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Fork Seal needs cleaning or replacement?

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2K views 6 replies 5 participants last post by  twentyfivemike  
#1 ·
Just wanted to ask. Is there any way to discern that fork seal needs cleaning vs replacing that doesn't involve complete assembly/reassembly?

I came out to my bike and found a puddle under my left fork over the weekend. I just recently did the PVC lowering mod so i'm wondering if either the additional tube travel picked up some dirt or I blew out my seal.

Of course I have to completely take the thing off to get the covers off to even see the seal. Should I just go head and replace it regardless? vs. clean it out put everything back on and see if it leaks again. Anyway to test it or something I would see aside from putting it under the full weight of the bike? Assuming that the seal isn't noticeable damaged and clearly needs replacing.
 
#3 ·
I have that little tool..actually one I made because i'm that cheap. Unfortunately I have to remove the fork covers to try to clean it which means I have to pretty much pull off the whole damn fork. A lot of effort for 10 minute cleaning job but still less effort and cost than replacing the seals.
 
#4 ·
You probably blew the seal if you didn't reduce the amount of fork oil because you reduced the oil chamber in size by lowering the forks. Also the PVC being thicker walled also created more mass in the the chamber thus causing less space for the fork oil. If it were me I would rebuild/replace fork components as needed. They say don't overfill a fork tube for good reasons and believe you might have experienced the reason why. BTW OEM seals are the best period.
 
#5 ·
If you have to tear it down that far just to clean the seals, I'd go ahead and replace them. That way you won't have to go back and do it again. It's like when I pull a transmission to do a clutch job....I replace the front main on the transmission and the rear main on the engine. The seals are cheap and I'm already in there. That way I won't have to go back in to replace a seal sometime down the road when the clutch/trans/engine/whatever is still good. Good luck.
 
#6 ·
I also had a leak on the left fork early this year, I took it to the dealer and since they were going to make repairs I told them to just do a complete replace, figured since they were going to do a tear down might just as well, I have almost 50,000 miles so figured a good move, I just hate it when things go bad on the road.....wasn't cheap but surely makes me feel better when I know things are good.....:grin2:
 
#7 ·
Although the seals looked good I just went a head and replaced them. I didn't really account for the extra pressure and oil displacement. Sort of thought even though the PVC is thicker it is shorter. Anyway, 5 hours later I think i'm good.
 
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