Ok, I’m pathetic

[BurdetteDR]

How the balls does this come off? Everything is seemingly out of the way, yet the top triple will not come off! Any help is greatly appreciated.


ETA: I put it back together, because it’s the weekend, it’s got, and I wish to ride and not wrench. Installing progressive drop ins on 99 fxstc

[Tattooo]

What all did you take off?? Do you have a manual for your bike???
You don't have to take the trees apart to change the springs, you can drop the tubes also...

[BurdetteDR]

Stem nut cover, stem nut, the philips bolts in the side of the triple, and the cap bolt thingers on top of the tubes. Seemed it would be easy enough to just flip the triple over with bars attached, pull the caps, yank the springs.

[Tattooo]

Stem nut cover, stem nut, the philips bolts in the side of the triple, and the cap bolt thingers on top of the tubes. Seemed it would be easy enough to just flip the triple over with bars attached, pull the caps, yank the springs.

No sir that is the hard way to do it...Leave the trees there take the wheel off and do one tube at a time... Buy a Harley manual you will be glad you did... The Philips screw shouldn't be long enough the touch the top tube cap....

[BurdetteDR]

10-4. All of that info is well received. Thank you.

[TriNortchopz]

No sir that is the hard way to do it...Leave the trees there take the wheel off and do one tube at a time... Buy a Harley manual you will be glad you did... The Philips screw shouldn't be long enough the touch the top tube cap....

Yup,like he said, no need to pull trees^^^^.

I did a search for what you wrote, "Installing progressive drop ins on 99 fxstc"
and found this from Progressive Suspension site:

Fork Lowering Kit - "Drop-In"
Forget everything you know about lowering motorcycle front ends, we’ve completely changed the game!

Our DROP-IN™ fork Lowering Kits have transformed a once messy, and time consuming install into a 30 minute easy to do install you can do in your own garage.

Pull up to two inches out of the front end of your bike without the hassle of disassembling the forks or even changing out the oil and the whole process can be done with basic tools!

1999 FXST, Model Notes:
13 - Spacer length must be calculated according to the instructions included with the fork springs.

See 2-minute Dennis Kirk installation video on their site here:
(they just pull off fork cap, pull spacer and spring, install new springs and shorter spacer, reinstall cap, go riding)

https://www.progressivesuspension.com/product/1463/fork-lowering-kit-drop-in

If you want to remove fork tubes(OP wanted to help buddy install fork gaiters);
Here is a reply from silverfox762 on a 2016 thread: Removing fork tubes(dyna)

"...BUT, swapping fork tubes means pulling the axle and front wheel and axle, pulling the front fender (easier than trying to get the fork tubes lined up right if the fender has any torsion on the mounting bolts), then unbolting the brake caliper(s) from the fork leg(s), unbolting the triple clamp pinch bolts from the top and bottom trees, then lowering the fork tubes out of the triple trees, removing the existing boots, installing the fork gaiters, then reassembling everything in the opposite order. While it's apart and if it hasn't been done recently, he should repack the fork stem bearings with grease (can be done with a grease gun) and reload the fork stem bearings.

Make sure he has the factory service manual and follows the instructions for removal of brake calipers (without removing the brake lines), removal of the front wheel, removal of the fork tubes from the triple trees, and reassembly. He's gotta torque every nut and bolt to the manual's specs, which means torque wrench(es). The brake calipers take 12pt sockets (or splined sockets) to remove and reassemble the calipers. Make sure he uses blue LocTite on any fasteners, even those with lock washers, and if it's a dual disc front end, make absolutely sure the tire rotation is the right direction (it's market on the tire, but you can use a white or yellow grease pencil to indicate how it's sitting on the bike before removal."..."I'm just an ok mechanic with good communication skills who knows how to write. "

https://www.reddit.com/r/Harley/comments/3m8kvl/removing_fork_tubes/