cartridge forks

[dragon57]

???
does the 2003 Nomad 1500FI have cartridge forks? Is there an EASY way to change the fork oil? I've looked in my manual, and gadgets page, and I really hope I don't have to go through all that!! I just installed Harley fairing, etc, and REALLY don't want to take it all apart again. Any help, here?

Owned many bikes over the years and have always done my own service work and changed the fork oil on most of them. I have noticed the term cartridge forks lately and must admit I am not sure what this refers to. I had a Moto Guzzi that had a separate cartridge type of sealed mini shock absorber inside the fork tube that had to be replaced as a unit, however on looking at the Nomad factory service manual the fork internals look like a standard fork design to me. My Nomad is new and at this point I have not had a need to change fork fluid. The service Manuel as you know says to completely remove the fork tubes from the triple clamp. This is because there is not a drain plug or screw provided to get the old fluid out. However generally you can also remove the old fluid without removing the entire fork tube and pouring it out by puling the front axle and removing the lower hex bolts that fasten the lower sliders to the damping rod. Do this before removing the top fork nuts so that the spring pressure will hold the internal damping tube in place and allow you to remove and replace the lower hex bolts , after this is first done remove the top fork nuts and install the proper amount on new fluid. For more detailed information on how to do this there is a recent post ( June 19) on the Vulcan Riders and Owners Club site. Search Nomad fork oil change without removal of forks. On the tecktalk portion of the forums.
I am a new member also , hope the information saves you some work and time.

[dragon57]

VERY cool! thanks!
I haven't looked at it yet, but I'm a member, so I will check it.
thanks again

[blowndodge]

Sue gets her own thread!

[kevin]

One advantage of pulling the front end to replace the fork oil is that you can also clean, inspect, repack, and torque the stem bearings, though, at the same time. I did my 05 last Spring and was glad I did. Getting the tools was a bit of a pain but the job wasn't bad. No fairing though. No idea how different the 03 deal is. I'm sure most will opt for some other option-as already mentioned. Especially if they don't have a lift.

[ringadingh]

I agree with what Kevin said, once you get into it its not that bad and worth checking everything else involved with the front end. The only problem I encountered was removing the 17mm plugs in the top of the forks. They were on so tight I couldn't get them to break loose with a johnson bar, an impact gun is the only way to loosen them, as its hard to clamp the fork tube securly without marking it when they are that tight. Other than that it was quite a staight forward procedure.

[kevin]

Ringadingh, not sure of the year or what you are trying to describe by "the top of the fork tubes" but my 05 tube plugs were >20mm for sure-ain't in the shop up here at the computer. Also, all of the fittings on the front end have pretty low torque values and I can't imagine needing a "Johnson Bar" or a breaker bar for this work. Perhaps, your ride was worked on by someone prior to your attempts. One other thing that I did not post was that I found one of the fork springs to be at it's quoted limit and this is something else to check when you break it all down--I was not surprised by this even with my limited metric experience--cheap springs, LOL, and having dealt with two GWs prior to the Nad.