Fork seals and brake pads...whats the best stuff?

[TorqueMonster]

My 03 XB9R right fork seal is leaking pretty good and it is time to replace both the fork seals. I have researched a litle bit on the website here and I did come across the videos of the guy doing the Showa 41mm fork seals. Should I be buying the fork seals from a Harley dealership or Americansportbike.com or somewhere else?? Should I buy the americansportbike.com spring compressor, seal installer, and the fluid level sensor tool? Will I need all of these or some of these tools? Should I be replacing anything else while I am there. I am an experianced automotive technician and I am sure I can handle all this but your advice would save me money, time, and the learning curve heartache. Any advice on what tools and parts I will need will be appreciated.

I am also going to replace my front brake pads but I haven't found anything on the forum that talks about which brake pads are the best for regular street use. I don't care if there wear out really fast or not but I ride everyday to and from work about 2 miles each way so I need good pads that will stop the very best that it can. Any advice of this as well I would appreciate.

Thanks for all the help - Paul

 

[konarider94]

buy the seals from asb or harley they are the same ones. you should change the guides in the fork at the same time as the seals. im sure the teflon is worn off them. if you are anywhere near kalamazoo mi you can borrow my fork tools other wise people have made seal drivers out of pvc pipe. i used a syringe with a piece of straight tubing attached to set the oil level. and you can use a ratchet strap to compress the spring.

get any hh rated sintered pad. i use hawk but ebc is also good. i found the lyndall golds to not perform well and make too much dust in comparison to the hh rated pads.

 

[snrusnak]

Personally I did not do them myself on my 2005. I do just about everything myself but got a decent price and didn't have the time to learn.

I bought most of the parts from ASB but had to pay shipping. Doing it again I'd buy from HD locally, as I had to buy some parts there anyway.

You should replace the following:
Oil seals(24)
Dust seals(26)
Slide bushings(21)
Guide bushings(22)

You can also replace the stopper rings(25) if you want, most reuse them but they are only a couple bucks...

Also, the shop I went to adjusted them a little stiffer(I'm a big, heavy guy) and put different fluid in, don't remember what. They said it was "equivalent" to the specified HD fluid. It feels SO much better.

 

[konarider94]

Also, the shop I went to adjusted them a little stiffer(I'm a big, heavy guy) and put different fluid in, don't remember what.  They said it was "equivalent" to the specified HD fluid.  It feels SO much better.

type E or 10w is factory oil. if you are a big heavy guy or ride a lot of two up 15 or 20w might be more appropriate.

 

[user_deleted]

all good advice above but let me add that if you've never replaced seals or other internal components on cartridge style forks be it showa or otherwise, they're G damn tricky to do and do them correctly. forks hold approx. 1 pint of fork oil upon reassembly assuming they're totally dry internally and cartridges have been drained. i like either 7.5 wt. or 10 wt. torco, bel-ray, or any top quality readily available fork oil. all balls has a great selection of fork seals and dust boots for the 41mm showa forks. unless your bike has seen a ton of wheelies, very high mileage and general front end abuse the guide bushings and slide bushings should be reuseable. on brake pads for the XB's, it begins and ends with EBC HH pads. i can get you all these parts if you need them and a few bucks above dealer cost. again, not to rain on your parade but if you've never rebuilt cartridge forks GET SOME HELP from someone who has. the difficult part is bushing, guide and seal reinstall.

 

[snrusnak]

^at 7000 miles my bushings were probably reusable, but for how inexpensive they are you might as well do them IMO.

 

[TorqueMonster]

I am definetly with you. I don't care about the cost or if they are still reuseable. If I am there its getting done. In case you are wondering I just rolled 9,000 miles on my Buell.

Konarider94 - Thanks for the offer to use the tools but I live in Colorado Springs. Very nice though!

I have one more question about supporting the motorcycle. The shop manual describes "lift" points under the muffler, is this how you guys are doing it or are you supporting the motorcycle a different way? Thanks for all the great advice you guys!

 

[snrusnak]

IIRC I paid ~$50 for the oil seals, dust seals, slide bushings, guide bushings, and stopper rings. And that included like $10 shipping from ASB. So you should be able to get all of that from HD for ~$40.

When I did mine my bike sat without the front end attached for a few months, I did other work as well. I use an atv jack with a piece of wood cut to fit around the muffler. It works very well. HOWEVER, I will never do this again(leave the bike on a jack for months). Luckily I did think ahead and tied the bike to the jack in case the jack lost pressure(which it eventually did). I would go and give it a couple pumps every night since it would slowly lower, well one night I went in the garage and it had just lost all pressure and the bike basically fell over, but since I tied it off and left the kickstand down(on purpose.....just in case) it pretty much stayed upright resting on the tripod of jack/kickstand/rear tire and no damage. If I ever do it again I will still use the jack but won' rely on it. I will hang the bike from the ceiling or a ladder or something just in case.

 

[snrusnak]

Here's what I use. You can also see I cut the wood so I can still put the kickstand down.

 

[snrusnak]

Damn my old bike is in that picture...........memories lol......

 

[oh9bolt]

FYI Your gascap is upside down.

 

[snrusnak]

FYI Your gascap is upside down.

Thanks! I'll have to email the guy I sold my suzuki to and let him know his cap is backwards!!!

 

[netty2424]

 

[konarider94]

all good advice above but let me add that if you've never replaced seals or other internal components on cartridge style forks be it showa or otherwise, they're G damn tricky to do and do them correctly

rebuilding forks is not hard at all...have you ever done it? he said he found the videos of the guy rebuilding a showa fork, that video pretty much says everything you need to know.

 

[user_deleted]

rebuilding forks is not hard at all...have you ever done it?

done it kona? LOL on average i rebuild 1 pair of cartridge style forks a week and have been doing them for probably 12 years now so you do the math. what i was trying to convey to this individual was that without the proper tools, experience, and guidance... the correct reassembly in particular is damn difficult. notice i said "correct".

 

[TorqueMonster]

Read through all of the reviews about the EBC HH Sintered front brake pad on the motorcyclesuperstore.com and there are tons of other motorcycle brands on there but a good number of people are saying they get some noise from the front brakes when coming to a slow stop. Anybody know anything about this? Any other suggestions on front brake pads? I don't care about price (i like a good deal though) or how long they last. I want quite and great stoping power for street use.

Looks like I am going to buy the Racetech Fork Spring Compressor Tool, the Motion Pro 41mm fork seal driver, and the Motion Pro fork oil leveling tool. I think I have located the best prices on everything and I am just about prepared to buy but thought I would run all this by you guys incase there was anything negitive about these tools. Thanks - Paul