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Noticed oil on engine guard an engine yesterday and tracked it to the left side front fork oil seal. Read Clymer repair manual and seems to be fairly easy repair. Just wondering if anyone has done the seal replacement wo removing the tube from the bike. Is it possible to just remove the wheel, fender, brake caliper and then unfasten and remove the slider tube alone? Am I missing anything or is this job more than I should be attempting at home? My bike is a Honda cb750k.

Take em off and do it right ... chances are high that your other tube seal is about to go as well, so do both of them at the same time. Even if you can't do it on your own (There may be a special tool involved that you don't have) you can still take the separated tubes to the shop, and you'll be charged alot less since you did the removal work yourself!

You're probably right. I was just trying to do the least amount of work possible in order to hold off till it was more convienient to do both sides.

based on rebuilding forks on an 80 GL1100, an 81 XS1100, an 83 XJ650LK, an 84 Nighthawk 650, an 85 V65 Magna, and a 99 SPirit 1100, there should be no special tool involved.

Remove the wheel, brake caliper, fender, loosen the pinch bolts on the tripletree clamps and remove both sides of the forks. Once you remove the dust cover, then you should see a little wire snap-ring. Remove the ring. If you invert the fork, you should see a hole in the bottom, which gives you access to the bolt which connects the fork leg (lower), to the fork tube. On all my hondas, it has been a 6mm allenhead. On a couple of mine, i did need a butterfly impact to break the bolt loose, but that is as close to a "special tool" as I have gotten. Remove this bolt, then separate the tube from the leg. I have always been able to accomplish this by simply pulling the two apart HARD a few times (same principle as a slide hammer).

A couple of suggestions: Do BOTH legs, and replace the teflon bushing on the bottom of the fork tube too. This is also a good time to check the steering stem bearings for play.

Hope this helps!

Norm

Thanx Norm,
I then will need to refill with oil and pump the air pressure up to 10-16 psi using a hand pump I don't own. I do have a bicycle pump that may work. Looking at the diagram in Clymer, I don't see any teflon bushing.

I just helped my uncle swap out a set of tubes on his 70 CB750.

1-We put the bike up on the center stand.
2-pushed down on the rear until the back tire was touching the ground
3-placed a jack stand under the front of the motor so the front wheel was in the air.
4-removed the front wheel.
5-loosened the triple trees.
6-with a little light tapping from a rubber mallet the front tubes slide out with enough clearance from the ground to be removed.

Good Luck!!!

and post Back!

Mike

I'm going to remove them tomorrow while it's raining. Couldn't do it today because it was too nice out and I wanted to play golf and then go for a ride.

According to the repair manual, I probably won't be able to take the tubes apart and replace the seals because I don't have the proper tools for the job. (seal removal tool and hydrolic press). I will be able to remove the forks and take them to a dealer for seal replacement for half the labor cost (about $56). My bike has air pressure over hydrolic so that means I need to release the pressure first, remove the air line, drain the oil and then pull them off.

Okay, job is done and there's a huge difference in the suspension now! I took both forks off and took them to a honda shop to have the seals installed. Wound up costing $16 for the seals, $9 for the oil and $58 for the labor. With tax it was about $90. Took me a while to reinstall them because to crossover air line was a pain to install, but after that, it was actually a much easier job than I thought it would be. Next time, I want to look into changing the seals myself as well. For the $58 labor fee I may be able to buy whatever tools I would need!

Thanx again for the very helpful info you guys provided.

Any idea if this same thing can be done on Yamaha XS's??? The haynes manual says that simply removing the allen head bolt on the bottom of the fork is not sufficient. but the spring/atopper at the top of the fork tube must be depressed and removed. I found this to be a rather bothersome experience though, since I dont have a bench vice.

I can't help you. If the spring stopper you're refering to is a simple snap ring you should be able to do it. In my case, they said I needed a hydraulic press. I don't own one.