So I'm going to try and tackle this job today.
I've changed fork seals on a few Harleys, and some goldwings.
but this bike looks to be a bit different.
My clymer manual has me a bit confused...
one section says "in order to remove the fork tube from the slider, pull hard on the fork tube....doing so will withdraw the bushing and the oil seal from the slider"
is this saying once the lower slider is off the tube, I can replace the seal, and reinstall the slider, and be done?
or...as it shows in the book...I need a special fork-holding tool to disassemble the spring caps, because the spring is so stiff I can't compress it with body strength alone...then after all of that is done, i can pull every thing apart to replace the seal? I've never needed to use a special tool to compress the spring, even with additional preload spacers etc, on any bike I've replaced these seals.

I did a search for this, and couldn't find anything for flt bikes.

 

To do this job you will need a 6" long 6 mm allen socket, a rattle gun and a seal driver of some sort.
If you remove the fork from your bike you can use the old seal to drive in the new one.
If all you want to do is change the seals no need to take out the spring.
There are videos on U-tube on how to do this job.

 

awesome. That's how i was interpreting things .But, I've been known misinterpret things before.
I'll have to go to harbor freight for that long 6mm socket, tho. Everything i have is short.

 

DO NOT use a ball end allen as that will just strip out the bottom bolt!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

My god, what a pain in the butt this job is haha
ive rebuilt some engines, of varying types.
I've worked on goldwings.
But this...so far...this takes the cake.
what are there...14,15 electrical connectors? Take off the throttle cables...clutch cable. Front master cylinder, and don't forget you might need to pull that hydraulic line off the mc if you want to actually remove the inner fairing.
then the ignition switch...that was a curve ball. I'm hoping I can reuse my switch decal.
I'm thinking the bike should ride and handle better, there wasn't 4oz of dirty brown fluid between the two forks.

 

Damned straight. I've got a '90 FLHTC. Any job that needs getting inside the fairing just sucks.

There's a guy on EBay selling those decals.

 

This continues on , even to today LOL

WP

 

The biggest issue I saw was all the wiring connections. I think there are 14 or 15, at least thats how many I labeled. Hopefully, the newer bikes have some sort of updated connectors, or harness....something. I'm gonna try and get it back together today, but I'm running low on motivation

 

I have a 08 UC that I think was worse to do than the 97 FLHT

Have had times I had to kick myself to get started, usually goes good Once I get started.

WP

 

Removing the fork tubes are a nightmare on that old style fairing bike,
I replaced the lowers on my '90 without removing the tubes,
remove the wheel and fender, drain fork oil and remove the core from the air ride valve stem, remove the 6mm socket bolts, then the lowers will drop out the cowbells enough to get the clips off of the seals, grab the lowers and slide hammer action them until the seals and top bushing comes out of the lower.
Find a pvc coupling the right size to use as a driver for the seal, split it in half and use hose clamps to hold it back together.
To reassemble--- the difficult steps are
1) getting the seal on without cutting it on the sharp edges on the bushing groove at the bottom of the fork tubes, dull the edges with emery cloth, and/or try using plastic bag or cellophane from a cigarette pack or something to slide over,
2) there's only room for a short stroke to use the pvc coupler to drive the bushing and seal in.
also, if the stop is loose on the damper tube, you may have to do something to make it stray there, some options--heavy grease, dimple it on top or slightly crush it to let friction hold it.
Once the seal is in, reinstall clip and bottom bolt.