A little help please!!

[Guest]

I'm having trouble with one of the forks on my GS1000E,they are the air/oil type with the wire clip instead of the circlip if that helps.I recently renewed the seals with pattern parts and on the 5th ride I noticed the right one was blown,pouring oil down the fork and wetting the frame.I phoned the supplier who checked the invoice and replaced them without charge as only 7 weeks had elapsed between purchace and failure.My problem is that I put the replacements in today(using a socket that was a really snug fit with the stantion,ie. it was tapped in using a rubber mallet on the outer part of the seal) and all looked great UNTIL I put air in-now I'm talking 2 pumps with a foot pump that is used for bicycles,as soon as the air went in the oil started pour out,but this is what is confusing me so much,it's NOT from the inner part of the seal that works against the chromed slide but the outer part that sits against the stantion.Anyone any ideas as to :-(a) what the hell I've done wrong and (b) what do I do to cure this??.As always any help is greatfully recieved.Johnny

[Nessism]

My guess is either a bad seal or the inside diameter of the outer fork tube is damaged where the seal seats. I'd pull the seal out and inspect the tube.

[Johnny Drummond]

Thanks for the quick reply!,yeah i was wondering why the seal pushed nearly all the way down(it only got tight about 3mm from the bottom) with just light pressure from my fingers when any I've done in the past on a GS550 and a Kawasaki GPz305 and GT750 had to be tapped lightly the whole way.It will be Tuesday before I can get to it again(have to take my wife and daughter out tomorrow) but I will take it out and try to get a few photos of the seal and the tube.Johnny

[Steve]

One other question, after "two pumps" of your foot pump, what is the pressure in the forks?

Ultimately, you will want to change the springs to a sturdier set that will not require the additional air.

.

[Buffalo Bill]

I can't see a thing from here…

You've changed more seals than me Johnny, but a dumb thing I did twice, was put the oil seals in upside down.
About pumping up the forks with pressure, they take such a tiny amount of air to get to the very low recommended pressure, it's very hard to get right.
It sounds like you way over did the pressure.
My GS1100 forks took just one stroke or two, from one of those slim tube, hand pumps for lightweight bicycles.
I don't try to fill them anymore.

[Charlie G]

This is what I use for adding air to the forks. A fellow named Gustov on the forum recomended I use no more that 12 pounds air pressure. The pump has a bleeder valve, which you can fine tune the air pressure with. It took me a while to find this set up. The pump came with a gauge for higher pressure and I replaced it with another. Want one?

cg

[Johnny Drummond]

Steve, I honestly can't tell you what pressure went in as the foot pump only cost$5 and the guage starts at 20 Psi and the only working guage I have starts at 8 Psi off the top of my head the manual says between 1.5 and 6 Psi in each leg-which is totally bloody ridiculous to my mind! and I went today to get more fork oil only to find that the last stuff was the 2nd lightest oil available(SAE 5W) even after I explained in the shop what bike it was for, so I got some SAE 15W this time. Bill, I only got the experience by watching a mate (who was a little bit "merry") doing the same thing-although my own first attempt to remove the rear caliper piston using a compressor ended in a hilarious floor/roof of shed/ back of head interface that would have left the three stooges speechless,mainly because no-one told me to put a rag over the piston and face it DOWNWARDS. Old Skool,I have one more seal left but you could well be right-they are as I said pattern parts I just went for them because of the $20 of difference in the price! but it's strange that the left leg is holding even though it is using the same brand of seal?.Charlie, that sounds like a great idea-just let me know what you want for them and postage and I'll take you up on the offer.I'm going to pack it in for the night,I got 4 hours sleep last night and spent all day running around with my daughter,her friend and our dog.AS always thanks a lot for the input and I'll get some photos posted tomorrow of the offending items(cos I know you guys just love pictures).Night.Johnny

[Johnny Drummond]

the offending item!

okay, got back to the fork just now,here is what I started with:-


I took the old seal out and this is what the inside looks like :-


apart from these nicks there was no damage-BUT when I went to put the other seal in I had to tap it the whole way with the socket,filled with air no more problem

[Johnny Drummond]

Haha,I bought a new camera for taking race photos!,it's a 14MP Fujifilm bridge camera,not hugely expensive but costly enough for me,yeah it seems to be a bad seal-which is good as I was worried that the stantion was scrap.I think it's the last time I buy pattern seals though.Johnny

[1_v8_merc]

I use a foot pump as well.
Just pump Once, then use a tire gauge and slowly bleed the air down, till you get the desired amount. Fast? Nooo....but it works good.