Hi all. This is on a (98/99) flstc with a GLH frame.

To replace Fork Seals-

Fairly straight forward as long as you have a rattle gun to undo the hex cap screw that retains the damper tube, you need this to spin the screw fast enough to overcome the damper tube spinning inside the fork tube.

Undo everything so as to get each fork leg off the bike.

Undo top fork cap being careful to not let the spring take off like a jack-in-the-box.

Drain oil now or drain from drain plug when still on the bike (your choice).

 Undo the bottom hex socket head cap screw the retains the damper tube.

Remove the seal retainer clip.

Using slide hammer action,  a couple of good pulls on the fork tube and the whole shebang will come out. Take note of the order in which it is disassembled.

Clean everything up and start to re-assemble.

 Knock the upper slider bush in position by sitting the spacer on top and  I used a plastic tube that fit over the fork tube (pvc pipe) to tap it into position, make sure the fork tube is still clean and then place new seal onto fork tube ( taking care not to pinch or roll the lip). Tap the new seal home by either using a pvc tube that fits on the outer edge of the seal, or by using a spare spacer (if you have old forks laying around there is one inside) lay this spacer washer on top of the new seal and tap it home.

Install seal retainer clip.

Install damper rod in fork tube and hold in place with fork spring.

Reinsert hex cap screw in the bottom and again using rattle gun to quickly spin it tight (don't overtighten).

Pour in new fork oil or equivalent and work slider up and down to let oil get into everywhere.

Reinsert spring and spring cap.

Clean and reinstall back into trees. fork tube retainer cap back on. Easy as.

Another little shortcut we did to get the caps back on without using much effort or clamps/vices/presses etc, was for one to hold the cap and spanner on top of the tube and press down on the spring, while the other simply rotated the fork tube until it was home. Then tightened to spec when back in the trees. (leave it out of the top tree and nip up the lower pinch bolts to tighten the fork cap nut, and then raise into the top tree when tight) and put the top tree, fork tube retaining bolts back in.

Headstock Bearings.-

With the neck bearings, after pulling everything off the front end including the triple trees, getting them out of the cups that sit in the headstock was the most difficult thing. We knocked the bearing retaining cups out of the headstock first (GLH frame this is).
Using a screw driver, pried under the gap between the outer race and the cup. One came out easy and the other needed a bit more work but still came out.
New outer races pressed in, bearing cups back in headstock, bearings fully greased and grease in headstock and on shaft. lower trees back in headstock and fill void with grease. top race in with dust washer. top tree on and top adjuster bolt done up finger tight at this stage.
Fork tubes back in and tighten up top fork tube bolts. leave lower pinch bolt loose at this stage.

To adjust the "fall away", For this model 1"- 2" in.
put wheel on, guard on, bars on (with brake and clutch cables off) caliper off, speedo cable off, wheel off the deck. We found anything left on would cause resistance or the opposite (stored energy like speedo cable trying to straighten out was enough to affect the outcome).
with all of the slack taken out of the bearings( wiggle the forks back and forth and you will feel if the headstock is still loose).
You need a fixed point o the floor. We had a chair with a cable tie as the pointer.
Place a piece of masking tape on the tip of the guard and have the pointer just off the tape with the wheel centred to the bike.
Push the wheel to one side and you will notice it gets to a point in which it falls away under its own weight. mark or observe this amount on the tape.
Push the wheel back to the center and then to the other side and again mark the on the tape. Tighten the adjuster bolt to decrease the fall away and loosen it to increase the fall away. When you end up with the desired fall away for your model (harley spec fall away) great. job done.
Tighten adjuster bolt, and lower tube pinch bolts and slap everything back on and THEN DOUBLE CHECK ALL BOLTS FOR TIGHTNESS. you will be surprised and thankfull when you find one. If all good,go riding.

*If you have done all this and still have movement back and forth, and are sure your bearings are adjusted properly, then you have loose cups that fit into your headstock. You will need new cups or get custom made ones that fit properly in your headstock*.

BUT:- in a real situation
This may not happen as it didn't for us. The weight of the disc makes it fall to the left even from the centre line so we had to turn the wheel to the right a bit to counteract this happening.
We also left the speedo cable on initially, but later took it off as it did affect the fall away. When we were satisfied, we tightened pinch bolts and I went home and left my mate to put the rest back together.

NOTE:- There are a few different ways in which to measure the "fall away". Make sure the method you use has the correct measurement.

Use this info with caution! This info is from my own personal experience and may or may not help if you are drug or alcohol affected.

Cheers Hutch.

These were taken out of the the bike we did the other week. Just to show what happens to bearings if left a bit too long between changes or adjustments.

This is what hammered bearings look like. It was the upper bearing in the headstock. More movement from a improperly adjusted bearing leads to accelerated wear. There is evidence of water being present also. Note the grooves made by the rollers on the cup.

See the pitting and damage caused by water and wear.

 

The wear is a lot worse at the top ot the pic. This is where the most weight was place on the bearing.

 

Inner race pitting.

 

So to avoid this in future keep your bearings dry if possible and well greased. Adjust every 10,000ks.

If your steering feels loose. If it's making clicking or unusual noises whilst going over bumps or speedhumps, then an adjustment is needed.

If you adjust it and then your steering feels notchy, your bearings are hammered and need replacing.

cheers all FLHuTChU.