Tricks for removing dust boot?

Was going to start another sub-project on the kz750 last night....change the fork oil. A friend of mine said I should check under the dust boots to make sure the fork seals aren't leaking. Fortunately the boots on the 750 almost look new, no cracks or splits (unlike my 400's). Unfortunately some gentle prying along the bottom edge with a screwdriver showed me that they are on there really well.

Could anyone share any successful techniques on removing these boots?

del

Well, if your fork seals were leaking, fork oil would be dripping down your fork lowers and you wouldn't have to peek under the dust covers to ascertain leakage:) But, if you must look, a thin, flat screwdriver inserted gently under the edge and run around the entire fork should force the cover up and off.

Speaking of which. I have an extra set of forks and a pack of new seals sitting around. I know that there are plenty of threads on rebuilding/installing new seals/oil etc. but...... On a realistic 1-10 scale is refurbishing a set of forks fairly easy or a major pain in the hole? My right fork seal on the bike now is leaking and I've previously changed out with new/proper fork oil. Maybe I should get off my duff and do up these extra forks and pop them onto the bike.

del

JMKZHI wrote:

Doing forks is easy the second time. There's a learning curve on the first go around.

When I did the ones on my 81 650, here's where I got stuck:

Top caps or plugs. They wouldn't budge. Then I used heat applied w a propane torch - they came right out.

Bottom allen bolt & inner cylinder. A rake handle carved into the shape of a cone then jammed into the head of the inner cylinder works for holding it steady while unscrewing the bottom allen bolt. Some folks have had success by simply hitting the allen bolt w an air impact wrench.

Pulling the old fork seals. I'd never pulled a seal before, so it took some leanin to figure it out. I used an off the shelf seal puller from the auto parts store & used a very small block of wood (~1x1x6) to lever against, doing it at the end of a work bench.

I made a seal driver out of 1-1/2 pvc pipe & fittings. JMK.

Interesting observations and good tips. Thanks buddy, I'm tucking this one away for future reference.

Ok, Mcdroid convinced me.....since I already have the oil (didn't realize SAE 10W was so hard to find), I think I'll drain'em, top them off and then pressure them up. If it starts to leak, I'll order some seals..

Thanks!