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Posted

Ok, I just took delivery of my new bike, a Varadero 125, and when I looked at it and gave it a quick test ride it was perfectly fine, however while it was being transported the front forks dumped a load of oil onto the floor of the van and I just wanted to see if I could get some opinions on what the problem is most likely to be.


After around 15 minutes of riding it looked like this:


http://img694.imageshack.us/img694/8620/img2526la.jpg


You can't really see on the photo but there is a thin film of oil covering around the bottom 1 to 1.5 inches, and a ring of oil around half way up.


The forks themselves aren't in great condition, so I wondered if somebody could tell me if they are likely to need replacing any time soon:


http://img192.imageshack.us/img192/8559/img2521nu.jpg

http://img28.imageshack.us/img28/294/img2524c.jpg


The bike was serviced & passed its MOT in November 2009 and everything was fine then, so I just wanted to see if I could get some opinions as to why it has dumped oil all over the floor while being transported, and what I need to get done about it.


Thanks.

Posted

Hard to tell from the pics, looks ok to me, but is there oil running down the fork sliders ( the bottom part of the fork)


if there is and from the symptoms you describe your fork seals have gone,


lever out (carefully ) the dust seals ( the round black bits ) and check it has not got a bit of a old rag stuffed down it, it's a old trick to hide leaking fork seals when flogging a bike,


did you buy it private or from a dealer, if it came from a dealer get him to sort it cos if they are leaking it's dangerous.

Posted
Hard to tell from the pics, looks ok to me, but is there oil running down the fork sliders ( the bottom part of the fork)


if there is and from the symptoms you describe your fork seals have gone,


lever out (carefully ) the dust seals ( the round black bits ) and check it has not got a bit of a old rag stuffed down it, it's a old trick to hide leaking fork seals when flogging a bike,


did you buy it private or from a dealer, if it came from a dealer get him to sort it cos if they are leaking it's dangerous.

 

I have taken the dust seals off already and had a look and there is nothing like that in there.


It was bought privately and there was no sign of any leakages. The seals were replaced when it was serviced in November but since then it hadn't been ridden.


I would assume the fact that it was sat in a garage for 6 months could cause the seals to corrode and then the constant movement when it was being transported could start it leaking?

Posted

clean the forks, and keep a close eye, could be the tying down (transporting) has overpressured the oil and caused it to seep past the seals, if the oil ring remains, your looking at new seals, cheap enough, for seals and fork oil, just the labour that hikes up the bill, as the forks and wheel will need removing.

Posted
clean the forks, and keep a close eye, could be the tying down (transporting) has overpressured the oil and caused it to seep past the seals, if the oil ring remains, your looking at new seals, cheap enough, for seals and fork oil, just the labour that hikes up the bill, as the forks and wheel will need removing.

 

Just to clarify, you mean wipe down the forks properly and then if the ring of oil reappears every time its ridden then it needs new seals?


I have run around for a few quotes from localish places and the best I have come across is £80 including parts, labour and VAT.

Posted

yes, clean oil off, go for short ride or just push forks up/down a few times,

have another look, if oil is back seals are gone.

Posted

I don't know if this is still leaking or not.


I had it out for around 90 minutes today and when I got back there was a very very thin coating on around the bottom inch of the fork (as in picture 1 of this thread) and a ring of muck and tiny bits of gravel/general crap, around where the ring of oil was forming before. There didn't appear to be any oil there, it just looked like the much had stuck where the very thin film of oil was and had been pushed up by the dust cover.


I am riding to work tomorrow and so will take a photo when I get home so I can get an opinion on it.


If it isn't leaking any more then how much do you reckon a garage should charge just to top up or replace the oil in the forks?


Thanks.

Posted
If it isn't leaking any more then how much do you reckon a garage should charge just to top up or replace the oil in the forks?


Thanks.

if your gonna have the oil changed, they will need to remove the forks to invert them to drain out the old oil, unless you have drain screws, if so replace the seals as a matter of course, as its cheaper in the long run, seals are about £10-15, and you'll still have the labour to remove them..

Posted
If it isn't leaking any more then how much do you reckon a garage should charge just to top up or replace the oil in the forks?


Thanks.

if your gonna have the oil changed, they will need to remove the forks to invert them to drain out the old oil, unless you have drain screws, if so replace the seals as a matter of course, as its cheaper in the long run, seals are about £10-15, and you'll still have the labour to remove them..

 

I know it should work out that way but most places I have rung have quoted about £20 including labour to drain and refill the forks, while they have all quoted at least £80 to replace the seals.

Posted

if you've got to replace the seals, if you have a haynes or similar, the job is pretty simple if a bit time consuming. i had to replace mine on my old honda and did it with no mechanical nouse at all and a bit of help from my brother.


we found the most complicated part was trying to figure out how much oil went back in and not emptying the second leg out onto the garage floor :oops: like we did the first one! :lol:

Posted

This story is very familiar to me. After a repeating fork seal problem every 50 - 100 miles I took my bike to a different garage and it turned out that the guy I took it to previously had been taking shortcuts with bits of rag found floating in filthy grainy oil etc and there was a little sctratch in the stantion where he'd been playing rough whilst splitting the fork (evidence was a mashed up leg under the dust seal... hammer abuse).


My new garage just rubbed the scratch down with some emery cloth, cleaned everything properly and replaceD all the bits and pieces with new oil for £45. I've done about 2000 miles since and there hasn't been a problem.


Pee Gee motorcycles is the place that sorted out the awful bodged job incase you're anywhere near South Wales.

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