Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Fresh Front Forks

 Last week I put a bunch of miles on the sportster. At one point I was worried about all the oil on the front of the engine. I had the engine apart to do the 1250 big bore and for a second I thought I had a leak. A quick glance at the front forks revealed the truth. The engine was covered in fork oil.
 New fork seals were on my to-do list so I already had the parts on hand including new brake pads.

 This residue on the fork tube represents just about the only fork oil left in or on the tubes. One of the drain plugs had nothing come out at all.

 The bike got the new seals and dust caps along with Progressive springs, new pads and a new braided brake line. All this stuff should have been done before the bike went out this year but...well you know. When the sun is shining you gotta ride. Its was raining the day of this maintenance.
 That was on Sunday. Monday I was able to get the bike out for a test ride. The brake is very much improved but the real difference is the ride quality. The bike used to hammer pretty hard over bumps but now it just soaks them up. Someone must have messed with the springs at some point and set the bike up for a heavy rider. Yesterday I purposely rode some really bumpy roads and I'm diggin the way the front end works. I'm thinking I might freshen the rear shocks and make the ride the best it can be.


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