It is straight forward as long as you are mechanically inclined. You have to remove the front wheel and then take the forks out. Going from memory here:

1. Front brake caliper off (two allen head bolts)
2. Remove front wheel - hex nut and slide out the axle - you will need a bike lift or a jack to support the bike of course.
3. Remove mudguard (fender) 6 screws in total I think
3. Remove the forks - two allen head bolts on each fork.
4. Fit the gaiters - they slide on and are secured with screw clips.
5. Slide forks back in - align top of fork leg with top of the top clamp - secure the allen bolts on each leg.
6. Reattach mudguard
7. reinstall front wheel.
8. Reattach front brake.

Can probably be done in an hour to an hour and a half - but take your time. It's simple work, no special alignment tools needed, but is a little time consuming - hence the 200 dollars, although that sounds a little high to me.

You have to judge for yourself whether you are comfortable doing it. If you don't mind doing maintenance work like changing your own oil and filter, taking your own wheels off to get tires replaced, then I would say you have the skills to do it. If you wouldn't tackle those things - best to let the dealer do it.

Cheers!

 

Thanks prop, that all sounds easy enough, I will tell the dealer that I intend putting the $200 towards the tach kit instead

So as long as I refit the forks to be flush with the top clamp (or whatever they were before removal) I am good to go? no chance of messing things up and ending up with badly aligned forks?

Sorry for n00b question, all my mech experience has been on aircraft and that was 20 years ago!

BTW, anyone got any sugestions about jacking a bike up for front wheel removal? a regular car jack and a couple of bits of wood do the job?

 

Wow; that is a lot of scratch to install two rubber gaitors. I realize there is a process to it, but come on.

I went to Sears yesterday and bought the lift I'd been eyeing ($200, Craftsman Professional, aluminum, about 50 lbs. -- great lift, BTW). Really glad I did at this point, due to how high installation costs can run. I highly recommend getting a decent bike lift and doing the work yourself. I can't have a bike this easy to work on ('08 Bonnie Black) and not dig in myself. Besides, I'm spending so much on mods and upgrades, I might as well get to know the bike and install them myself. Also got a torque wrench -- I don't want to make any mistakes and they show up at 70 mph.

I just got some OEM gaitors in yesterday and am going to install them today. I also have IKON progressive springs coming, but they could be a couple of weeks and I'm antsy for a project. I'll let you know tonight how it turns out. The biggest thing, IMO, is getting the fork tubes back in at the right height and alignment so that the original steering geometry is retained. A misstep there could be really dangerous.

As soon as the fork springs and Ohlins shocks come in, I'll be installing those myself. This is going to be much more rewarding that just riding the bike after someone else did all the work.

 

Good luck with that local... I will be watching the forum closely for your progress report, mine is a Black as well, I am going to fit the tacho kit and a Scorpio alarm (when the bike fimnaly arrives), but just wasnt sure if I needed to do anything clever with the forks to make sure I dont hurt myself or the bike!

Can I be cheeky and ask for photos?

 

No problem -- I'll do a step-by-step as well as I can. I'll try to do it well enough so that it can be made a sticky. I'm a total noob to bikes, but I've always been around ATV's, boats, tractors, machinery, etc. so I'm itching to dig into this thing.

FYI: If you don't want to spend a ton to get a good lift, you can get fairly cheap ones for around $60-80. Or you could go even cheaper and build your own: http://www.sportster.org/tech/rickko-lift/

I like the one I got (http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00950191000P) because it has four different height lock positions, ratcheting tie-down straps, is really sturdy and well-made, can be wheeled around with the bike attached to it, and it looks great (very professional).

 

Aligning forks is actually not hard. It sounds like you have the manual coming so look at that before you start to reassure yourself of the procedure, but the essence is to get the top of the forks at the same height. If you look at them on your bike, you will see that the top of the fork tube is precisely flush with the top of the yoke clamp - so that is very simple to set up.

The other end is also simple - the axle, spacers and wheel naturally align the fork legs - the sliders on the forks are able to rotate, so once the mudguard is back in they are pretty well lined up, and then the fitting of the wheel takes care of it.

The haynes manual will have all of this detailed with pictures, and the gaiters come with a triumph tech bulletin as well.

 

If you buy Triumph's own Scrambler gaiters they come with comprehensive instructions including torque settings. They are also easier to fit than some of the thicker, stiffer aftermarket versions I've seen. Most of it's been said here, but the one thing I don't think has been mentioned is it's much easier if you remove one fork leg at time as this helps avoid problems getting the forks back in to the headlight brackets. It's not hard and I for one wouldn't pay someone $200 to do it.

 

it's much easier if you remove one fork leg at time as this helps avoid problems getting the forks back in to the headlight brackets. It's not hard and I for one wouldn't pay someone $200 to do it.

Excellent point.

 

Use the $200 to get a hydraulic bike lift. Well worth it.

