Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums General Tech How to removed forks

The idea of pulling the forks has come up more than once today, so I thought I'd post some DIY instructions.

• Put the bike up on a stand.
  
• Loosen the two small bolts at the bottom of each fork.
  
• Remove fender.
  
• Remove fender bracket
  
• Remove brake calipers
  
• Undo speedo cable at wheel
  
• Pull the wheel axle, keeping track of where the spacer and speedo gear goes. Now the wheel can be set aside.
  
• Loosen triple tree bolts. There is one in the upper, and one in the lower for each fork. These bolts effectively tighten the clamp-like hole the forks go through.
  
• Using a twisting action, pull each fork down until free. Tip: If the fork seems difficult to remove, you may gently widen the clamp-like hole with a wooden wedge or even a flat head screw driver (be careful not to mar the metal) to open the gap a bit. Only the slightest persuasion is required.

All the above might take the novice 1/2 hour to do. A seasoned pro could probably do it in 10 minutes. The only 'finicky' part about reassembly might be getting the wheel back on. You need to have the speedo gear, and spacer in place on the wheel as you slide the axle back in. A tip here is to help the axle along with a rubber mallet.

You may want to remove the brake calipers too.

The bike also needs to be up fairly high on a lift to pull the forks out.
I'd add be very cautious reinstalling the screw for the speedo cable (which also has to be removed ..) It breaks pretty easily.
Here's a shot of my bike on the stand:

Yup, I left out a couple of steps there. Thanks guys, I updated the instructions.

"caliper(s)"

Your close Keith...

* The fender and fender bracket can come off as one piece by loosening the four 14mm bolts.
* You should loosen the left side lower axle clamp bolts (two small bolts at the bottom of each fork - 6mm) and axle nut (12mm side) BEFORE you loosen the lower axle clamps on the right side. By doing this you don't need the 19mm hex for the right side.
* you can also spray a bit of lube into the rubber forks shrouds then twist. That will make removal and install go much smoother.
* you should also mention that the speedo drive and wheel mate using tabs in the wheel. If you don't get this aligned then you can screw you your speedo drive. It'll bind the wheel, not allow correct alignment and damage the tabs in the wheel.

You might as well include a link to the torque specs and a list of needed tools to do the job.

Tools:
#2 phillips screw driver for speedo drive cable
14mm wrench for fender bolts.
6mm hex for lower fork leg (axle) clamps, upper triple tree clamps
8mm hex for lower triple trees clamps
12mm Hex for axle.
Adjustable wrench or 22mm socket/wrench for top caps

Secure the bike to the lift with straps.
Or, it will fall over on you.

Awesome post! A great candidate for the Tech Vault.

H.

Yeah, if it ever gets completely worked out...

Torque Settings

Axle 60Nm
Pinch Bolts 20Nm
Top Yoke 20Nm
Btm Yoke 45Nm
Caliper mount Bolts 28Nm
Fork Top 23Nm
Oil Capacity 484cc
Oil level 166mm

Don't forget.
Coat axle with lithium grease prior to fitting.
Clean rag( to wipe hands)
Seat speedo drive correctly in housing.
An assistant with the patience of a saint, can come in handy as well.