Fork seal fluid level with/without springs?

[THRASHED]

Just finished replacing my fork seals/guides.  It was very easy on the 2012 SE, no need to remove the springs at all.  However, the manual says for refilling the spring needs to be removed.  I can't find any place that says how to check fork oil levels with the springs installed.  Can someone shed some light on this?  I'm good with removing the springs (the forks are still off the bike with the caps just slightly threaded on) but it seems like there should be a way to check levels as an entire assembly.

[digital]

What I do is, once the spring gaskets are replaced, it is: fully open the rod where it is attached to the aluminum thread nut and pour the oil with the amount of oil specified by the manufacturer. With the dipstick up, the oil enters the fork well. To measure the oil, I use a geringa or a glass with the measurements marked on the same glass in centri liters.

[THRASHED]

That sounds reasonable. The question I have is: does it really matter if I remove the spring?  I understand there is a some displacement, but it is enough to cause issues with performance?

[digital]

If I understand the question correctly, no. For instance:
In case of having to add or extract oil, once the motorcycle is up on the center stand and with the front wheel off the ground. Perfectly, oil can be added or extracted with a syringe.

[THRASHED]

Thanks, digital. That's what I figured, the problem is: the manual only gives the level with the spring removed. Even for a fork oil change, it says to remove the spring then fill and measure. 

[THRASHED]

Why is nothing simple?  When I pull the top cap off the fork, this is what I see:




This is what the manual shows:




They look nothing alike.  There is no way to compress the spring to remove the nut to remove the spring without removing the inner fork tube from the outer.  If I do that, there is no way to set the oil level.  Not sure if you can see, but there is no way to check the level with this "cap/retainer" on top of the spring.  Should I just go with fork-oil volume and hope for the best? Or, does the damper cylinder need to be removed from the lower to perform this task?

[THRASHED]

HA! Got it!!  "The time has passed for modifying"  which means you can just ignore the previous post.  While the top of the spring is different and does not allow for a wrench to press down on the collar, I found a highly specialized tool and made it work. Whew!..Thanks everyone for the input.  Sometimes it just takes looking at things from a different angle to get it done.

Though frustrating at times I really enjoy working on vehicles.  It's not just the $$$ savings, it's the satisfaction of figuring something out. The issue I have with some of the manuals are that they are vague. Here's an example. The manual makes it seem like life or death when setting the oil level.  If it's so important, they should explain variables.  When pumping the shock to remove air, the spring rod slips all the way to the bottom of the fork.  The manual makes no mention of this but it definitely takes up volume in the fluid.  They also mention replacing the dampening rod "if it was removed". Again, not a huge difference, but it does affect the level.  I left the spring rod down when filling.  The way I figure it, is that with the leaks I had the level was very low and the forks were still performing adequately. 

[digital]

Many times much simpler jobs can be performed than the service manual indicates.

For instance:
The service manual says that to remove the valve head (engine cylinder head) it is necessary to disassemble the entire engine.

Well, for years I have changed the engine culture without removing the engine from the Trophy chassis.