Makes cleaning the bike, wheels, oiling chain, changing oil much easier. Plus, if you've got a bad back it lifts the bike up so it's easier to work on everything else too.

I got one in Calgary for $160 from Canadian Tire. You'll have change to buy the gators!

 

Okay, got 'em installed. Took about an hour. The hardest part was making sure all bolts were tightened well. I didn't have a torque wrench so I had to do it the old fashioned way. It was also a little difficult to get the mudguard bracket to line up with the bolt holes in the fork lowers -- tight fit. Actually not bad at all, except for the **** heat in my garage.

I would recommend highly, after doing it myself, that you get a lift and do this job yourself. You will probably enjoy it.

I took some pics of the process and will post them a little later today.

 

Not having done it before, I did the whole job in four or five hours, using the Sears lift, and I work slowly. This included gaiters, new oil, and new springs.

Warning: If you use a lift to do this job, don't remove the front wheel unless the back wheel is supported; put some bricks, cinder block, thick boards, or a sturdy crate under it.

 

Well danged if I ain't a mechanic!

So I installed the fork gaitors at lunch, and upon returning to the front door noticed that the UPS man had dropped off my Ohlins 36PL shocks and IKON progressive springs from New Bonneville. I knew at once that I had my night all planned out. Thank goodness for that new Craftsman Professional lift. I have completely (and successfully) disassembled and reassembled the front end of my new Bonnie Black twice in one day.

It took about two and a half hours to do everything, probably due to the fact that it only took about five minutes to swap the OEM shocks for the Ohlins (Thruxton-length, so I had to jack the bike up a little and do both at the same time instead of one after the other). The fork springs took the vast majority of the time, due to the front end disassembly. I decided to pick up some 15w fork oil and go ahead and swap the oil in case I ended up with too little or something. Besides, I wanted to know how to do it for future changes. I poured out all the old oil into a bucket, pumping the shocks to release all the oil. Put the new springs in, poured in some oil and compressed an measured, and after a little measuring and pouring, got the oil to the stock level with the new springs in, which displace more oil. It took one bottle of oil for each fork tube (minus about a half-ounce each). I made two 12mm spacers out of PVC in order to reach the length of the stock spring and spacer. Put everything together and reassembled. Et voila, a KILLER riding bike! With the stock springs and shocks, it just felt dinky compared to the new poised and confident handling with the new boings. Feels like I could race the thing.

I wanted to post the pics I took of the gaitor install tonight but left my camera at my office, so I'll do it tomorrow and write up a step by step.

 

One bottle of oil for each tube? Was it a 500ml bottle?

 

I wasn't quite sure how to get the correct level of fork oil, even after a lot of research. A lot of varying opinions out there. This helped: http://www.triumphrat.net/twins-talk/26384-installing-ikon-fork-springs-tonite.html

Here's what I did:

With the fork tube in hand (OEM spring and washer still in but spacer out), I took a wooden dowel (okay, it was a chop stick!) and with the fork fully compressed I stuck in the chop stick and marked the distance from the top of the oil to the top of the tube (that was the stock oil level, and it was the same for each tube, I found).

Then I took the washer and spring out, drained the oil into a bucket while pumping the stanchion into the lower fully about 30 times to get all the oil out. I stood the fork upside down on a tray at an angle to let it drain for about 15 minutes. At this point, I compared the stock spring/spacer length to the new IKON spring and determined that I would need a 1/2" (about 12mm) spacer so that the new spring/spacer would be the same length as the old. I made these out of PVC pipe I had laying around. When fully drained, I uncompressed the fork and inserted the new spring. While uncompressed and at full length, I poured in 15w fork oil (about 250mL) and compressed the fork repeatedly to get out all the air bubbles. Then I measured with the same chop stick I had used before. Added more oil. Measured. I kept doing this until I reached the stock oil level. At that point, I uncompressed the fork, inserted the spacer and stock washer, and screwed on the cap. Repeated for the other fork.

When it was all said and done, just as in the thread I mentioned above, I had put in about 475-490cc (almost the full 500mL bottle) of oil to reach the stock oil level with the new springs. I hope I did this right. It rides great, a little stiff which I've read is common with the IKONs and probably exacerbated by the preload placed on the spring by the spacer, but it is much more composed now and feels more stable. I want it to be done right and I don't want to blow a fork seal, so I'll probably have my local dealer check it to make sure I did it properly. I just didn't feel like having to pay them to do something that I could very well do myself.

 

Sounds about right. The factory spec is 120mm from the top, which is probably about where you are, but many people with Ikon or other larger springs take it down to about 140mm.

With my Hagons--same length as original springs--I stayed at 120mm with new 10W oil, used about 900ml. I haven't tried anything else, so I don't know if that's the best setup. It definitely got rid of most of the front-end dive with braking.

 

Here are some pics of the installation of fork gaitors...

