Swapping out the front forks

Freddyblue from SF here again. Need to replace front suspension. Got two used forks on eBay. Shop wants $250 to $300 just to swap them out.
Wondering how hard to do it myself with a friend. He has mechanical smarts and any necessary tools. Any words of wisdom or caution? Would someone please advise time involved and level of difficulty. Thanks again Silver heads!

Shouldn't be too difficult but I would want a service manual to make it easier to reinstall everything afterwards. The main thing is re-installation with proper torque settings. If you don't have a torque wrench Harbor Freight sells them very inexpensively. The fork of the Silverwing is simpler than a motorcycle with a "triple tree".

Thank you very much. I am hoping also to hear from someone who has done it before. Have a great evening

It's not difficult just not much room under there to access the upper fork bolts. Turn left-right to get tools in there. Change the oil in new forks and all should be good. 3/8 torque wrench and short sockets will work. Search fork here that should help with questions. Add proper oil and level to forks it will improve the ride. REC. a 15W oil.

Sorry to be so inept, but the forks I acquired seem to have plenty of action left and the seals are good. What is the time and expense of changing the oil. What else do I need besides a seals kit.
Sorry to sound like a big whiner, but I don't have any extra money right now.
Thanks to all that have chimed in.

freddyblue wrote:

I am hoping also to hear from someone who has done it before.

Have a read of this thread bud .............

https://www.silverwing600.com/t10477-fitting-hyperpro-front-springs?highlight=hyperpro

The Bern's link is spot on

But if you need to "see" how it's done here are some videos of the legendary Stefano Bonacasa having at the task. Unfortunately you'll either need to understand Italian or use your imagination.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7GhFciyLpOA&t=826s

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nd-Vgvpcx50&t=87s

And one more:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yBAEVGaCnCY

The top bolts on the clamp needs to come out completely because the forks have a "groove" in them that sets the amount of fork that goes through the triple clamp.
You won't be able to get the top bolt back in until the bolt itself aligns with this groove, think cotter pin type arrangement.

Check the steering head bearing whilst the forks are out, make sure there's no "dead spot self centering" action going on.

It's quite easy to do, wheel off, fender off, brake caliper off, pipe brackets off, undo the 4 bolts in the top of the clamp and you may need to slightly ease the clamp with a screwdriver to get them to release the fork, but don't go hammering cold chisels in there, a reasonable "Chippy" type screwdriver will do the trick, a couple of taps with a 1.5 lb ball pein hammer on the end is more than enough.
And simply reassemble in reverse of how they came out.

Changing the oil:

Change the oil simply because they are off and it's an easy job. The old oil will either resemble brake fluid in how thin it is, or will be grey and very smelly. 300ml, 300cc is the amount that goes back in, it's worth it in the long term. I use ATF as fork oil as it has a little bit of "multi grade" ability so the forks don't go solid when the weather is cold.
Take the 22mm nut out the top, it will "spring" out as there is a spacer pre-loading the spring. Take the spacer out, take the washer on top of the spring out, take note of the spring design, there are closer coils at one end and the spring needs to go back in the same way as it comes out, invert the fork, work it through it's full range of action to pump all the oil out of the damper valves, if you really want to do it right, put a bit of clean replacement oil in there and work the action again, dump that oil, be amazed at how filthy it is... Leave the forks to drain for a few minutes whilst you have a drink of your favourite beverage, then put your new oil of choice back in. Again work the action to "prime" the shock absorbing valves, insert spring, washer and spacer, screw the cap back on, again it will be under pressure so if you have access to a Black and Decker workmate or some such, hold the damper leg in that whilst you push the cap on and turn the damper rod instead of trying to screw the cap on. Works for me.
Then put the leg on the floor and "pump it" like a pogo stick it should move fairly free until your weight compresses it as far as it can, this final pump is to check it doesn't go "solid" through it's movement, which can happen if you over fill the oil
Hope this helps, it sounds a lot harder than it is.

Getting the legs out of the clamps/tree is easy, to get the tree off the scooter to replace/grease the bearings is a bit involved but not to hard. Now if your just putting in new fork oil, thats easy. If you have to open the forks up for a new seal or something else that requires them to be gone into-thats a terrible job! There is no way to lock the inner piston in place, so a shop quality impact is required, a HUGE hammer and lots of frustration. My local Honda shop offered to rebuild the fork legs for $125 in labor. I should have let them do it but Im stubborn and eventually got 'er done. Just be ready to say creative curse words if you tackle seals and such!

Just want to say thanks for all the info, time
and help you have all provided. Way beyond the call of duty!
Truly great to have a pit crew