does anyone know if the police spec fork seals and dust caps are different to a normal pan (mine is a 98 reg)
Placing a jack underneath the oil pan serves well.Would like to say that if you weigh the back of the bike down, you can remove the forks.
Also essential to check the chromed surface of the fork tubes for any damage, pitting, nicks, contamination, etc... anything that probably caused damage to the seal/s in the first place......as long as you're that far along it usually makes sense to do them both at the same time...
good advice, but a leaking seal is not necessarily an indication of fork tube damage, sometimes the seals just wear out. Its a good idea to check it because if there is tube damage it will quickly trash the new seal.Also essential to check the chromed surface of the fork tubes for any damage, pitting, nicks, contamination, etc... anything that probably caused damage to the seal/s in the first place...
And, depending on mileage/last overhaul wear on the bronze bushings inside...
Forks themselves are clean, Its the great british pot holes that have cause it to burst the seal. Also need to do the rear shock next month. The bike was in for a service yesterday but unfortunately they didn't have time to replace.Also essential to check the chromed surface of the fork tubes for any damage, pitting, nicks, contamination, etc... anything that probably caused damage to the seal/s in the first place...
And, depending on mileage/last overhaul wear on the bronze bushings inside...
The fork tubes of my '00 ST suffered damage due to assembly error/wrong orientation of the upper bushings... with the gap placed rearward, every braking action raised havoc on the chrome layer... after a little over two years a dark, annealed looking wear line appeared on both tubes and one seal had started to seep...Its a good idea to check it because if there is tube damage it will quickly trash the new seal.
Make sure you install the seals in the right direction. I have found several seals that were installed backwards. Apparently it's easy to do. The "lips" should point down.use centerstand and a jack under engine to raise front wheel off ground. I put a piece of wood between the jack and the oil pan to avoid high pressure points on the pan itself.
you need to remove the calipers, wheel, fender, and handlebar cover before you can pull either fork, so as long as you're that far along it usually makes sense to do them both at the same time. If one seal has gone, the other one probably isn't far behind, so why do the job twice?
the answer to your question about the easy side is yes, the right fork has the damping rod that's a bit of a pain to work with, but its really not that bad.