Fork seal advice

[Fiddlesticks]

Hi all,

Had a leak from the front LH fork seal on the Tiger (bad enough to cause a few drips). I cleaned the forks with wd40, pulled off both dust covers and ran a home-made Seal Mate around the inside of the seals. Didn't see much if any grit come out, but have greased and re-seated the dust covers.

 

Wasn't expecting it to work, to be honest. But no drips after a long ride.

 

Should I be worried? Maybe there's no oil left in there

 

[husoi]

You would have performed a temp solution that can last a few weeks or a couple years.

If the oil was missing you would feel the forks hitting the bottom and no pressure when pushing the suspension down.

 

When it start leaking again, be sure it will, I would advice you to do the whole lot, seals, dust covers, bushings and even the bottom bolts that hold the inner part at the bottom.

The bolts will get damaged fairly easily and for the sake of a few quid I would replace them.

The bushings will seem fine but they will be worn and contaminate the fork oil.

Obvious the oil will be changed when opening the forks.

Only care to have is the W value of the oil which will vary depending on the oil brand you will be using.

Adding to this, make sure the level is exactly the same on both forks.

It's a fairly easy job to do but proper messy if you're not careful.

Several YT clips showing you how to do it Delboy's garage being my preferred ones.

[Mississippi Bullfrog]

I change the oil without dismantling the forks anyway. I use an oil extrator pump to remove the old oil, then refill using a measuring device. If you only saw a few drips then you haven't lost much but you don't need to strip the forks to replenish the oil.

 

Of course sooner or later it's a job that has to be done but only when you need to.