New Fork Boots for Yagi

I received replacement non-OEM rubber fork boots from procycle.com yesterday, finally removing any excuse remaining to do my first fork boot replacement.

After some research on the TW200 forum, some emails to confirm details with experienced mechanics, I was confident I could do the job.

This was the first instance of actually using the motorcycle lift I'd borrowed from a neighborhood friend:

Straps on both sides prevent side/forward movement and the jackstand

on the rear swing arm/axle nut prevent downward/rearward movement.

First was the removal of the front wheel, having loosened the axle nut before raising the motorcycle up into the air.  I disconnected the speedometer cable prior to removing the front wheel.

 Speedometer hub assembly, the cable already disconnected.

The front fender was next, I'd originally thought to leave it in place but was warned it would make things more difficult to align upon reassembly.  Sorry, no pics of the spacers.

 Top Hat spacer on right side of wheel hub.

I made careful note of the level of the fork sticking out of the top portion of the triple tree assembly.  I just had to ensure the existing marks lined up as shown below:

 Left Side

 Right Side

Yes, I am aware the manual says there should be 6 mm of the top of the fork showing, but it had been fine where it was the last few months of riding, done to increase travel clearance of the front wheel.

Once I loosed the appropriate bolts, I was able to simply twist and pull down the right fork easily enough and swapped out the worn/damaged fork boot with the new one:

Compare and contrast shot

The boots are Daystar 58 Series, $25 for two of them.

Re-assembly was the reverse of the order I removed things before.  Next time, I will remove the brake caliper assembly to make things easier to put the wheel back in place.  Re-inserting the speedometer cable into the speedometer hub was a little fiddly but finally got it done and reconnected.

The hardest part turned out to be lining the front wheel with the top hat and speedometer hub in place, and then getting everything to stay in place as the axle is inserted.  I lacked the third hand necessary, even after lowering the lift to minimize travel by the wheel to match the holes in the forks; so I had to ask Patrick to do the honors with the axle.

Oh, I also removed two of the plastic spacers on the front fender bracket to increase travel clearance by perhaps 1/4".  I just have to, as always, avoid muddy spots where thick mud tends to clog up underneath the front fender and eventually locking up the front wheel.

A view of the plastic spacers I'd installed shortly

after my first encounter with thick mud.

Before I put things away and lowered the motorcycle; I also replaced the rubber seal on the front valve cover atop the engine as it'd been seeping oil.  

No injuries, blood or too much cursing involved with this work.    I'd say it was a good task to get done.