I made the mistake of moving the bike into the work area of my shop last week. After writing out a list of to do's on my white board and cracking a few cold ones it was time to roll up the sleeves and make a mess out of my shop.
To do List: Replace stock front fender with custom painted softtail fender
Replace left cowbell with nondented new
20k fluid change on front forks/ upgrade to se fork oil
airfilter
lof
Lube throttle cables
Touch up paint floor board mount scrapes
Clean and detail all parts of nacelle
After 4 nights in the shop I won! I'll never let those front forks go over 10k before changing out the fluids again. That was some gross chit there now. No wonder the handling was like crap. It was so bad that I went ahead and ran a bottle of brakekleen through each one in order to get them spiffy again.
Of course, as you go through this kind of service, the toughest part is all the detailed cleaning. Old wax stuck in all the crevices and rotten bugs in places that they just shouldn't be able to get into.
The softtail fender looks great! Kind of gives you a new bike feeling for awhile.
By the way, in order to put the new cowbelle on, I had to drop the left fork. I found that a good soaking of liquid wrench and leaving it over night was the key to this.
I attached a bungie so it wouldn't hit the floor and left it over night. Loose as a goose the next night. I went ahead and did the right one after I saw the ring of rust on the tube of the left one.
A little dab of synthetic grease and spread it into a fine film in the clamps and that will be a much easier job next time.
It turned out great and it's alot better than paying someone else to do it.
It's been years since I've worked on a Harley and I was amazed how they have improved.
Way better parts finish and fit.
I would reccomend to anyone with over 10k on their bike to change out the fluid in their forks. What a difference!