[06]
06 We swapped out the left-side fork leg first. With the bars out of the way, we were then able to loosen and remove the fork cap bolts.
[07]
07 We then removed the Allen head bolt from the bottom of the left fork leg. The right leg is a two-piece design consisting of the fork slider and axle clamp, the left fork leg is a one piece design. Therefore a long Allen head wrench was needed to reach up inside and gain access to the Allen head bolt. An impact wrench was used to remove the bolts. We made sure to have a container ready to catch the fork oil. Compressing the fork helped squeeze out the oil.
08 We were then able to slide the lower leg down a bit, then remove the oil seal retaining ring.
09 With the fork tube still secured in the triple trees, it allowed us to slide the lower leg up and down until we could separate and remove the lower leg from the fork tube. Here you can see the lower slider bushing (green arrow), upper slider tube bushing (red arrow), seal spacer (blue arrow), and slider oil seal (yellow arrow) on the lower portion of the fork tube.
10 We drained the remaining fork oil from the lower leg and made sure to set the lower stop aside as it would be reused with the new legs.
11 Next, we loosened the pinch bolts on the triple trees and…
12 …removed the fork tube assembly from the triple trees.
13 To begin reassembly with the new fork leg, we placed the lower stop over the bottom of the damper tube, then…
[14]
14 …slid the Ness lower leg over the bottom of the fork tube. With pressure against the slider and fork tube, the new Allen heal bolt and washer were then secured in place and torqued to proper spec.
15 The seal spacer, upper slider tube bushing, and lower slider bushing were still in good shape so we left them on the fork tube. It is recommended any time you separate the legs that you replace the fork seals, so we removed the old seal and installed the new one. It’s important to make sure the writing on the seal is facing up as you slide it onto the tube.
16 We then stood the fork assembly up and made sure to have the bottom well protected/padded. When it comes to seating the fork seal, it’s easiest if you have the proper fork seal install tool for your diameter fork leg. George’s Garage offers 39-, 41-, and 44mm Fork Seal Installers for about 50 bucks (not including shipping and handling). But there are other ways to seat the seal. It took some work but we were able to use a piece of PVC tubing as sort of a slide hammer to get the seal properly seated. Watch your fingers and use plenty of towels wrapped around the PVC and fork leg to help keep things protected.
17 Once we had the seal properly seated, we installed the oil seal retaining ring. A flat head screwdriver was used to make sure the ring slid all the way down into its groove.
18 the fork tube assembly was compressed and filled with the proper amount of fork oil.
19 Before reinstalling the fork leg assembly, we removed the stock fork boots and installed the new Ness fork boots. The boots secure in place with two bolts, one on the front side and another on the backside.
20 The fork leg assembly was then slid up through the fork boot and triple trees and then the pinch bolts were torqued to spec along with the fork tube bolt.