Something has been puzzling me. I've read a few threads here and there about when changing out the fork oil and how you should pump the lowers a few times. Can someone clarify the purpose? Is it to get any trapped air out of the forks or draw all the fork oil down into the lower??

ALSO

Since I just swapped out my lowers and added fresh fork oil, couldn't I just drop the Intiminators in, etc and bolt it back up and go? I did buy the 10w oil from Ricor but wanted to try it with the HD Type E oil first. I do remember I did put slightly less fork oil back in compared to what the service manual stated. 28oz vs 29.6oz. How does someone measure .6 oz? I certainly don't have a measuring cup that breaks down to tenths of an oz, let alone single ounces.

 

Cycling the shocks is to get the air out. I haven't done the recors yet, but if I remember right from muds thread you just drop them in below the spring. For .6oz use a medicine measuring cup (like from NyQuil) and just fill up a hair above half.

 

Thanks Jaron. I kind of figured it had something to do with an air in the line issue. Obviously that could only be done with pressure taken off the spring (ie fork cap removed) unless your name is (insert famous baseball player name here) and you're in the midst of being accused of steroid use.

If my weather improves today, hopefully after work I'll do the Ricors. I'll try to get my buddy to snap photos for a little write-up. It doesn't seem all that difficult but someone is always curious about installs. Disassembling the front end can seem a daunting task to someone who has never done it before. I've done it 2-3 times in April alone. Don't ask. I fubar'd. lol

 

Thanks Vic! I for one will be looking forward to your write-up. I have a set of Intiminators just waiting to be installed, and have exactly the same install questions that you raised. I have a long list of upgrades piling up for when I can walk again!

 

You're welcome. Here's muds write up. He has three links at the bottom of his original post for the install.
https://www.hdforums.com/forum/dyna-...n-upgrade.html

Also ricor is on this forum under RICOR SHOCKS.

 

(NOTE: This is my second draft. Let me inform you of something called the “back” button on slightly older IBM laptops. I had this write-up almost completed and I inadvertently hit the “back” button, located in the same area as the arrow keys. It made Internet Explorer go back on page. A few choice words came out of my mouth in a severe mumble so my co-workers couldn’t understand the badness that was coming out of my mouth. I tried going forward hoping to recover what I had type but it was all lost. I decided it best to redo this in MS Word and use the copy and paste function. )

Ok, since it was kind of ugly in SC yesterday and my buddy has a nice sized covered front porch I did the Ricor Intiminator install. I had three steps to get my bike up. Built a nice ramp out of the ¾” plywood I use as a floor on my borrowed trailer and 6 pieces of 2x6 my buddy has laying at the back of the house.

I know I mentioned I would try to get photos of the install but since my buddy didn’t get home till after 8pm and I wasn’t about to wait for him, I just went ahead with the install. When I get something in my head, I sometimes get a little OCD and yesterday was no exception. On a side note, when he did get home he looks at me, at the bike on the porch then back at me and says “if I wasn’t redneck yesterday, I sure as hell am today.” I couldn’t help but laugh. He’s a little on the conservative side and is very in tune with what his neighbors think and say. Whatever. I’ve known the guy 22 yrs. I know what he’s about and he knows what I’m about. Life goes on.

To begin, I put my bike on the lift. I have the Sears red jack with HD lift adapters. I HATE this setup. It’s not stable at all. The first time I worked on my front end, I had one of the lift adapters separate. Riddle me this, Batman. If you’re going to design such a critical part like this, WHY MAKE IT IN TWO PIECES??!! I keep browsing the J&S and Pitbull jack sites. $400 is a lot of coin but if my bike falls off the lift for any reason, I’m sure it’s gonna cause more than $400 in damage. Just something for you (and me) to ponder. A new and better jack is in my future.

What I did next is start on the front wheel. Loosen the two 5mm allen bolts that secure the axle clamp to the bottom of the right lower. You don’t have to remove them, just loosen for now. Next I grabbed my ¾” socket wrench and loosened the axle nut on the brake side. Once removed, the axle should just slide out. You can stick a good sized screw driver in the hole on the right side and wriggle the axle back and forth while applying a pulling force. It should slide relatively easy. Pay attention to which side the spacers come from. One is bigger than the other and is important they go back in the same position you had them or you won’t be able to get your wheel back on.

Once the wheel is off and out of the way, you can now loosen the 10mm 12pt bolts that hold the caliper on. Better to do before the fender is removed. Fender provides just enough support. Once loosened I let the caliper hang, unless the front end is going to be apart for any real length of time then I would tie it to the frame to take pressure off the line.
Now, I removed the front fender. I believe the allen bolts are ¼” and the nuts on the inside are ½”. Straightforward enough. Remove the four nuts, pull bolts out and then remove fender and place it far enough away that it won’t get damaged by a possible flying 1 or 2oz solid fork cap. That thing is solid and can cause some damage when airborne.
We can stand up and work topside. Lay a thick blanket or towel across your tank. We can now loosen and pull the bars out of the way to gain access to the fork caps. Want to say the riser clamp bolts are ¼” allen bolts. Once loosened and you have the riser clamps out of the way, lay the bars down on the tank.

Now the fun begins.