Before:

Undo spindle nut and set screw:

Undo speedo cable. Undo brake and tie onto frame so it doesn't hang on its cable:

 

Remove front wheel, making sure you don't lay the wheel on the brake disc:

Remove mudguard:

At this point you slacken the allen bolts (top & bottom) holding the fork in the triple tree and then carefully slide the fork tube out of the triple tree. Remove the plastic guard on the fork tube by using a wooden dowel or something similar and a hammer and gently tapping it out by degrees around the outside of it (comes off pretty easily).

Slide on the gaitor:

Slide back into triple tree and tighten allen bolts:

 

Stock height of the fork in the triple tree for my bike:

At this point, I've done both fork tubes and have installed them into the triple tree and tightened the allen bolts to spec torque.

Put mudguard back on:

Make sure the spacer is on the right hand side of the wheel and the speedo fitting is on the left hand side, and then put the wheel back on. Put wheel spindle in, put the nut/washer on & tighten, and then tighten set screw:

 

At this point, you'll reinstall the brake caliper, making sure that the disc is in between the brake pads. Reinstall the speedo cable. Then put the metal clips on the gaitors and tighten them down, making sure that they are pulled up right against the bottom of the triple tree.

Done:

 

Excellent post my man! Nicely done, and one sharp looking bike! I love the covers on the instruments - where did you get those? I saw them on a website somewhere but can't for the life of me remember which one!

Again - great post!

 

Thanks! I'm glad to help out, as I'm new to all this and appreciate help myself.

The bike has 250 miles on it (had it three weeks). Had the dealer go ahead and put the solo seat and cowl on, as well as the tach kit and TOR's. I put IKON progressive springs in the forks two days ago and Ohlins Type 36PL shocks on (since the pics). I've lowered the stock bars a little until my M Bars come in (any day now) and put on CRG bar end mirrors. I bobbed my front fender last weekend, and if New Bonneville will ever ship my FEK, I'll get rid of the rear fender as well and turn signals (will have clear indicators).

I made the gauge pods two weeks ago out of Thermos food container tops after seeing this thread and finding what I needed at Wal-Mart: http://www.triumphrat.net/club-cafe/46621-home-made-gauge-pods-completed-pics-want-some-10.html

I showed up at the dealer to show them off, and they couldn't believe it.

Airbox and AI removal kits are on their way, as well as black Pazzo shorty levers, key relocation kit, Monza cap, Norman Hyde steering dampener, etc. etc. I'm addicted!

I also have a Veypor system coming, and I'm seriously considering removing my analog guages altogether in lieu of the Veypor as a digital dash.

 

Good for you - enjoy!

I never stumbled on that thermos idea before - phenomenal - looks really good on your bike, as does the seat hump. I'm going to have to try the pods!

 

Local my man what can I say, thanks a million for the pics and your feedback, I have told the dealer he can put the $200 towards my tach kit

I would love a lift but it will be hard to get one shipped to me in the Caribbean I will have to rig something up.. but now I cant wait to get started, bike ships in a week or so, two weeks and I should be getting greasy with it!!

By the way, did you lube up the forks before fitting the gaitors? I wonder if a nice thick layer of grease would offer protection from any condensation that may form inside the gaitors

The seat cowl looks sweet I was thinking of adding that to my wish list, your pics have convinced me to definately make that the next spend..

Thanks again.

 

Do not grease the fork tubes before fitting the gaiters. Make sure they are clean and free of grit, and maybe give them a wipe over with a cloth with some WD40, but that's it. The oil in the fork will lubricate them as you use them. If you slap grease all over the tube you will have a big mess.

The forks are made to work this way, so it's cool. Good luck with your fitment, and enjoy the bike.

 

I know I am bringing up a 4.5 year old thread, but thanks for that very specific info. I am putting gaiters on my bike via another instruction thread made by another member. He slapped on rubber compatible grease. I looked all over this valley for some at wal mart, 3 hardware stores, Tractor supply co. and 2 auto parts stores and found none! I came back home to buy it online and came across this thread 1st. Back to the garage to finish the gaiter instillation!

 

Local, it looks like you removed your front wheel while on the lift without supporting the rear tire. Did that work OK? I ask because someone mentioned having to support the rear tire and I don't want to drop my baby.

Thanks, Mike

 

supporting rear and torque question

No need to support rear wheel if the bike is balanced on the lift. A few times and you will know where to place the jack. While I'm here,what does the torque setting 60Nm translate into foot pounds?
ps..just installed progressive fronts and gaiters , very nice..

 

No need to support rear wheel if the bike is balanced on the lift. A few times and you will know where to place the jack. While I'm here,what does the torque setting 60Nm translate into foot pounds?
ps..just installed progressive fronts and gaiters , very nice..

1 Newtonmeter equal .75 foot pounds.
60 Nm equal 45 ftlb.

Norse

 

Here's a handy tool for all your conversion needs, I use it all the time.

http://www.unitconversion.org/energy/newton-meters-to-foot-pounds-conversion.html

Russ