So Mr. Fork Seal, we meet again.

[Guest]

Its bath day here in Georgia and I'm finally taking a minute to was the pine pollen off. Guess what? Leaky fork seal on the right leg!

Carp... I just rebuilt the forks less than two years ago! I don't remember the job well enough right now, is it possible to replace the seals without taking the forks all the way down? I'm planning to move in about a month and I really don't feel like getting into another full rebuild if I don't have to.

It looks like I used OEM seals last time too! The fork legs are perfect all the way up to the lower clamps as far as I can see.

Any thoughts?

/\/\ac

[DimitriT]

Well, the forks need to come off to replace the seals but its not a hard job.

1. remove the calipers and bunjee them to the handle bars
2. put something under the bike to take weight off the front wheel
3. remove the front fender
4. remove the front wheel
5. remove the forks
6. let the air out (if you run with air), remove the air cap
7. remove the springs and oil (you can save the oil if you want in separate
containers so you can just add it back later)
7. remove the dust seal
8. at the bottom of the fork there a allen hex bolt, remove it (this hold the rebound dampner and spring)
8. remove the large retaining circlip
9. put the fork in a vice and angle it so you can pull on the upper
10. give it a few good pulls until the upper comes out with the seal
11. put the upper back into the lower (no seal)
12. put back the allen screw from step 8 (I add blue thread lock) - this is a little tricky. You need to start
it with the upper all the way down but once it starts you can pull on the upper to provide some resistance
so that the rebound dampner won't just spin in place.)
13. slide the new seal down (note direction)
14. use the old seal, a wood drift and a hammer to tap in the new seal
15. replace circlip and any other retension hardware
16. replace dust seal
17. replace oil
18. replace springs
19. replace air cap
20. add air
21. put forks back on bike
22. put wheel back on
23. put calipers back on
24. put fender back on
25. flush calipers with brake cleaner (I do this whenever I touch the rotors or calipers)
26. go for a ride

I think I can do the whole job in about half hour.

[derwood]

Change the fork bushings, worn bushings contribute to premature seal failure,

[chef1366]

Do you have any pitting or rust on the lower forks where they travel in and out of the seal?

[Billy Ricks]

Some people have had success using air pressure to pop the seals out. You may just have some debris between the seal and the tube. Try a piece of film negative or similar material between the two surfaces to see if you can clean out anything that might be stuck between the two. Just force anything that might possibly be in there down into the lowers.

[Mysuzyq]

Give 'Leak Proof' seals a try.... seem to work well with Progressive springs & no air.

Tony.

[chef1366]

Give 'Leak Proof' seals a try.... seem to work well with Progressive springs & no air.

Tony.

That's what I run with success so far.

[DimitriT]

Change the fork bushings!

Yea, they say to do that everytime the forks come off but I've yet to do it on mine.
If the upper slides smoothly and there's no lateral motion I would sleep at night knowing
its not changed.

[Don-lo]

What air pressure is in the forks?

[Macmatic]

Thanks for all the replies!

Yes, the tubes are perfect inside the lower and up to the lower triple clamp. I'd change the bushings if needed but I just rebuild the forks with new bushings two years ago, should still be fine I think.

I'm running 0psi in the forks but I'm thinking about trying a few PSI just to see what it does. I have Progressive springs and PVC spacers for sag adjustment. I know that air pressure is about as a good a topic as pods of the best kind of oil but does anyone have thoughts on this? I'm running about 275lbs these days so I'm thinking a little more dampening might be good.

A miracle in Norcross? Maybe... i took the bike out for a quick 40mi yesterday after washing and I only had slight signs of oil on the dust shield. I made sure to hit a fair number of dips in the road and went over a couple of Atlanta Road Patches (3/4in plate).

I'm thinking that since the bike didn't move for at least 3 months (ouch!) maybe the seal took a set... maybe had some crud under the one that leaked... and riding got it sealing again. I only saw a very small amount of oil under the fork leg with the leak. I'd say I've lost a max of 10cc so far and if it doesn't start to leak again I'll leave it be.

No job and moving back North = making do if I can!

/\/\ac

[hikermikem]

I'm running 0psi in the forks but I'm thinking about trying a few PSI just to see what it does. I have Progressive springs and PVC spacers for sag adjustment. I know that air pressure is about as a good a topic as pods of the best kind of oil but does anyone have thoughts on this? /\/\ac

I put progressive front springs on my 850GLZ last year, put some longer PVC spacers in too... I still run about 5-7 psi air. I tried it without the air, but it feels better with the air IMO. I'm about 185 so maybe you want to try a little more air than I use...

[omaharj]

Well, the forks need to come off to replace the seals but its not a hard job.

1. remove the calipers and bunjee them to the handle bars
2. put something under the bike to take weight off the front wheel
3. remove the front fender
4. remove the front wheel
5. remove the forks
6. let the air out (if you run with air), remove the air cap
7. remove the springs and oil (you can save the oil if you want in separate
containers so you can just add it back later)
7. remove the dust seal
8. at the bottom of the fork there a allen hex bolt, remove it (this hold the rebound dampner and spring)
8. remove the large retaining circlip
9. put the fork in a vice and angle it so you can pull on the upper
10. give it a few good pulls until the upper comes out with the seal
11. put the upper back into the lower (no seal)
12. put back the allen screw from step 8 (I add blue thread lock) - this is a little tricky. You need to start
it with the upper all the way down but once it starts you can pull on the upper to provide some resistance
so that the rebound dampner won't just spin in place.)
13. slide the new seal down (note direction)
14. use the old seal, a wood drift and a hammer to tap in the new seal
15. replace circlip and any other retension hardware
16. replace dust seal
17. replace oil
18. replace springs
19. replace air cap
20. add air
21. put forks back on bike
22. put wheel back on
23. put calipers back on
24. put fender back on
25. flush calipers with brake cleaner (I do this whenever I touch the rotors or calipers)
26. go for a ride

I think I can do the whole job in about half hour.

You disgust me.*

[bubba]

Well you don't have to take the forks apart. Here's how I did mine and it worked fine.
After you have the forks off the bike and the dust cover off, Take a narrow screwdriver that will fit in the opening where the seal fits.
Sharpen the end of the screwdriver. Not to a real sharp edge, more like a sharp chisel.
Use that to cut the old seal one one side. Go easy here The object is to cut the metal ring in the seal but not booger up the fork.
You can then reach in with a little hook or dental pick etc. and pull out the old seal.
Slide the new seal on and seat with a piece of PVC that fits, and your done.
Piece of cake.