HarleyTechTalk

Anyone with experience changing front fork springs on 72 FLH,I'm putting in a set of Progressive's, is there a better/easier way than the manual, can I remove front wheel and fender and unbolt leg from underside by axle or do I need to remove both forks from triple trees ? All help is appreciated. thanks

Far as I know...The best/easiest way is to pull the darn tubes on an FL.
Sorry bout that!

Quote from: Racepres on March 04, 2015, 02:37:13 PM
Far as I know...The best/easiest way is to pull the darn tubes on an FL.
Sorry bout that!

Can you give me any pointers on that or actually shortcuts or go by the manual ? thanks

Quote from: 72fl on March 04, 2015, 04:45:17 PM

Quote from: Racepres on March 04, 2015, 02:37:13 PM
Far as I know...The best/easiest way is to pull the darn tubes on an FL.
Sorry bout that!

Can you give me any pointers on that or actually shortcuts or go by the manual ? thanks

To be honest I haven't used the Manual for that in any many Moons.
Certainly the Nachelle needs to come off, and any associated signals Light bars, etc, I pull the handlebar clamp as well. So, It should occur to you that you need at least an old blanket over the Tanks. to place the Bars on.
Once the nachelle is Off...it aint too bad. I Remove the front wheel and fender, Tho it is not a necessity, ["Potty mouth"!,Forgot to tell ya you need to hve the Bike on a Frame lift...front wheel suspended.]  loosen the pinchbolts remove the top caps, slide the tubes down, then retighten the Pinch bolts to hold the tubes so you can remove the top of the fork tube. Loosen pinchbolts again because you need to slide the tube down more to clear the top tree...LOL. Then the springs come Sproinging out..Fight the new springs in under the top of the tubes [this is why I go ahead and remove the whole fork]....and reassemble.
This is why a FL front end Has to be Pretty sad before I will fool with it, and when I do, it gets all slider bushings, seals, wipers...everything...I hate that job. Takes me all day...But, I work Methodically [some around here call it Slow].

So to replace the springs you don't have to disassemble the lowers you just have to  get the uppers clear of the top of the tree and remove, install springs from the top? I have never had my factory assemblies completely apart.

     Once the nacelle is removed you should be able to remove the top tree using a rubber mallet (caps need to be remove first as does steering stem nut).) Once the top tree is removed you should be able to remove the plugs from the top of the tubes. As mentioned the front end will need to be lifted off of the floor. Keep in mind that the springs are compressed some even with the slider assemblies extended fully. The cone seat will keep the lower tree in place so don't worry about removing the stem nut. It's easiest to have the tubes in the lower tree when R&R-ing the springs. Are you going to examine the damper assemblies? I would highly recommend. For the you will need to remove the lower legs and you do this by removing the damper bolt. Those are in there pretty snuggly so it's best to crack them open (just start to loosen) with the springs in place. If you try to do after the springs are removed the dampers may well just spin inside the tubes. Keep in  mind that when you crack open the damper bolts the fork oil will want to flow out, that is, if you haven't removed it already.
     Compressing the new springs as you put the plug back into place is the toughest part of the job. Make sure that the bike will be very stable as it will take a good amount of you body weight pushing down with both hands as you turn the plugs to get them back in. I find it easies to thread the caps into the plugs and use a hex socket while wearing heavy leather gloves. Once the plugs are started on you can remove the caps and tighten the plugs down so that you can put the top tree back in place. The rubber mallet will come in handy again here. HTH, Bill

And..If ya remove the top tree may as well pull the tubes, and Take the lower tree off to relube/inspect/replace the Neck bearings...When ya think that was done last???

since yer in there anyhow..... 

Now let's talk about those swingarm bearings ... 

Quote from: 76shuvlinoff on March 05, 2015, 01:24:44 PM
since yer in there anyhow..... 

Now let's talk about those swingarm bearings ... 

      There's supposed to be bearings in there??   


                 Those usually look pretty bad don't they? Dry, rusty, are no longer bearings, just bushings...     

Quote from: Racepres on March 05, 2015, 05:49:09 AM

Quote from: 72fl on March 04, 2015, 04:45:17 PM

Quote from: Racepres on March 04, 2015, 02:37:13 PM
Far as I know...The best/easiest way is to pull the darn tubes on an FL.
Sorry bout that!

