easy front fork oil change??

[Winddancer]

Is there a write up for a quick and easy front fork oil change??
I see how to drain it,which is quick and simple, but when it come to refilling, it looks as if you have to take it all apart.. is this right, is there no other way to refill the oil without taking it apart??
also is there a link or place to go that shows a good way to do this, the rear shocks have an awesome one,with pics and everything. is there one for the front shocks as well??
it's a rainy day and I finaly can get to this, and I am stuck.. :(
thank you..
Chuck

[Mr Jensee]

If your oil is not all gunked up, you can drain it, remove the caps on each for and the cir clips that hold the pieces that contain the fork springs. drain oil, I removed the springs because we were changing them out putting in progressives, then worked the forks to get the remaining oil out then replaced the oil with the specified amount going by the service manual. replaced the springs and the caps and cir clips. screwed the top back on and was in business. The whole process took less than 45 min. I did not remove the front wheel during this process. Pumping the forks up and down removed all the fluid which we measured to find it matched the amount required for refill.

"This from the Voyager XII Tech section:"
Question: How much fluid do I use in my Front Forks (Voyager XII) and what's the best way to change it?

Answer: We would suggest changing the fork oil should be a regularly scheduled maintenance item. It should be done every other year! Recommended oil is 10w fork oil. There are two ways to go about changing the oil. The easy way is to drain out the old oil from the plug at the bottom of the fork. Remove the wheel and pump the lower fork tube up and down until no more oil comes out. When changing the oil, the shop manual says replace it with 330mL of new oil. However, if you completely remove the fork, disassemble it, and clean it, the shop manual recommends 391mL + or- 2.5mL. I have never figured out why, but many times each fork will require more or less fluid to reach the correct height in the fork tube. The correct way to put just the right amount of fluid in, is to pump the lower fork tube up and down several times to get the fluid into all of the cavities. After doing this, fully compress the fork tube and measure down from the top 140mm + or - 2mm. This is the correct amount of oil to have in each fork with stock fork springs. Sometimes you have to add some fluid, other time you need to take some out. But this is the only way to make sure both forks have exactly the right amount of fluid. For a more detailed description on how to remove the front forks and springs to accurately add oil or change the front fork springs, see Installing Progressive Fork Springs.

[Winddancer]

Thank you Mr Jensee ...
everything tells you how to drain, but when it came to refill, it would refer to the progressive install which, by the picture has you take off the fairing,tire and forks, which seems like a lot of work just to change the oil...

[Mr Jensee]

Naah! Check with anyone who has changed out to progressive springs on a Goldwing. We used a board with a rope tied to one end that served as a lever to push down the inserts so we could loosen the retainer rings. Once each was popped out we did the oil change while installing the springs. You can do this without removing anything off the bike. We did remove the cover over the ignition set to free up the cables and wires off the fork tops but that was it. I wish I had taken pics of the procedure we used but anything that you can use to push down hard enough to free up the retainer will work (I think one pic showed a large phillips screw driver). This will require two people working close together to do this though...

[Gator Mike]

Mr Jensee is correct. I made a tool which required me to mount it on the handle bar riser. Would have been much easier to have another person pushing down on the cap with a #3 phillips. At any rate there is no need to remove all the tupper ware. Good luck........Gator Mike