Fork seals. Factory or aftermarket?

[dorkburger]

I need to replace my 1150 fork seals.

Are factory seals the best way to go or are aftermarket seals of comparable quality? The cost seems to be about half, but I certainly dont want to do this twice if aftermarket ones are of poor quality.
Thanks in advance.

 

[Steve]

I have not personally noted much difference in quality.

The BIGGEST factor in seal longevity is how smooth your fork tubes are.
If there are nicks and pits in the tubes, they will tear up an OEM seal just as quickly as a K&L. :-\\\

.

 

[dorkburger]

Thanks Steve. The forks seem to be in decent shape, not pitted, etc, but ill have a closer look for sure. The seals have been showing signs for a while. I wonder if the fact that I hit a huge heave in the road the other night is what finally did it in....

 

[bwringer]

I've had a few issues with aftermarket fork seals.

In some cases, they're made by a high-quality OEM supplier, or even the exact same supplier (NOK for most Suzuki fork and engine seals). So these would be fine, if you can ascertain before buying who made them.

I'd definitely say beware of anything that departs from the OEM design -- these usually tout "improved design" or "reduced stiction". These never seem to be any good.

Personally, I don't think the risk of doing a tedious job over is really worth the meager dollars saved, so I always install OEM seals these days. Plus, it's usually a good idea to replace the bushings (called "slide metal" on the fiches for some reason), damper rod bolt seal, and perhaps the seal clip at the same time. So as long as you're ordering OEM stuff, it's easiest to just grab the seals along with it.

 

[Wallowgreen]

+1 ^

Used so called leak proof pro moly seals on my bikes before but had a couple of sets fail for no apparent reason, change them with OEM no more problems.

Won't use anything other than OEM for any machine now and seconded again, plan to do the bushings etc. at the same time. Just done fork seals, and bushings on a CBR1000RR because the owner was too cheap to change the bushings when he did them himself first time..

 

[LarryJ]

Went aftermarket for fork seals on my GK. The OEMs that I replaced them with didn't leak.

 

[ShadowFocus603]

I blew a brand new set of K&L's on my 850G in less than 1000 miles. Am running new All Balls fork seals in it now and so far so good. My fiance's 750L has All Balls seals as well but it's still too early to tell on that one. Any more issues I am going OEM.

 

[dorkburger]

Thanks Bwringer, I was wondering how involved I should get with this. I seem to have a harshness in the frontend that I can neither identify onor describe. Might as well eliminate that possibility. And check the steering head bearings. Im a bit peeved that this happened during the riding season, but one cant fight nature....I spent my time and money on clutch and carb work this winter. I was hoping this would wait.....

 

[dorkburger]

Never accuse me of being quick..... Went with oem parts.
Quick question. I'm stupid busy and the garage is yet again being used as a carpenter shop / staging area for yet another house project.
How long should I expect the fork job to take. I'm pretty decent with a wrench, but have never done forks..... yet. Am I fooling myself hoping I can wrap it up in a long evening?
View attachment 46586
Parts... looked at the fische and took a guess at what I would need. I'm thinking that I'm covered.

 

[Steve]

I think I see about everything you will need except new springs and new oil. :-k

Depending on your attention to detail, plan on at least two hours, first time around.
After you do a few sets, maybe an hour or so.

.

 

[dorkburger]

Thanks Steve. Oil is on the shelf, springs at a later date.

 

[dorkburger]

Done. Took about 3 hours... operator error. Details later....

 

[ddaniels]

Is it really necessary to replace bushings and seal clip if all I have is a leak. Can't I just replace seals, dust seals and oil?

 

[dorkburger]

I guess it depends. As bwringer said, since it's apart.....I did have an unknown harshness that felt like a tiny bit of play in my front end. Replacing bushings seems to have cured it.

 

[Guest]

I bought some parts unlimited ones and they were the Nok seals the same as Oem at less than half the cost. I had always run OEM previously . I haven't had a problem with them.. One thing I do with all my bikes is if the bike sits a few months I spray a piece of 3000 grit sandpaper with WD 40 and rub the fork tubes down before I even sit on the bike , just In case some rust or imperfection has started on the tubes. Saves having to change seals if rust starts

 

[bwringer]

Is it really necessary to replace bushings and seal clip if all I have is a leak. Can't I just replace seals, dust seals and oil?

Eyeball the bushings and decide. They're sort of a copper alloy coated with teflon on the slidey bit, so it's pretty easy to tell when the teflon is wearing out. The top ones usually wear out first in front. You could also just turn them around if you want to be really super-cheap.

My stock fork seals made it to 88,000 miles, and the bushings were fine.

I've found several rusty seal clips, so I usually plan to replace them or pull up the dust covers and look before ordering parts. However, if yours are fine then use them as long as you want.

You can get away with re-using the copper sealing washer on the damping rod bolt many times. Still, at some point, it can't hurt to replace it. It's an oddball OD, so it's easiest to order a new OEM washer.