Can you give me any pointers on that or actually shortcuts or go by the manual ? thanks

To be honest I haven't used the Manual for that in any many Moons.
Certainly the Nachelle needs to come off, and any associated signals Light bars, etc, I pull the handlebar clamp as well. So, It should occur to you that you need at least an old blanket over the Tanks. to place the Bars on.
Once the nachelle is Off...it aint too bad. I Remove the front wheel and fender, Tho it is not a necessity, ["Potty mouth"!,Forgot to tell ya you need to hve the Bike on a Frame lift...front wheel suspended.]  loosen the pinchbolts remove the top caps, slide the tubes down, then retighten the Pinch bolts to hold the tubes so you can remove the top of the fork tube. Loosen pinchbolts again because you need to slide the tube down more to clear the top tree...LOL. Then the springs come Sproinging out..Fight the new springs in under the top of the tubes [this is why I go ahead and remove the whole fork]....and reassemble.
This is why a FL front end Has to be Pretty sad before I will fool with it, and when I do, it gets all slider bushings, seals, wipers...everything...I hate that job. Takes me all day...But, I work Methodically [some around here call it Slow].

Do you do one fork at a time or remove both at the same time or does it matter ?

Quote from: 72fl on March 05, 2015, 06:08:32 PM
Do you do one fork at a time or remove both at the same time or does it matter ?

Don't matter...
The More I think about it...the more I don't mind the method where ya leave the Tubes locked in the lower tree and just pop the top tree off...Certainly would Not need to remove front wheel and fender either that way....And front end fall-away would be unchanged. But, Like I said...I don't do it often, and when I do, the whole darn thing kinda needs attention by then.
BTW, If your front end is "topping-out" new springs won't effect that one bit.

when I come to a stop, my front end will drop down 1" or so, that is not a spring issue ? is it an oil issue if so what weight, Brand  should I use after I drain what is currently in there ?

When on your bike, the rear shocks and the forks should be down a little, they shouldn't be at the top of travel. Otherwise your ride quality would be like a pogo stick. 

That being said, as old as the bike is, I'm sure those fork springs are tired and need replaced. In an older bike like that I generally use 15 wt fork oil. Brand doesn't matter so much, just that it's actual fork oil.

Quote from: Ohio HD on March 06, 2015, 06:44:22 AM
When on your bike, the rear shocks and the forks should be down a little, they shouldn't be at the top of travel. Otherwise your ride quality would be like a pogo stick. 

That being said, as old as the bike is, I'm sure those fork springs are tired and need replaced. In an older bike like that I generally use 15 wt fork oil. Brand doesn't matter so much, just that it's actual fork oil.

:agree:What he said^^^

Add that by "topping out" does it Klunk when the forks extend fully, as in rougher ground??

No klunk or pogo just front end drops at stops then lifts back up upon acceleration

Quote from: 72fl on March 07, 2015, 07:05:42 AM
No klunk or pogo just front end drops at stops then lifts back up upon acceleration

an inch? half that? more?
I would think between a half and about 3/4 would give a good ride!
is it full height with no weight on , on the kickstand?

  I agree with all the above , but dropping a inch at a stop is not a big deal , to me . It should drop a bit on braking . If I went far enough to replace the Springs , all the bushings & seals would be just as worn out & not much you can do to the Damper assemblies , but clean or replace them . You just may need to replace the fluid , makes a world of difference if that fluid has been in there a long time .

  Take special tools to replace those bushings in the Legs & if you replace the Bushings , you might as well replace the Tubes . I had my FL front end bushings & Tubes replaced by " Bill's Cycles " in Pa. & not sure if they still do them though , but they did a fine job . I also went to a heavier oil .

And...If you simply replace the Fork oil, it can be done with zero disassembly...

inch little more but it stays down until I accelerate it does not go down like compress and back up it stays down until I accelerate.Not bottoming out when riding down the road, I think first thing is change oil  I know it has not been done in 9 years.

And it don't "top out"? Man, mine tops out terribly.
If it is a bit lower, and still riding well....Hell with it! Ride it. Some folks pay good money to lower their Bike...

decided to drain fork oil first and replace that, is there any tricks to refilling because no matter how slow I go it over flows. I took large plugs out of top and trying to fill through there am I doing something wrong ?

That's how I filled mine. I use a small squeeze bottle so it goes kinda slow.

All done made mountain out of mole head slid tubes through top tree about half inch above bottom retightened pinch bolts, pulled out old springs put in new progressive's 3 1/2" spacer 7ozs. of 15wt. fork oil fought like hell to get tubes back into top tree and would say that was actually the toughest part. THANKS for all the pointers.

  Let us know how it helped the ride.

     "...slid tubes thru top tree..."

     The tube plugs fit into the top tree, not the tubes so I'm wondering how the heck did you accomplish that?