Question re. fork seals and bushings.

[John Schmidt]

The moveable bushing...not the one that sits in a groove...how far in does it go? I had pulled the forks to replace the oil and figured I'd go ahead and install new seals and bushings. Big mistake I guess but I figured even though nothing was leaking, since it was all 20+ years old I'd install new. I can't seem to get the new seal in far enough to install the snap ring, so I'm wondering just how far in does that one bushing  go. It appears to stop at a "ledge" a couple inches in. I've popped the seal out 2-3 times now to try and figure out what I'm doing wrong so I'm not even sure the new seal is any good anymore. Wish I'd never touched it, I've done other forks over the years but never inverted types like these. Probably just me but I find them a PITA to work on.

[sandy]

Do you have a seal press tool? If so, set the fork on the floor (on a rag) and press down by leaning on the tool. If you used All Balls seals, they fit tighter than OEM. The slider bushing is not your problem.

[John Schmidt]

Yeah, it's All Balls and yes they're tight. Grumpy here in Fla. said he quit using them because of difficulty getting them installed. Said they fit too tight, now only uses OEM so guess I'll chalk it up to experience and get some OEM seals and toss the All Balls in file 13. I sure didn't have trouble with the forks on the 1200 project bike and they're a bit more complicated. Don't recall if I used OEM though. Oh well....live and learn!  

PS: Yes, I have the Honda tool for seating the seals.