is pointed down). Now flip the assembly over and remove the bolt from the bottom and the rest of the dampener will come out of the top. Remove the dust cover, lock ring then seal (we removed the seal by repeatedly extending the slide until the seal popped out). Pull the lower slide off and replace it with the new one. Replace the seal (I used the old seal as a spacer and a 2" X 4' section of pvc pipe to pound the seal into place). Replace the dust cover. Now install the guts in the reverse order (there is an aluminum piece that goes in first, tapered side up). Replace the screw in the lower leg, fill with oil to the level measured earlier, then replace the cap the same way it was removed. Now slide the fork back into the triple trees to about 1/4 to 3/8" above the top tree. Tighten the lower tree clamp, then tighten the fork cap, then the top tree clamp. Do the same on the second fork and your done. It was about a 4 out of 10 on the hard to do scale. It took about 2 hours to do the first slide, about 30 minutes to do the second, 10 minutes to wash everything up and 30 minutes of just looking at them (looks real nice).
The only problem I had is I did not print out curlysir's instructions. The things to note are:
GET 2 quarts of fork oil (I used #10 weight). Each fork takes almost 1 full quart.
GET new seals.
When removing and replacing the top fork cap make sure you use a rag between your hand and the cap (my palm is hurting a little today).
Man does it look sweet with chrome wheels, calipers & hardware.
One last note, my personal taste may be different from yours but I don't think it would look very good without chrome wheels and calipers. If these are not already on or part of you bikes future I would think twice about the over all look. I will add a picture later today.