The fork caps on the 49mm front end are 1 3/8” or 35mm. I found a 35mm ½” drive socket at the local auto parts store weeks ago. Biggest SAE they had was 1.25”. Either way, you’re good. I began loosening the right side. Pay attention. Once you see about half of the o-ring, slow down and begin applying as much down force as possible. Once you see the entire o-ring, that cap is getting ready to let loose. You really don’t want it to get away from you. Remember, it’s got a lot of pressure on it from the compression of the fork spring and spacer. I’m tall enough that I can lean on it and get enough down force to keep it in check. You may need to stand on a step stool to give you the leverage.

Once removed, the next thing you’ll see is the spacer. Looks like a piece of plumbing pipe. It’s pretty thin and kind of sharp. (Side note: while replacing the cap, it got away from me and the spacer caught my middle finger knuckle. Damn near tore a nice chunk out of it. Like I used to say when I was a tin-knocker, if you ain’t bleeding, you ain’t workin.) You can pull the spacer out and lay it down on some paper towel or a shop rag. It’ll be a little drippy. Wipe it down.
Ok. Loosen the fork pinch bolts. OEM bolts are torx bits. I swapped mine out for 3/8-16 x 1.25” allen head bolts a few weeks ago. To loosen mine, I grabbed the 5/16” allen wrench. No need to remove the bolts, just loosen. Keep one hand on the fork tube and one doing the wrenching. It’ll drop when it gets loose. Make sure you have enough ground clearance to drop it down out of the tree. Don’t want to scratch that chrome or new powdercoat. To the person who designed the Torx bit…Go EFF yourself. J

I stood the fork on a towel and compressed it slowly. It’ll raise the spring spacer (washer) and fork spring up to a reasonable height and you can grab it with your trusty fork spring tool. A wire hanger I untwisted then made a little hook on the end. When you pull the spring and washer out, it’s gonna make a mess. Be prepared. Keep the fork oil from getting on your garage floor if it’s painted. Makes it VERY slippery.

Once I had those three components out of the fork, I grabbed the fork assembly and walked over to my fork oil recycling center, a pile of dead grass clippings on the side of the house. Tip the fork over and get to draining. I know, not very “PC”. Whatever. Pump the lowers a few times to push any fluid out that may be trapped. Shouldn’t take a couple of minutes to drain. You could lean it against something stable and go grab a drink of choice. Keep the forks compressed and walk back to your work area.

Ok, we can now begin the actual install process.

Per the Ricor install, they want you to add about 1/3 quart fork oil. I used Amsoil Shock Therapy 10w (purchased separately from Ricor). Pump the lowers to rid the system of any air in the line. At this point, you can drop the Intiminators in. Well, not exactly DROP-IN. I had to beat mine in. Very tight fit. A 1.5’ piece of schedule 40 pvc would have been awesome here but I didn’t have that handy so I worked with the fork spacer, fork spring, my 24oz roofing hammer (very long handle) to seat the ricor insert down in the tube.

(Side note: I had initially refilled the entire fork with the recommended fork oil amount of 29.6oz per the service manual for DWG. Yours may vary. I believe the other Dyna models require 26.6oz. Disregard. I contacted Brian at Ricor who was very helpful. He clarified, with the fork compressed, to refill to about 4” from the top of the fork. That’s the recommended amount per Ricor. He said it’s not mandatory. He said you can go 5” from the top. That would mean slightly less fluid. When measuring the level, make sure your fork assembly is straight. It’s important to have the same amount of fork oil in both assemblies.)

I think getting the insert down into the tube was the hardest part. Brian explained that HD buys the forks from Showa, and they use different manufacturers for the fork tubes. No real consistency in sizing. Some have been loose and some very tight but he said tight is better. (Side point: if quality is so sporadic, why does HD continue to buy from this company (Showa)??? Would a quality, consistent fork assembly add a couple of hundred to the overall price keep you from buying your HD? Heck no. Imagine stock Ceriani forks on our bikes.) Thanks Brian @ Ricor for the assistance.


At this point, I replaced the fork assembly in the tree and snugged it down.

Fun part 2 is set to begin.

Replace fork spring, flat washer, spacer into the tube. Grab your fork cap and ratchet. I can’t give you any tip for getting it back in other than some strength and patience. I work alone. A second pair of hands may be useful at this point. One set wrenching, the other applying down force. This is the point that the fork cap, wrench got away from me and I damn near lost a knuckle with the fork spacer being jammed into my knuckle. Patience and a lil strength. J
The left side went the same way, minus the bloodshed. I set my overall fluid level to 4.25” from the top. That means I put just slightly less fluid back in.

It was much later than I wanted to be awake when I got it back together. My Mondays start at 4am. Out the door at 5:30am. On site at 7:30am. By 6-7-8pm, I’m done. I still have a few things to torque down and such today (Tuesday). I’ll button it up and hopefully get a test ride in. I have high expectations. Hope Ricor lives up to it. J No pressure Brian. lol

 

Good write-up, thanks. Since you didn't mention it, I take it that you did NOT cut the spacer down any. I'm looking forward to the ride report.

 

No I didn't. If I had a chop saw where I could keep the spacer square I might have but the overall thickness of the Ricor insert is not that much. If it were a couple of inches, I probably would have cut it down. I think the Intiminator is 1/4"-3/8". Not a whole lot in my book.

 

you can measure using 'cc' ....29.6 = 875cc of fluid. find a measuring device that measures such and your gold.

 

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Forget about the *approx* liquid measure
and go by the measured distance indicated in the manual.





Good luck with all your issues. Hope it works out good for you.

Hammering the Intiminators in should have been a stopping point. in my opinion.

Definately not right.

mud

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