Best fork seals?

[aakmetz]

Best aftermarket or oem?

[bambambennett]

OEM usually. Sometimes you can find seals aftermarket that are made by the same mfg as OEM. I usually use oem for suspension, or whatever I get from RT(??) or FC(Oem).

[mxracer41]

My brothers KTM 85 fork seals that he got from factory connection lasted 5 years and went through 4 different riders before they started to leak.. I think they might be the way to go ?

[aakmetz]

My oem's only lasted 15hrs. I'm looking for better than that, I run alot of muddy sillty tracks. Which aftermarkets last?

[MXandSXracer21]

I use only the Honda OEM seals. They offer the best life, performance (in terms of stiction), and price. If you are willing to spend more, the SKF seals appear to be really good according to reports on here and elsewhere.

To get great life out of your seals, it is important to maintain them well. That is, cleaning your fork legs, wiping them dry to remove water marks, pulling the dust wipers down and cleaning when needed, and so on.

[bambambennett]

Sounds like you need some seal maintenence. Yes thats what I said. When riding in very silty and muddy conditions,after you wash your bike, you must pry the dust seals down, spray a bit of brakeclean up around the seal lip to clean out debris, and get a small wire loop and run it around the tube in the seal a couple times to remove any debris that might have made it up there and respray brake clean, wipe clean and reistall dust seal. Walla, alot more time out of your fork seals.

[highmarker]

Generally speaking, anything other than oem is an experiment

[aakmetz]

Sounds like you need some seal maintenence. Yes thats what I said. When riding in very silty and muddy conditions,after you wash your bike, you must pry the dust seals down, spray a bit of brakeclean up around the seal lip to clean out debris, and get a small wire loop and run it around the tube in the seal a couple times to remove any debris that might have made it up there and respray brake clean, wipe clean and reistall dust seal. Walla, alot more time out of your fork seals.

yea, did that with a thin feeler gauge, it helped for awhile, but they drooled soon after.

[aakmetz]

Generally speaking, anything other than oem is an experiment

thas what i was afraid of.

[highmarker]

Had good luck just pulling the fork apart. cleaning and inspecting the seals as a cheap fix. I don't grease them either, just clean the with iso alcohol and reassemble.

[KJK_JR]

Believe it or not the tusk ones have held up fairly well for me. Put them in last season and didn't bother changing them when I changed the fork oil over the winter and they're still going strong without leaks. The all balls ones I tried leaked after the second ride.

[mxracer41]

^^+1 for the tusk seals, I put them in my CRF last year and through the year i owned it they never leaked one bit.

[brentn]

I can't believe that no one has mentioned MX tech's leak proof seals. I plan on buying these at the end of the season or maybe during for my bike. Reports are that they are far superior to anything out there.

[Johnny_On_The_Spot]

Generally the seal doesn't leak from being faulty or damaged- they get packed with dirt.

I take my forks apart, wipe them off, and re-install. I've had the same seals in my YZ since 06 ?

[no hand]

I can't believe that no one has mentioned MX tech's leak proof seals. I plan on buying these at the end of the season or maybe during for my bike. Reports are that they are far superior to anything out there.

Someone did mention them. They are SKF seals.

[aakmetz]

How about the Parts Unlimited brand? they got good reveiws, They're made in Italy. They have good food...?........I just want a seal that'll last as long as possible.

[kan3]

Try SKF then

[intensem1rider]

SKF! I have abused them! no issues, less sticktion.

www.mxtech.com