Joeman Posted June 16, 2013 Posted June 16, 2013 Anyone changed the fork seals on a gixxer?? One of mine has died and leaked oil all over my front wheel..Any special tools needed or "gotchas" I need to look out for?? Quote
eastanglianbiker Posted June 17, 2013 Posted June 17, 2013 if they are standard forks no real problems with them inverted are slightly diferent but still no big hassle to do only use genuine suzuki seals in my opinion as lots of pattern ones seem to leak Quote
Tango Posted June 17, 2013 Posted June 17, 2013 Pattern seals are fairly cr*p.....so use genuine ones.......as EAB says..... May be worth checking the fork bushes and maybe replacing them while you're about it Joe........I've replaced seals in conventional forks but not USD ones.....but I think the priciple is very similar.....just not sure about the compression and rebound adjusters on them.....so a Haynes manual may be a good idea here mate...... Getting the old seals out can be a bit of a challenge......there are special tools for removing them....but I'm not sure how much they are.......and a hot air gun to heat the legs to help getting the seals out may be a good idea too....... Quote
Joeman Posted June 17, 2013 Author Posted June 17, 2013 Thanks guys, yes they are USD forks..i've downloaded the service manual, and it doesnt look too complicated..Ive asked the local bike tuner how much they would charge if i dropped the forks off to them... if they come back with a crazy price i'll have a go myself... any idea what people should charge for servicing forks?? Quote
Tango Posted June 17, 2013 Posted June 17, 2013 There are guys who advertise on eBay for rebuilding forks.....but I've heard some pretty bad stories about people sending decent forks off and getting some real grot ones back...... I just use a large screwdriver to prise the old forks out.....with a bit of wood or hard plastic to protect the top of the fork leg.....and some heat if they don't shift easily..... And I use the old seals to drift the new ones into place.....gently tapping round the edge to ease the new ones in square...... The only other thing you may need is some kind of accurate measuring cylinder or syringe for refilling the oil...... Quote
Joeman Posted June 17, 2013 Author Posted June 17, 2013 There are guys who advertise on eBay for rebuilding forks.....but I've heard some pretty bad stories about people sending decent forks off and getting some real grot ones back...... I just use a large screwdriver to prise the old forks out.....with a bit of wood or hard plastic to protect the top of the fork leg.....and some heat if they don't shift easily..... And I use the old seals to drift the new ones into place.....gently tapping round the edge to ease the new ones in square...... The only other thing you may need is some kind of accurate measuring cylinder or syringe for refilling the oil...... Yeah, that sounds like the simpler way, rather than stripping them down completely...Good idea to use the old seal as a drift I think i'll go take the forks off the bike and have a look what im dealing with. Since one seal is totally shafted, i cant make things any worse!! Quote
Stu Posted June 17, 2013 Posted June 17, 2013 No more then £100 if you supply the parts and yes gen seals only Quote
eastanglianbiker Posted June 17, 2013 Posted June 17, 2013 most garages will charge you about £40 for the labour to change the seals if you supply the parts as its only 1/2 hour per fork to change the seals Quote
Joeman Posted June 17, 2013 Author Posted June 17, 2013 I read the service manual again, and looks like to do the seals i do have to split the whole fork Because they are upside down forks and there doesn't seem to be a way to remove the seals without splitting the forks as the bottom bit that holds the wheel and brake callipers doesn't come off the lower fork leg..There also seems to be lots of little o-rings that need replacing too... looks like a pig of a job TBH Quote
Stu Posted June 17, 2013 Posted June 17, 2013 the fork bottoms will come off but its not advised at all personally because you have to strip them I would look at getting some springs for your weight too and all new bushes for them while you are in there may aswell do the lot in one go it was going to cost me 400 quid to send mine off and get the revalved new springs with seals and bushes the valves alone where £140 and £80 for the springs! Quote
Joeman Posted June 17, 2013 Author Posted June 17, 2013 the fork bottoms will come off but its not advised at all personally because you have to strip them I would look at getting some springs for your weight too and all new bushes for them while you are in there may aswell do the lot in one go it was going to cost me 400 quid to send mine off and get the revalved new springs with seals and bushes the valves alone where £140 and £80 for the springs! I was thinking about new springs too... it would be handy to have stiffer ones. from the pic, once the fork cap bolt (A) has been unscrewed, i can then compress the spring, and separate the Cap Bolt (A) from the Adjuster Rod (1) . Leaving the cartridge (5) still attached to the lower leg, once the clip (9) is removed, i should be able to slip the outer tube (6) up over the top... i can then easily prise the fork seal out of the outer tube (6)The special too used for removing the oil seal looks pretty crude!! So wheres a good place to order OEM seals, and possibly some stiffer springs online?? Quote
