Fork Seals. OEM verses aftermarket kits.

[dorkburger]

Great, thanks...

[dorkburger]

Well, I looked at my crusty old parts bike forks that I believe to be original and found the seals as I described. Maybe another 1150 anomaly... who knows. I’m just go to pretend all is fine in 1150 land....

[RichDesmond]

One other thing on fork seals. One of the big reasons they leak is the tiny nicks and dings that accumulate on the leading edge of the fork tubes, from rocks and other crap kicked up by cars in front of you. Those nicks have sharp edges, and they cut up the sealing surface of the fork seals. If you put new seals in and don’t take care of the nicks, your new seals won’t last very long.
Take some extra fine steel wool and lightly buff out the tubes. You don’t need to make the nicks disappear, just smooth out the edges. DON’T buff so hard that you go through the chrome!!
If you do this periodically your seals will last a lot longer.

[gustovh]

Another reason for failing seals is.....your lowers might just be shot inside, it has happened to me. Seal would start leaking in less than a thousand miles.

V

[fastbysuzuki]

You should not go wrong with the Oem seals I have gone away from them as I found seals that are a lot better quality than the Oem things have moved on since the 80 s the link is for the seals they have a double sealing lip these are in the uk

https://simplybearings.co.uk/shop/p34095/37x49x8DC4/10.SS-Metric-Fork-&-Damper-Nitrile-Rubber-Oil-Seal-with-2-Opposite-Facing-Individually-Sprung-Sealing-Lips-&-Raised-Outer-Sealing-Band-on-Outside-Diameter/product_info.html

[Redman]

Existing seal is hard. I just lifted it out with my fingers. Can barley detect any lip or edge.



New OEM seal, is soft but seems to have a metal ring inside it. Can feel a couple seal-flaps-edges.
I wetted the side with some fork oil.

Had to whapp it pretty hard a few times with the driver tool to get it down inplace enough to get it below the grove for the wire clip.

[Grimly]

You should not go wrong with the Oem seals I have gone away from them as I found seals that are a lot better quality than the Oem things have moved on since the 80 s the link is for the seals they have a double sealing lip these are in the uk

https://simplybearings.co.uk/shop/p3...duct_info.html

That's very useful, ta. I didn't know they did fork seals. They supplied me with Viton o-rings for the carb flanges, though.