| Author | Message | ||
     Xbimmer |
Wife and I took a 3-dayer couple weeks ago and on a rainy Sunday had our pic snapped on Mulholland:  Clouds broke shortly after and the next 2 days were excellent, particularly Hwy 33 north of Ojai and Lockwood Valley Road. Point is this pic really shows that even with all the suspension settings at max there is a lot of sag in that rear shock. Granted the cases were stuffed but Sue is not big by any stretch so I decided to check into things. Didn't take enough pics but here're the basics. 1. Back off adjuster completely. 2. Remove shock. Not that hard, I put a jack under the muffler with bike on side stand and a strap or two from the top case rack to the rafters. Just a nudge or three with the jack to unload the bottom bolt, disconnect adjuster from pan and pull the whole thing out the top. 3. Try to keep the adjuster above shock level. I laid mine on a bench so I could put the flat part of the adjuster in a vise to loosen the banjo bolt, it was really on there. Note direction/position of hose on adjuster. 4. Wrap the bolt/washers/hose end in a paper towel and keep it higher than the shock, it shouldn't leak. Now I had the adjuster free. There was oil to the top which confused me. When I started screwing in the knob nothing happened (as usual) for 8-9 turns then as soon as I felt resistance the oil gushed out. Decided to pour out the oil.   In the above lower pic you can see the piston. I unscrewed the knob again and nothing changed (it wouldn't I guess w/o spring pressure forcing oil against it). I then pushed against it with a thin punch, it moved a bit, then a lot, and I was able to push it ALL the way down into its cylinder. Now when I screwed in the adjuster there was immediate resistance. I bottomed it again, and decided to take it apart some more thinking of checking the insides.   Lots of thread lock on that screw, make sure the screwdriver fits. SPRING LOADED BALL ALERT!   This ball is well worn in mine, actually flat on one half. Here's where I stopped:  I was having trouble getting the retaining ring out, since there was no evidence of leakage there I let it go. Cleaned all the road grime away, made sure the bolt was nearly fully backed out, and poured fresh 5w fork oil into the cylinder. Put it all together. That little indexing ball is manageable. Man what a difference! Max preload before resulted in about 1/8" of spring movement, now it moves to about 1/2". Doesn't sound like much but when sitting on the bike it's evident. I left it full up and the wife and I took a little jaunt, big difference in steering too. No leaks evident either before or after R&R so who knows where the oil went. It never had less than 4 turns of slack even when new so I don't know, now the adjustment begins immediately so I'm satisfied. I love big fixes that cost me nuthin'.  | ||
| Nillaice |
Remove shock. Not that hard ... do you have the full comfort kit on your uly? | ||
| Teeps |
Good write up Dean. Did mine last year, when I replaced the fan. Makes a big difference even for solo riders like me! Also don't forget to fill the hose connected to the shock with oil, too. | ||
| Tootal |
I've had two Harley dressers and on both of them they didn't add enough oil in one of the forks. One was almost dry. I've seen enough of these shock threads to think they must be trying to save oil? | ||
| Xbimmer |
do you have the full comfort kit on your uly? No, I imagine that would completely nullify my statement, from what I understand. Thanks Tom. Regarding the hose, this time I left it alone since nothing leaked out, but since my (third) fan is rattling when cold I imagine I'll be back in there and I'll deal with it then. Now everything's great and yes when solo 4 clicks gives me an accurate preload that works great. Now to do something about that droopy top case... | ||
| Xbimmer |
I've had two Harley dressers and on both of them they didn't add enough oil in one of the forks. For what those things cost that's crazy! I wonder whether the forks are shipped to HD assembled and it's a supplier thing. | ||
| Teeps |
Since you're needing a fan soon. I found this fan http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009OBP182/ref=pe _344980_131076680_em_1p_0_ti I think it could be adapted to the Buell fan shroud/mount; care to take a chance? You know, the fan on my bike, rattled for well over 10k miles, before finally dieing last August. | ||
| Fotoguzzi |
I think I have the same problem.. could I stop at the point and decided to take it apart some more just fill and put back together? | ||
| Mark_weiss |
I refill remote preload adjusters for BMW shocks on a pretty regular basis. It is not really necessary to remove the shock. Zero the preload, take load off of the shock, remove the adjuster. It IS a good idea to replace both sealing washers for the banjo fitting. You do generally have to push down HARD on the piston to get it to fully bottom out. | ||
| Rwven |
Did this on mine last year. Was able to do it with the shock still installed. The hardest part was getting the comfort kit out and back in. | ||
| Hughlysses |
Did this on mine last year. Was able to do it with the shock still installed. The hardest part was getting the comfort kit out and back in. +1 to that. I did mine a couple of years ago. We noted in a much earlier thread that the factory fill in the rear adjuster seems to vary greatly from bike-to-bike and most seem to lose "range" as the bike ages, so it's good to know how to do the refill. Interesting what you said about the ball in the adjuster being worn flat on one side. I've noticed the "click" on my adjuster seems to be much quieter/less noticeable compared to when the bike was new, so I suspect mine is worn too. It'd probably be pretty easy to find a ball from a ball bearing that could be used to replace the original. I may try that at some point. | ||
| Rayycc1 |
I think i should do this now while its cold and miserable...i do a lot of two up riding so i want my shock right Install a comfort kit they said...it'll be fun they said... | ||
| Panhead_dan |
I did it with the shock still installed. I did have to lay the bike on it's side too if I remember correctly. It was the easiest, most rewarding project yet on this bike. The more I get to know my '06 Uly, the more amazed I become. It's generally easy to work on. | ||
| Xbimmer |
Yeah reading your guys' comments I suppose if you loosen/tighten the hose at the adjuster cylinder while it's still attached to the pan it'd be real easy to remove the adjuster with the shock still in place. Especially if the Comfort Kit shield is installed, I've read that thing is a nightmare to work with. Have you guys ever thought about splitting it somehow to make it easier to work with? I removed the shock because I didn't know what to expect and didn't see how to keep the adjuster higher than the shock without doing so. However one goes about the job it's still a cheap fix with huge results, sort of like eliminating the wire harness shield and those dainty ground wires at the steering head. Teeps, thanks a lot... now you've got me thinking about that Spal fan...  | ||
| Teeps |
The Buell fan is made by Spal. But the housing is Buell specific. I wish there were specs on the stock fan, far as air volume moved per minute. | ||
| Woodnbow |
Teeps, would someone at EBR be able to share that information? | ||
| Teeps |
I would be surprised if an inquiry, for such info, was answered. | ||
| Teeps |
Xbimmer, I have an extra fan shroud you can have; should you decide to look into that other fan. | ||
| Xbimmer |
Tom thanks for that offer, I've been thinking hard about that SPAL fan, looks doable, sort of, maybe...  Planning a ride to Rock Store Sunday, I'll let you know. | ||
| Ishai |
Resurrecting this thread as I have same problem- Is there enough hose length to allow removal and servicing on the adjuster without removing the shock? I have the comfort kit and that seems to be a lot of hassle to remove... | ||
| Mark_weiss |
I refilled mine without removing the shock. The hose is short, so it's a bit awkward. Quite doable though. | ||
| Ishai |
Thanks Mark... |
