Harley fatboy fork removal

cbcanada

cbcanada

Banned
Removing forks but stuck

Here is where I am at.
-Calipers off
-Wheel off
-Fender off
-Top cap removed, along with the washer and seal under the top cap.
-There are two bolts on the right side, which I removed,

According to the service manual the fork now should be able to be wiggled free... however it's jammed pretty good in there and I am worried I missed something , anybody have any ideas on this?

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Re: Harley fatboy for removal

I haven't done it myself, but there should be pinch bolts on the triple trees. On the lower, for sure. Not sure about the top.
 
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Re: Harley fatboy for removal

as far as I know all that chrome covering has to come off so you can get to the pinch bolts on the upper tree
 
Ok I am realizing that now .. There is a pinch bolt that is on the lower triple covered by the chrome plate. No wonder...
 
Okay the forks are off and drained.

I need 2 tips at this point:

Any tips on removing the Allen screw on the bottom of the fork,, it's super tight, I can't get it loose,

And how to remove the fork tube plug at the top

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For the Allen screw, remember yours are SAE size. I used an impact driver. For the top I wrapped the tube in a towel, put it in a vice sideways, heated up the tube at the top a bit, tapped the bolt a few times and wrenched it off. It wasn't that difficult.
 
The Harley forks are showa's so they use mm.

I got the right fork loosened up with a breaker bar..

But the left fork is not two pieces in the bottom like the right fork... so I need a long Allen key socket to get in there please refer to the picture and you will see what I mean

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If you dont have a long allen socket bit, then just use a regular allen key. You should be able to throw a closed end wrench on the short part of the L of the key to give you enough leverage to crack the bolt. The torque spec on those bolts should not be impossibly tight. Alternately if you like making tools, buy a long enough allen key, cut off the short part of the L (so you have a long straight hex rod) and then stick it in the appropriate socket and use your ratchet like normal.
 
The bottom socket-head bolt requires an extra-length allen bit and an air impact. Do this before you take the top cap off - this way the spring pressure keeps it loaded up so that the damper rod doesn't spin as easily inside.

The easiest way to take the top cap off is to crack it loose while the forks are still clamped in the bike. It might still be worth temporarily putting it into the triple clamps to hang onto the fork tube in a way that won't damage it while you do this. Once it is cracked loose then it's easy to take it the rest of the way out ... but watch out, the fork spring is under pressure inside, and if you are not prepared, simply unscrewing the cap is a good way to shoot things across the shop. Eyes get hurt that way, so wear your safety glasses like your shop safety guy always says :-) I normally do this with the fork still clamped up so that I can push down on the cap while removing it.
 
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