Motorcycle Repair: Front Fork Seals, allen bolt, fork tube

Question
1985 Harley Davidson 1000 Sportster I followed the service manuel to replace the seals in the front fork and wanted to know if I can just remove the fork slider without taking off the fork tube. All I am replacing is the oil seal and the dust seal and wanted to take off the least amount as possible. The book wanted me to take the cap bolt off, and the spring.  But this was after the fork assembly was removed from the motorcycle all together and I didn't want to go through all of that if I didn't have to. Could you steer me in the right direction. Thanks! Rick

Answer
You can replace the seals without removing the forks from the bike.
Lift the bike off the floor. Remove the wheel, brake assembly and fender. Drain the fork oil. Looking at the bottom of the fork you will see an allen bolt. Remove it. Go to where the dust boot is and slide it up. Under it you will see a clip. It holds the seal in. Remove it. Now grab the slider and pull it down. With a few strokes it will slide off. Now you can remove the seal and dust boot. Put it back in reverse order. You will have to take the cap off to add the fluid.
Good luck and happy riding
Mike