fork seal leaking again !

How long should fork seals last?

I thought I had them licked on my blue bike from back early in the '08 season, or perhaps it was '07. On the way home from work this evening though, I noticed that my port side fork is leaking again big time.

I also changed the bushings when I last did the seals and I only used genuine Yama parts. They have both been clean as a whistle ever since, up to today.

Would gators help, or do they just mask the problems?

Brian H.

assume you have checked the forks....any bur from a stone chip can wear out the seals quickly. I've had to replace a fork that was causing a leaky seal....almost imperceptible bur...had no problem since.

Well according to my records it was '06 when I did the forks last, so perhaps I am due after all.

I have looked at the forks and felt them but don't find any burrs.

When I raise the dust cap out of the way and mop up all the oil in the seal cavity, I find that there appears to be some sandy / rusty crud in the bottom of the seal cavity between the oil seal and the dust seal. This is a bit mysterious and has me puzzled.

The forks themselves look and feel fine.

I did hit one mother of a pot hole / road wrinkle the other day. Wondering if that had anything to do with my sudden massive leak.

Brian H.

 

I did hit one mother of a pot hole / road wrinkle the other day. Wondering if that had anything to do with my sudden massive leak.

 

Brian H.

I wonder if that is what happened to me.. they were not leaking at all, the other day i had to take a rough bump (no where to go to avoid it) so i slowed down what i could, but the next morning i noticed that my fork seals are dripping.

I do wished motorcycles had a different concept on front forks/shocks. I guess I am gonna take mine to the dealer, whoops not dealer but the local cycle mechanic, because I dont have time to get it wrong and I dont have time to redo it if it is wrong. I really wished I could afford another pair of forks so I could just keep them ready when needed.

The local mechanic used to be a venture guy.