Fork Seal Removal

[JosephH1]

Sorry for the noob question, but since I just broke the connection tube by being ham fisted, I think I will ask this first. I have the forks out and have removed the dust cap and circle clip adjacent to the fork seal, but the fork seals wont budge when I pull on the upper fork tube. Is there a trick or are they just stubborn? The spring replacement faq does not address this. TIA

[Rhinestone Kawboy]

I believe you have to have the lower fork Allen bolt removed in order for that to work. If you have the Carl Leo DVD on front fork maintenance (available on AVA Merchandise page or Gift Shop), it covers front fork dis-assembly and re-assembly.

[gearheadfla]

I just finished doing this job today. Just to see if I could I changed the seal without removing the springs. I took a flat bladed screw driver that was not quite as wide as the seal, put it across the seal and drove it with a rubber mallet until the seal was cut in half. It popped right out. Then I oiled the new seal up real good, slid it down the shaft and carefully tapped around the seal with a new unsharpened pencil and my mallet. Make sure the seal goes down even all the way around. That being said, I did remove the spring to change the oil, I just wanted to see if it could be done. This fork was leaking so bad that oil was covering my lower fairing after no more than 2 miles. Just got back from a test ride and I did get into it hard, not a drop of oil was to be seen. Btw , man are these bike fast. .