Stu Posted June 18, 2013 Posted June 18, 2013 Try Robbinsons foundry I have a discount code too I will Pm you it Quote
uk190 Posted June 18, 2013 Posted June 18, 2013 Try Robbinsons foundry I have a discount code too I will Pm you it or fowlers in bristol if robinsons are out of stock.stu please PM the code, if your going to be forking out (geddit?) £100+ for seals then speak to k-tech about having it revalved/resprung and set to your weight. will cost you some more but having previously had a bike with k-tech internals i really rate them. Quote
Joeman Posted June 18, 2013 Author Posted June 18, 2013 Try Robbinsons foundry I have a discount code too I will Pm you it or fowlers in bristol if robinsons are out of stock.stu please PM the code, if your going to be forking out (geddit?) £100+ for seals then speak to k-tech about having it revalved/resprung and set to your weight. will cost you some more but having previously had a bike with k-tech internals i really rate them. Yes, thanks stu, share the discount happiness!!!Theres a bike tuner in sevenoaks pretty close to me (slipstream racing). I'm waiting to hear back from them regarding if this is something they do regularly and get an idea of costs. Although once I have the forks off the bike, I may as well open one up to see what's going on in there - I'm keen to do them myself if its not too much bother. So I can order in the seals, and worst case I hand them over to the shop to fit for me! I've always felt the front end was a bit soft (I'm 90kg) but I'll have to work out if its worth Forking Out (thats a bad joke!) for new springs and valving if I'm not going to keep the bike for much longer... Quote
uk190 Posted June 18, 2013 Posted June 18, 2013 well, if youre going to sell it.drain all the fork oil so it no longer leaks and put it on ebay as a minter. Quote
Tiggie Posted June 18, 2013 Posted June 18, 2013 guess who will be checking his forks tommorow? Quote
Joeman Posted June 18, 2013 Author Posted June 18, 2013 well, if youre going to sell it.drain all the fork oil so it no longer leaks and put it on ebay as a minter. LOL, good plan!!! I did find these on eBay:http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 1218821537with OEM parts adding up to over 100quid, Racetech springs at 70quid, plus i got a quote from the bike shop saying it would cost 98+vat+parts if i carry the forks in, if these are as good as the advert suggests, it could be a cheap, quick option!! Quote
Stu Posted June 18, 2013 Posted June 18, 2013 well, if youre going to sell it.drain all the fork oil so it no longer leaks and put it on ebay as a minter. LOL, good plan!!! I did find these on eBay:http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 1218821537with OEM parts adding up to over 100quid, Racetech springs at 70quid, plus i got a quote from the bike shop saying it would cost 98+vat+parts if i carry the forks in, if these are as good as the advert suggests, it could be a cheap, quick option!! Thats all good and well but the springs could be too light of heavy for your weight and the bike could ride a lot worse than it does now!you may find the bike bottoms out if you are a bit porky or doesn't move if your a skinny twat it depends how they are sprung Quote
Joeman Posted June 18, 2013 Author Posted June 18, 2013 Thats all good and well but the springs could be too light of heavy for your weight and the bike could ride a lot worse than it does now!you may find the bike bottoms out if you are a bit porky or doesn't move if your a skinny tw*t it depends how they are sprung yep, i messaged the guy to ask what weight they are sprung for.. no point if they are sprung for a lightweight - im a 90kg lump Quote
Joeman Posted June 19, 2013 Author Posted June 19, 2013 New forks bought from eBay... I figured the seals cant be any worse than my current seals, and best case they might be as described and be recently serviced with stiffer springs.If they look good, i'll swap them out and sell my current forks on ebay... assuming the new forks are good, it works out cheaper than replacing the seals with OEM parts! Quote
Joeman Posted June 21, 2013 Author Posted June 21, 2013 Forks i bought from eBay arrived today.First impressions are that they are in very good condition!! No leaking from the seals, so i can swap them onto the bike this weekend.Ive tried bouncing up and down on them like a pogo stick, they feel like they are working properly, but dont know how stiff my standard forks are until i get them off.So once i get the forks off my bike, i'll be doing a "bounce test" to see if these new forks feel like they have a stiffer spring inside, as they were advertised to have.some pics... Quote
Stu Posted June 21, 2013 Posted June 21, 2013 What you after for your forks? Some of the tl guys fit them Tempted myself but skint Quote
Joeman Posted June 21, 2013 Author Posted June 21, 2013 Would forks from a Gixxer 600 be ok on the TL1000? is it just cosmetic of does it improve handling? Quote
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