Fork seals

[spots25]

I've got a serious leak in my left fork of my '78 GS400, so its time to replace the seals. I did it before on my '82 Sabre and I've got a Clymer, so we're okay there. My questions are as follows:

1. What fork seals to use? OEM? Promoly? whatever's cheapest?
2. The right one is just fine, should I rebuild it anyways while I'm at it?
3. Do the fork seal sets come with dust boots? because the left one is toast

Thanks!

on a somewhat related note, I totally smoked my rear wheel bearings. Oh the joys of a late 70's motorcyle 8)

[Anonymous]

1) I prefer OEM seals whenever available. Nominal price increase for guaranteed quality & fit. Aftermarket seals are fine if necessary.

2) Do them both while you're at it. Chances are the other side will fail soon. Take care of it all while your hands are dirty.

3) Most seal sets come with the oil seal (and sometimes oil seal washer) only.

Have fun!

[IanFrancisco]

I would use the best seals available and do both sides at once. I would want the job to only need to be done once and to last for as long as possible. I know a lot of you guys like wrenching and I also prefer to do my own work when possible, but riding still beats wrenching any day in my book!

I think the dust boots are a separate part and not included with fork seals.

I too have one leaky seal. Bikebandit has choices ranging from approx. $12 to $27 depending on the quality.

I was entertaining the possibility of installing fork gaiters when I do my seals to keep the downtubes as nice as possible. Don't get a lot of rain here but riding at twilight I'll hit clouds of bugs sometimes and have to clean the downtubes yet again, plus there's always flying gravel and stuff that can pit the tubes. I would want something along the lines of what was used on 60's Triumphs, black and not too large. It would still "ugly up" my bike somewhat, but then again it would match the rider better...

[spots25]

well, i ordered everything up, and it looks like it'll be a week before I get the stuff I WANNA RIDE!

[IanFrancisco]

well, i ordered everything up, and it looks like it'll be a week before I get the stuff I WANNA RIDE!

I've ridden many miles with leaky fork seals. If only one is leaky you can get by with just trying to have equal amounts of oil in each fork leg, less than the specified amount will still give you *some* damping.

Of course you can't get the most performance out of the chassis with leaky seals but you can ride. Cruising slow is better than sitting in the garage staring at your bike...[/i]

[spots25]

well, i ordered everything up, and it looks like it'll be a week before I get the stuff I WANNA RIDE!

I've ridden many miles with leaky fork seals. If only one is leaky you can get by with just trying to have equal amounts of oil in each fork leg, less than the specified amount will still give you *some* damping.

Of course you can't get the most performance out of the chassis with leaky seals but you can ride. Cruising slow is better than sitting in the garage staring at your bike...[/i]

yeah, i've been riding around on a leaky seal for a few months now, but if you look at the bottom of my post, i chewed up a wheel bearing as well

[IanFrancisco]

I doubt if the failed wheel bearing is related to the leaky seal. Bearings just need grease to survive. Even MX bikes that take a serious pounding don't fry their wheel bearings if they are greased. As long as there's still a little oil in the forks the bushings should survive.

[spots25]

I doubt if the failed wheel bearing is related to the leaky seal. Bearings just need grease to survive. Even MX bikes that take a serious pounding don't fry their wheel bearings if they are greased. As long as there's still a little oil in the forks the bushings should survive.

well, I bought some new mag wheels off of a GS450 on ebay, and didn't even think about greasing the wheel bearings before putting them on the bike, but the rear wheel bearing failed hard. There were balls and chunks of retaining ring and race all over in there, not to mention the sprocked spacer was all chewed apart and twisted in half. The bike was thoughrally unrideable like that, as it made a nasty grinding noise and wobbled all over the place.

I'm not worried about damaging the forks by riding with a leaky seal

[IanFrancisco]

There were balls and chunks of retaining ring and race all over in there, not to mention the sprocked spacer was all chewed apart and twisted in half. The bike was thoughrally unrideable like that, as it made a nasty grinding noise and wobbled all over the place.

I'd say it was unrideable! 8O I've also heard horror stories of hubs cracking up and chains breaking. Yikes... That wheel bearing must of had a hard life or been smacked with several hundred lbs of force to disintegrate like that. I've never had that problem even on hi mileage bikes.

I might let a little leak slide, but every time my bike makes a creak or cracking sound (wich isn't often) I check the wheels and chain. I also check the tire pressure and eyeball the front brake pads before every ride, unless I'm using the bike daily. I had my last set of brake pads go down to the metal on the inboard side in 3k miles last time.[/quote]

[Bolder Biker]

)

I would use the best seals available and do both sides at once. I would want the job to only need to be done once and to last for as long as possible. I know a lot of you guys like wrenching and I also prefer to do my own work when possible, but riding still beats wrenching any day in my book!

I think the dust boots are a separate part and not included with fork seals.

I too have one leaky seal. Bikebandit has choices ranging from approx. $12 to $27 depending on the quality.

I was entertaining the possibility of installing fork gaiters when I do my seals to keep the downtubes as nice as possible. Don't get a lot of rain here but riding at twilight I'll hit clouds of bugs sometimes and have to clean the downtubes yet again, plus there's always flying gravel and stuff that can pit the tubes. I would want something along the lines of what was used on 60's Triumphs, black and not too large. It would still "ugly up" my bike somewhat, but then again it would match the rider better...

Good advice. I would only add that you should check the chromed stanchions carefully for scratches and pits. It won't matter how good the seals are if they ride on a rough surface. If you find grooves and/or pits that are not too deep, you can smooth out the surface by using #300, then #600, etc, through to #1500 wet 'n dry. This will be hard work since chrome is hard (which is why they use it! ).

Also, when the job is done, clean off the impacted bugs from the chromed surface after every ride and while they are still soft. The bugs' exoskeletons dry up into nasty, hard bumps for the seals to ride over.

BB