new fork seals leaking

[Anonymous]

i am at a loss,
i just changed my fork seals and did everything by the numbers but all of a sudden i got leakage on both forks. what could have went wrong? did i put too much air in(10psi). what do i do now? do i have to go through the process again?

[Clone]

Could be you accidentally stuck them in upside down , that's what my buddy did. Leaked worse than the fubar old seals. :roll: pull the dust caps and take a look. Could be too much air. Reduce it to 7lbs and see if they still leak.

[lhanscom]

I think the air is supposed to be fine up to 30psi

[Anonymous]

I think the air is supposed to be fine up to 30psi

I think thats what they say is the max that should ever be put in them, but they shouldn't be run like that.


Katt68,
Are you sure they are the right seals? Is it possible the inside diameter is too big? Should have been a pretty tight fit between the fork tube and the seal.

Slip up the dust boots and see if they are leaking at the fork tube or on the outside edge of the seal. It's possible that some of the rubber on the outside edge was damaged during install.

[Carter Turk]

Leaking fork seals

I'd say lose the air all together and run Progressive or Works springs. If you have a preload adjuster on top of the fork leg with the appropriate pvc pipe spacer underneath the cap, the ride quality is much improved without any air. I've had good luck with 15w fork oil on my Kat and number three indent on the preload.

Also any bug splatter on the sliding portion will kill fork seals.

Recently I had a slightly weaping fork seal and a local wrench said to try slipping a photo negative around the fork tube. Pry up the dust cap before sliding the negative around. I didn't think it would do anything, but I no longer have a weap.

Air gauges don't work accurately at such a low psi, so you may have put substantially more air than the gauge indicates, blowing the fork seals.

Carter Turk

[Anonymous]

When I did my 400s fork seals I went 1mm smaller for the inside diameter. I did this because Even-mm sizes are more common than odd-mm. Did you oil the seals when you put them in?

Steve

[skip]

If your tubes were pitted at all the seals will go bad quickly but I think they might just be in upside down. My service manual recomends 4 to 6 pounds of air

[Anonymous]

My fork seals were replace last year by the previous owner (a mechanic), but recently one of them stared leaking lightly. Don't laugh, but I placed a strip of foam weather stripping inside the dust cap of leaking seal and the problem has been solved for know. Exposed forks pick up all kinds of crap off the road, and the foam pre-cleans the fork tube before the seal has to deal with it. I ride with 20 pounds of air and don't have a problem.

[mcycle-nut]

I have found some bikes WILL NOT work with aftermarket seals. My GS and my V65 Magna required factory seals. I know people will disagree, but that has been my experience. I've put many fork seals in many bikes, but on those two bikes, I had to go with the OEM stuff. It does seem odd that BOTH would puke though. I usually only had one new one leak. :?

[Billy Ricks]

PJ-1 fork oil used to have an additive they called seal-swell in the formula. When I rebuilt my stock front end years ago and installed Progressive springs one of the legs leaked slightly. I used the PJ-1 fork oil and in a short amount of time the leak stopped.

[silverhorse47]

air pressure

My factory manual has 2.8 psi as the spec. for the forks for an '83 gs750e.

[Anonymous]

I feel bad because I sent katt68 my "surefire" installation guide. Since both seals are leaking, I suspect an installation or seal size problem. I agree that the first suspect is possibly installing the seals upside-down. Another might be a fork oil level way to high.......the fork legs were fully compressed before measuring the oil level, right? A reasonable level of air pressure should not cause a leak problem with a new seal, although I would never use a pressure above 15 psi on the '83 GS750E. I guess another problem could be if the seals have shifted out of position. I seem to remember that the seal is held in position by a backup ring and circlip. Lifting the dust seal should allow you to check this visually.

[silverhorse47]

air pressure

My factory manual has 2.8 psi as the spec. for the forks for an '83 gs750e.

[Anonymous]

Re: air pressure

My factory manual has 2.8 psi as the spec. for the forks for an '83 gs750e.

You are right, silverhorse47. However, they list the max pressure as 35.5 psi (which in my opinion is way too high and will probably result in premature seal failure). I run my '83 GS750ES with Progressive Suspension springs and 0 psi....works great with 15W fork oil.. Before installing the "Progressives" I used to use 7 to 10 psi for my 200 lb rider weight.

[saaz]

I run 12 psi normally, with the same seals in place since...hmm...the 80s. A new set of springs would be good...but it works as is..and I have a spare set of standard forks!