Interesting never thought about it in reverse like that. One question, how did you do the new slider seals? I am guessing you installed them before sliding on the the lowers, but did that make it a little tricky without causing damage to the seals?I leave my forks in the trees and life the bike on my Sears Yellow jack. Leaving the fprks pinched in the clamps makes removing the hex nuts at the bottom much easier. I remove the uppers after I separate the sliders. I installed my Monotubes without removing the uppers.
Exactly as you described with patience and caution. I always did my dirt bikes the same way, so I figured I'd try it on Hester.Interesting never thought about it in reverse like that. One question, how did you do the new slider seals? I am guessing you installed them before sliding on the the lowers, but did that make it a little tricky without causing damage to the seals?
Exactly. Your bike's got built in fork tube holders.I leave my forks in the trees and life the bike on my Sears Yellow jack. Leaving the fprks pinched in the clamps makes removing the hex nuts at the bottom much easier. I remove the uppers after I separate the sliders. I installed my Monotubes without removing the uppers.
Ive had issues with the tube sliding in the vise like that personally. I have had good luck with using a battery impact gun. I did it on my 15 and my wifes 03 and her 95 Fatboy. an impact gun eliminates the need to really clamp down on that tube. There is a socket available for the top nut on the older style tubes which I will try to find the info on. The newer (14-15) tubes require a 19 MM allen for the top and a 12MM allen for the bottom bolt.Use a set of soft jaws for your vice. If your vise has a pipe clamp, then just fold some rags around the fork tube and use that.
"Ive had issues with the tube sliding in the vise like that personally. I have had good luck with using a battery impact gun. I did it on my 15 and my wifes 03 and her 95 Fatboy. an impact gun eliminates the need to really clamp down on that tube. There is a socket available for the top nut on the older style tubes which I will try to find the info on. The newer (14-15) tubes require a 19 MM allen for the top and a 12MM allen for the bottom bolt."I made a very simple fork seal installer tool. I used a long piece of 1 1/2 pvc pipe that I cut length wise. De-bur the plastic pipe and it fits snuggly around the fork tube. Cost me about $3 for the pvc at home depot
This is pretty much what i was thinkin, plan to rebuild my forks this winter and thought why the heck not use wood v-blocks, lots of companies sell tools and if ya stare at em for a bit and use some imagination, you can make most of them at home. Allthough, tearing em down while still on the bike seems like it would work just as well. Off subject but, recently bolted clutch plates to a peice of flat bar steel to hold the clutch hub on my Ironhead so i could remove its large retainer nut.I used 2 2x4"s with a v notch cut out of them and carriage bolts to clamp down on the fork tube. I wrapped the fork tube with a rubber inner tube to protect it and keep it from slipping.
I know it sounds ghetto but it worked really well for me and didn't cost anything.
Being a tool and die maker does come in handy some times,i have made lots of my own specialty tools rather than buy them.That's very cool. I was contemplating making my own since I have a couple friends bikes I am going end up doing as well. Having the right tools always makes the job a little easier