Rik398 Posted November 13, 2018 Share Posted November 13, 2018 Hi folks,So, put the bike in the dealership for a new tyre, and the health check that they do pointed out I had leaking fork seals. Obviously with the price difference, and generally doing maintenance myself I put new seals in.Now, the next bit will sound odd. Because I didn't really look at the forms when they were bad because diagnosis came from the garage, I am not entirely sure what bad seals look like. So, this also means that I don't know if the new seals are working or not.They're is a very faint line left on the tube when compressed, but it's so faint out could be just funny bits of dirt pushed up by dust seal. If I wipe a finger under this line, it feels no more slippery then above the line / further up the tube so no residue as such. Presumably, if the fork seal is leaking, then after a week or so, if I pop the dust seal off there would be a pooling of oil on top of the oil seal and that would be the best way to tell? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fastbob Posted November 14, 2018 Share Posted November 14, 2018 Correct. However, I've always believed that replacing fork seals without replacing the upper and lower bushes is a wasted opportunity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 14, 2018 Share Posted November 14, 2018 Hi folks,So, put the bike in the dealership for a new tyre, and the health check that they do pointed out I had leaking fork seals. Obviously with the price difference, and generally doing maintenance myself I put new seals in.Now, the next bit will sound odd. Because I didn't really look at the forms when they were bad because diagnosis came from the garage, I am not entirely sure what bad seals look like. So, this also means that I don't know if the new seals are working or not.They're is a very faint line left on the tube when compressed, but it's so faint out could be just funny bits of dirt pushed up by dust seal. If I wipe a finger under this line, it feels no more slippery then above the line / further up the tube so no residue as such. Presumably, if the fork seal is leaking, then after a week or so, if I pop the dust seal off there would be a pooling of oil on top of the oil seal and that would be the best way to tell?Errr. ..if your seals are leaking, you will have dribbles of oil running down the fork leg. Oil everywhere. End of. If you haven't got that, no worries. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rik398 Posted November 14, 2018 Author Share Posted November 14, 2018 Thanks for replies, I did consider the bushings and probably should have just done them (not massively expensive it seems) but bike only has 20k on it and I am fairly sure the seals just went because the dust covers went dodgy and it gets ridden fairly regardless of weather in all the lanes and stuff so does get filthy. So fork oil leak is more or less an all or nothing approach then. If its not everywhere, then your fine? Just paranoid as there is no before or after shot in my head like there usually would be! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tango Posted November 14, 2018 Share Posted November 14, 2018 Yep.....you'd soon know if the seals were leaking....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fastbob Posted November 18, 2018 Share Posted November 18, 2018 If dirt is the cause of the leak you might want to consider this or similar devices . I haven't used one myself but there could be something in it. https://pyramid-parts.com/products/castrol-sealbuddy-fork-seal-repair-tool Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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