When I bought the bike, the forks had both rubber fork gaiters and torn rubber fairing boots. But, I can’t turn the forks lock-to-lock as the gaiters interfere with the fairing boots. I think this is dangerous so I’m going to remove the gaiters and the fairing boots and install the black rubber cups on the fork sliders. I will wait for when I do the complete tear down of the bike to replace the fairing boots. I also replace the fork seals since I have to do all the work needed to get to them and I don’t know their condition.
You can read about how I did that work here:
The fork oil was about the color of the Mississippi river and there was a bunch of it captured by the fork gaiters, so it was well past time to replace the seals and add fresh fork oil.
Fork Seals Leaking Fork Fluid
I decided to leave installation of the fairing boots for when I rebuild the bike. They are very difficult to attach to the fairing holes with the fork tubes installed. I think this will go a lot easier when I have the front fairing panel off the bike and can get clear access to mount the rubber boots.
Old Fairing Fork Boot
New Fairing Fork Boot-I’ll Install it Later
I had a very difficult time removing the fork top nuts. Someone likely used an air impact wrench to put them in. I had to get an 800 Ft-Lb wrench to break them loose. Why do people overly tighten things!!!!!
When It’s Stuck, Get a Bigger Hammer: Impact Driver (800 Ft-Ibs) Needed To Remove Top Bolts
I installed the black rubber dust seal caps with the felt dust wiper on the inside. I learned you have to keep pushing the felt and packing it into the groove until the diagonal cut ends meet. That way it keeps itself tight against the fork tube. And DON’T OIL IT. That just traps grit and dirt in the felt wiper gumming it up.
Fitting Felt Wiper Into Fork Slider Boot
Felt Wiper Installed in Fork Slider Boot
After this work was done, I rode the bike for a couple of shake down rides. It runs pretty well. There are some burned out bulbs in the clock and volt meter and the odometer isn’t working, so I will get those sorted out next. Unfortunately my attempt to fix the odometer only broke it further, so I sent it to Palo Alto Speedometer to repair my clumsy attempt. Sometimes I have to have the pros clean up my mess. Oh well, live and learn.