Of all the &$*#)@@*&!*#&#$^%$(@#_@&!@ luck..

[QuaiChangKane]

About two weeks ago, I got the drip.

From my oil cooler, that is. I was driving home from San Francisco, and even at 80mph I could smell the burning oil. I stopped at a gas station, tightened the banjo fitting a hair, made sure the oil was topped off (after I let her sit for a bit), and finished my ride home with no noticeable problems. This leak has now turned into a healthy class III, but it's not my main concern.

Since the bike was leaking, and I don't really have the time to investigate and fix said leak, I left it sitting in the driveway. My habit is to ride a bike at least once a week to keep the carbs from gumming up - even if it's just a blast around the neighborhood. Last weekend I did just that, and then put her in the garage for the additional week I knew it would be before I fired her up again. Fast forward to yesterday.....

After a particularly disheartening day at work, I figured I'd clean the bike up a bit, get a look at the oil cooler, and take it for a quick spin to keep her from getting lazy. I walked out to the garage, turned on the light, hit the opener, and saw my front wheel sitting in a puddle of oil.

My first thought (after a m/c swap and line bleed) was brake fluid. Not as such. Apparently, after sitting for almost two weeks, one of my fork seals went south. I had several ounces of oil running down the fork leg, over the caliper, down the wheel, over the tire, and all over the garage floor. Word of warning - fork oil can cause tires to bubble. Thank Bob I still haven't had the new Bridgestones mounted.

The thing that gets me is the fact that it sat in the driveway for over a week with no problems, leaks or otherwise. I even drove it around the neighborhood. This leak had to develop over the last couple of days, and all of the fluid pumped itself out without the forks ever being compressed - literally rising up to come out of the seal.

So, I'm out of commission - front tire's not safe to ride on, front pads are contaminated, front disc is oily, and I've got a blown fork seal. All of this with 8 lbs of air in the forks. The guy I bought it from claims to have had new seals put in just before I bought the bike, and with nary a hint of visible oil on the forks over the last year and 10,000 miles, I'd like to believe he was telling the truth. I've never had more than 12lbs in the front forks, and have never had the forks apart myself. Unless the Suzuki shop felt the need to drain them while they replaced the stem bearings...

Any body ever have this happen to them??


-Q!

[earlfor]

Oil weeping out of one fork while the bike sits parked strikes me as a bit strange, I do not put any air pressure in the forks on my 1150 and when changing fork oil, I can drain one fork tube and the remaining tube doesnt move or compress further. Apparently, the seals on both of your fork tubes are history. The guy you bought the bike from may have replaced the fork seals, but I bet he didnt replace the internal sliders. Thats my best guess of why they are worn enough to leak so soon.

Earl

[QuaiChangKane]

Yeah - I'd replace them both as a pair, but only one side was leaking. The forks weren't noticeably sagging as I wheeled it out of the garage, and I could bounce the hell out of the front end without either bottoming out or reproducing any kind of leak (other than moistening the leaky side - most likely because it was out of oil!!). And the other odd thing about it is that there was no prior evidence of a fork leak before I parked it over the oil cooler problem...

One for the books, it seems.

[saaz]

I have a GS with air forks as well. Usually there is a warning film of oil on the leg before it fails properly. Along Earl's line of thought, all I can think of is that the forks are a bit worn internally, so when sitting around the leg pushes against the seal, leading to a leak. While running it is ok as the pressure holds the seal against the leg. The oil can also build up underneath the dust seal while you are riding, and spill out when you park it at the right angle.

This has not happened to me, but it seems similar to the rear engine seal in the car, which leaks somethimes past the seal as the bearings are a little worn, so when it sits the crank presses on the seal.

[daveo]

Was it the left fork? Was it on the sidestand? I'm of the opinion that 8lbs.pressure will push a fair amount of oil, considering you have the entire volume of that fork leg pressurized. The seal would be the lowest point that commonly fails, unless it has an anti-dive O-ring. Leaning to the left would compress that side. 5 lbs. pressure will explode a 55 gal. drum. I think the seal just failed. I don't know that sliders would have anything to do with it, (it is advised to replace them whenever the fork is disassembled) but using aftermarket non-OEM parts may.

[QuaiChangKane]

Nope - right side fork, bike was on the kickstand. At first I thought it was the anti-dive, until I traced the oil up the fork leg....



-Q!

[Anonymous]

A similar thing happened to me once, my old bike ('84 Katana) was left sitting for about 5 days and when I went to go and ride it I found that quite a bit of oil had leaked out of the right fork. It had never happened before and has never happened since.
It was quite a warm summer when it happened (although there were some really hot days and it didn't do it).

I think leaving a bike sitting does weird things sometimes.
Must be the Bike Gods punishing us

[MichaelHoward]

Hope you get it fixed up Q!!!

Sounds like my Luck

[Anonymous]

How does a fork seal leak when sitting in a garage???

[saaz]

When a fork under air pressure has a fault, the oil can get pushed past the seal when standing still. If the fork leg has mechanical play in it, it can push against the seal, thereby leaking. The sael cannot make up for too uch play in the stanchion/slider fit

[mdole]

I would check over the fork sliders (upper fork tubes) to see if there are any nicks or scratches. I have had forks that I had only recently replace seals in go suddenly, from no indication of a leak to slight leakage, to failure in a few days. After looking over the sliders in both cases I found a rock chip that I hadn't noticed.

These were fairly shallow but I could feel the edge with a fingernail. I believe the edge was sharp enough to cut the seal and cause the leak.

I used Emory cloth and the 1000 grit sandpaper and polished the chips out enough that they were barely visible and had no edges that could be felt with a fingernail. That fixed the problem both times and the next set of fork seal lasted at least a couple of years.

Mike

[QuaiChangKane]

Thanks for the tips, guys. Since I'll have the tubes apart to change the seals, I think I have a good excuse to pick up a pair of Progressive springs... Accentuate the positive, eh?


I've heard about using PVC spacers when installing new springs to preload them - is this done to overcome a problem with the length of these springs, or just a preference for a stiffer initial preload? How long should the spacer be??

-Q!

[Doze]

Q, the instructions that come with the Progressive springs will tell you if you need a pvc spacer and how long it needs to be for the right setup for your bike.
Doze.