I have now gone through 3 sets of OEM F3 forks. I am still having an issue getting these forks apart. After you take it completely apart to remove the seal you "allegedly" have to bang them apart as if they were a slide hammer. So far, 3 sets, and one set had only been leaking for a week I get to the part where I am supposed to separate them as if they were a slide hammer and they will not come apart. I understand that it is old but I just don't get it. Every video I have watched says the same thing and even the factory service manual says to just pull them apart like a slide hammer. I finally dug out one of the seals, which ruined the forks, and there is a metal piece underneath the seal that the seal sets on that the fork tube will not separate from. I have had one person tell me that to separate them I have to weld an Allen wrench or a bolt onto the end of a long metal rod and go down through the top because there is another bolt holding it together. Has anyone ever heard of this, does that ledge that the seal sit on come out with the seal, or do I need to hook it to a hydraulic machine somehow and have it pulled apart? I am stumped and am down to my last set of forks. Thank you.

 

Forks are essentially 3 peice - upper tube, lower fork and internals.
The internals are anchored at the bottom fork with an allen bolt up through the bottom and at the top with the fork cap.

So first remove the bolt at the bottom of the forks.
An impact will make this a lot easier as sometimes they like to just spin the internals.
If it does, try tightening the preload all the way down.
Then unscrew the cap, and remove the cap and internals.

Next you can remove the upper tube by - carefully pry the wiper seal up, this should come up easy, it's just pressed in.
Next there is a metal circlip ring, you should be able to remove it with a small screwdriver. It will pop out.
Next you should see the fork seal itself, it's pressed in firm.
This is where you take the bottom fork and top fork and slide hammer them.
They should slide easy back and forth. If it doesn't then something is wrong.
Sometime it take more than a few hammers to get them apart and sometimes you have to bang them hard.
After a couple hits, the fork seal should start to move. Eventually it should pop the fork seal out and the 2 halves will come apart.
Hope this helps.

 

Here's a video (not the best) explain the bottom bolt.