Yup, my right fork seal, the little black ring in the middle of my forks is spewing oil, slowly.
So what needs to be done and what does this mean?
So what needs to be done and what does this mean?
What does a leaking fork seal indicate?
- Thread starter VEGASRIDER
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ChevyFazer
Redneck MacGyver
Pretty much the seal needs to be replaced, it's fairly easy to do I'm sure someone can provide a link with a how to
Gonna have to take them apart, Kenny. The Hayes book is a real good resource or take it to a shop.
RJ2112
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It means that your fork doesn't have the same damping it did before the seal let go. When the amount of oil changes, or gets contaminated with the stuff that will leak INTO the fork the viscosity of the oil changes.
Water makes the oil thinner.... a bouncy fork will result. If there is enough water in there, it will make the oil into a froth which will have almost no viscosity at all.
The seals need to be replaced. Do both legs at the same time. Check the inner tubes for 'run out'..... see if they are still straight.
philosopheriam
aka: Mr. Awesome
How many miles does your bike have on it?
When fork seals fail, it's always a good idea to check your bushings while the fork is disassembled. Most of the time, forks with 15k plus miles will usually need a set of bushings at the time of a seal replacement.
When fork seals fail, it's always a good idea to check your bushings while the fork is disassembled. Most of the time, forks with 15k plus miles will usually need a set of bushings at the time of a seal replacement.
616ah
Junior Member
time for a suspension upgrade! 
616ah
Junior Member
time for a suspension upgrade!
and now you have a reason to justify it...
philosopheriam
aka: Mr. Awesome
Send your forks to RaceTech, have them torn down, re-bushed, re-sealed, emulators installed, the tubes polished, and all will be good :-D
I already have Race Tech springs installed. I guess I have to order replacement seals from them huh. I better go on their website and check it out.
Marthy
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Good old fork rebuild is due. Not sure how it's done on bikes but on race cars after rebuild we Dyno the shocks to make sure there all good. There's more to it than just swapping seals and new oil. More than likely everything might be find... and unless you did it before and have all the "special tools" might be worth the headache just to send them in...
philosopheriam
aka: Mr. Awesome
No, you can use OEM seals - the springs have nothing to do with the seals that are required.
Yet, RaceTech does sell dust and oil seals for a very reasonable price.
You can buy fork oil from them at the same time, too.
Lastly, I suggest purchasing a fork oil level tool from Motion Pro. It makes setting a fork oil level stupid easy.
Norbert
crash tested
This may help!
I think this is good preventive maintenance, esp if you ride in the dirt.
I used something similar to clean my seals. The liquid I used was Corrosion Block. Don't use anything like brake cleaner.
Worth trying before you go the more expensive route. You could make the same tool using a milk carton. Be sure to round all the edges though....
I had a ring of black crud to clean up. Glad I did it.
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wlzfoVroSY]Seal Mate the Tool that Fixes Leaking Fork Seals - YouTube[/ame]
I think this is good preventive maintenance, esp if you ride in the dirt.
I used something similar to clean my seals. The liquid I used was Corrosion Block. Don't use anything like brake cleaner.
Worth trying before you go the more expensive route. You could make the same tool using a milk carton. Be sure to round all the edges though....
I had a ring of black crud to clean up. Glad I did it.
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wlzfoVroSY]Seal Mate the Tool that Fixes Leaking Fork Seals - YouTube[/ame]
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*EDIT* Norbert beat me to it... LOL! OMG! WTF!!! Hahahaha!
Kenny, one thing you can try... If you can get your hands on a Seal Mate, some acetate or a strip of 35mm film, you can force it by the seal and down into the fork, then while pulling it back out, circle the fork with it so you are pulling it out all the way around the seal. Sometimes it can simply be a tiny piece of debris that gets wedged in between the tube and seal. After doing this, wipe the fork and area totally clean then bounce the front as hard as you can about 10 times and check for more leakage. If there's none, you've cleared the debris. If there is oil, then the seal is damaged and you need to rebuild. It's not a hard task though if you have the right tools.
Follow this video.
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wlzfoVroSY]Seal Mate the Tool that Fixes Leaking Fork Seals - YouTube[/ame]
Kenny, one thing you can try... If you can get your hands on a Seal Mate, some acetate or a strip of 35mm film, you can force it by the seal and down into the fork, then while pulling it back out, circle the fork with it so you are pulling it out all the way around the seal. Sometimes it can simply be a tiny piece of debris that gets wedged in between the tube and seal. After doing this, wipe the fork and area totally clean then bounce the front as hard as you can about 10 times and check for more leakage. If there's none, you've cleared the debris. If there is oil, then the seal is damaged and you need to rebuild. It's not a hard task though if you have the right tools.
Follow this video.
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wlzfoVroSY]Seal Mate the Tool that Fixes Leaking Fork Seals - YouTube[/ame]
Norbert
crash tested
DefyInertia
Former '04 FZ6 Rider
Kenny, amuse us and tell us what fork maintenance you have done over the life of the bike. How about your shock?
Good luck, in my experience anything other than new oild or springs/spacers requires know-how and special tools.
Good luck, in my experience anything other than new oild or springs/spacers requires know-how and special tools.
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Cali rider
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Thanks everyone, look like I'm going to have a shop do it. But it's going to be a shop in Idaho. If it took John to do it in 2 hours, that equates about two days for me.
I can't remember when I had my front forks replaced with Racetech's but I think it was around 24k miles on the clock. I also replaced my oem oil with heavier fork oil. I currently have 76k. I had a shop do the replacements when I had my steering head bearings replaced.
I can't remember when I had my front forks replaced with Racetech's but I think it was around 24k miles on the clock. I also replaced my oem oil with heavier fork oil. I currently have 76k. I had a shop do the replacements when I had my steering head bearings replaced.
texcollect
Crotchety Old Fart
time for a suspension upgrade!
+1 :rockon::rockon::rockon:
philosopheriam
aka: Mr. Awesome
May I make a suggestion...
Pony up some extra $$$ and throw in a set of Racetech emulators while the shop has your forks apart. They will make your forks act like a set of well-tuned cartridge forks.
FB400
Super Member
I just changed fork oil over the winter at 19k miles. Was really easier than I thought although you have some labor to remove and replace. From what I could tell the fork seals needed a tool to remove so I didn't bother and they weren't leaking.
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