fork seal leaks

[JFRfan]

My right front fork seal leeks slightly and was wondering if i should go ahead and replace the seal or just fill the fork up with oil every now and then.

[nuity5]

The thing I wonder is how do you know how much oil to add? To do the oil level check I'm thinking you have to pull the bars, loosen the top pinch clamps, screw the caps out, unscrew them from the damper rods, pull the springs and compress the forks to measure how much oil to put in. The leak is only going to get worse. It's just a matter of time. If you want to ride really bad right now - ride. When you get some time - put a set of seals in. I just did my 03 and it's not hard at all. With oil and seals it's about a $50 job. Good luck. Clay

[2grimjim]

Replace both fork seals. If you just do the one that's leaking, guaranteed the other will start leaking within a month.

[intensem1rider]

And do the fork bushings to, you would be stupid not to.

[davegod]

pull the dust wipers down and use some film to clean the seal surface. clean the dust seals too and put some water proof grease in the backside. unless you need to service the forks leave the other one alone. if it starts leaking later fix it but if you tear it down you might nick the new seal and then have a leak. if you are working on the kayaba forks like i have on my 05 wr450 good luck. i have had issues with seal leaks/weeping from day one. at least it's not leaking on the brake side. you can add 10 to 20cc of oil thru the bleed holes if you really think you've lost that much oil.

[ronbuell]

I don't know if you have a suspension tuner close by or not. My tuner is 20 min from me, so its convenient. Find one if you can close by, and get a regular fork service done. If the forks need bushings done, he will tell you so, and you can get it done then. He'll clean it all out, put fresh oil in, and ask about/do the seals. There are special oversize seals out there for worn forks. My '03 bike has oversize seals from Moose in it, and it seals perfectly. If its leaking, there's an issue and if you continue to ride it, you could make it worse.

[mikewrf18]

I'm embarassed say that I gone a few months on blown fork seals in the past. Not recommended, but I incurred no visible damage from it, after a disessambly and inspection. I would try clearing the fork seal with 35mm film strip as suggested, spray some lithium soap based grease, (per FM) then slide the dust seal/wiper back into place, and see if it stops it. Look into replacing your fork seals as soon as possible. It is pretty easy to do it yourself if you have a factory manual and a little patience. You can make your own special tools like many on this site have done. Once you do it the first time you'll be glad you did. You'll never have to pay some expensive shop to do it.

If you'd like a link to making your own damper rod holding tool, and fork seal driver, I'll send it to you.

I always replace the bushings at the same time as the fork seals. The Factory Manual suggests that, so it must be true!

Also, check the fork tubes for nicks or burrs to see if that is contributing to your bad seal.

Also, make sure to bleed the forks regularly.

[JFRfan]

Let me rephrase what I said. I have a dust seal leak. Now what should I do

[2grimjim]

Let me rephrase what I said. I have a dust seal leak. Now what should I do

If you have oil on the fork, you have an oil seal leak. The dust seal doesn't do crap to keep anything INSIDE the fork. It's only function is to keep junk out of the fork.

[jwalk309]

i would first take the dust seal off and take some film from some old picture negatives and clean them out i do that about every month to mine.

[Fistfullofthrotl718]

If you'd like a link to making your own damper rod holding tool, and fork seal driver

Can you send me that link? I'd appreciate it brudda

[mikewrf18]

Can you send me that link? I'd appreciate it brudda

Compliments of Thumperfaq.com

You now need a damper rod holding tool. Take a flashlight and look down inside the fork tube to get an idea of what the tool should look like. You're going to be making a castle nut remover basically the female version of a +. Go to home depot and buy a 1" piece of black gas pipe. Take a grinder and shape the end of the pipe to fit. Be careful and make be sure to do a good job in shaping the business end of the tool (and the tool will work for years). Once you've shaped the end you can drill 1/4" hole through the other end of the pipe so you can use a screw driver to hold it in place when in use.

Link:

http://www.thumperfaq.com/fork_seals.htm