Fork seals! Argh!

[MartinH]

FWIW, I seem to have been able to stop the leak from my left fork seal.

I cut a piece of plastic from a grocery store strawberry container (it measured .015" thick) into the shape roughly equivalent to the seal mate gizmo, removed the fork tube from the bike and followed <a href="https://www.sealmate.net/instructions.html" target="_blank">their directions</a>. I wet the plastic with the sticky foam oil before inserting it into the seal, topped off my fork oil to the proper level and it seems to be OK for now.

<img src="https://i50.tinypic.com/98djqa.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />

I love this forum! I made a "tool" just like this one. Used it with the fork still on the bike. Only took about 20 minutes. Just rode into work this morning (47 miles) and the seal is dry as a bone. Gota love a free fix. Thanks to everyone on this thread.

Martin

 

[RaYzerman19]

Some of you might have a collection of pictures you had developed, and the negatives are in a little pouch.....

 

[RaYzerman19]

Just found this!!

https://www.sealmate.net/

 

[dannymax]

Just found this!!

https://www.sealmate.net/

That's the one I got, blue, of course, cause I got a '05!

Darn thing works like a charm, I'd definitely say try one of these before doing an expensive fork rebuild.

Very simple to make one, probably dozens of materials that will suffice....but to get that proper shade of '05 blue.....

 

[MartinH]

A question I forgot to ask. So my fork seal is now dry. I know I lost some fork oil, don't know how much. With the fork still on the bike, how do I check? BTW: its the left fork (looking down from the seat).

Thanks

 

[dannymax]

A question I forgot to ask. So my fork seal is now dry. I know I lost some fork oil, don't know how much. With the fork still on the bike, how do I check? BTW: its the left fork (looking down from the seat).

Thanks

If you only had a few drops leak out there probly won't be any measureable difference.

Think you remove the caps and springs and measure down from top of fork leg.

Run a search on fork rebuilding, or something similar....I'm sure this will be covered.

Or, measure the other fork leg to see if there is any difference.

 

[mr.paul]

Shoot...why didn't I check here first!

 

Just dropped my 2006 Feej off last night for fork seals. Discovered the right seal leaking and "freaked out" sort of. I developed a strange clunking in the front over the weekend upon braking and when I looked down, found the evidence of leaking. With CFO coming up this weekend and no time to wrench, I decided to pay the big boys to tear them down. Was quoted a price of $319 plus parts. Damn! If I had tried the simple cleaning fix, who knows? There was that disturbing clunking though...felt like a loose steering head bearing...

 

 

 

mr.paul from Minnesota

 

 

 

 

[dannymax]

Shoot...why didn't I check here first!

 

Just dropped my 2006 Feej off last night for fork seals. Discovered the right seal leaking and "freaked out" sort of. I developed a strange clunking in the front over the weekend upon braking and when I looked down, found the evidence of leaking. With CFO coming up this weekend and no time to wrench, I decided to pay the big boys to tear them down. Was quoted a price of $319 plus parts. Damn! If I had tried the simple cleaning fix, who knows? There was that disturbing clunking though...felt like a loose steering head bearing...

 

 

 

mr.paul from Minnesota

 

 

 

The price is right in the ballpark and it's always good to check recently developed clunking noises, sounds like taking it in was the prudent decision.

 

[dannymax]

My Seal Mate mic'd at .010" for anyone thinking on making one.

For reference, 3 sheets of printing paper mic @ .011".

 

[zzzzip]

My buddy bought my '06 with 33,000 miles on it last fall, and found a fork seal started leaking a couple of weeks ago. I think he let it set for about 5 months.

Fortunately, I made sure he transferred the Y.E.S.(which expires in August), so last week the dealer said it would be repaired under warranty. I'm glad he saved a few bucks, as I never had reason to use the extended warranty until now.

 

[Denver_FJR]

Just found this!!

https://www.sealmate.net/

Yeah, just discovered a leaking seal too. Tried making the sealmate tool from 2 ltr Coke bottle. Tried many times but no joy. Hard to believe seals are actually worn out with only 11k miles. Anyway, figure if right one is bad, left probably isn't far behind, and if I'm going to replace both, for a little more I can upgrade entire front end.

So... shipped forks off to GP Suspension yesterday. He's still honoring group buy. There's nothing wrong with rationalizing!

 

[fjrob1300]

For those of you wondering how far you can go on a leaky seal I can attest to riding over 7000kms in May with a leaky seal. On my way to Florida as I crossed the border I looked down and noticed the tell-tale signs. Well I wasn't about to abort my trip for that. So whenever I stopped for fuel or food I just wiped the oil off. Fast forward to June. I took off the forks, changed the seals. When I poured out the oil in each fork I measured the amounts in each tube. Guess what? with all that leaking on one fork the diference was so slight you would have to measure the amounts in mililitres. So my conclusion... change your seal...but it's not a deal breaker if you don't do it immediatley.

And that my friends is my 2cents worth.

Rob.

 

[mr.paul]

Well, the dealership finally got a chance to pull it apart. Seems like I not only need seals, but the bushing (s?) are in need of replacement too. Only a bit over 41,000 miles. Does this seem normal? If I could have planned better (hindsight) I would have considered an upgrade. I don't remember hearing much about seals or bushings going bad on FJR's. Well, at least I was right on worrying about that clunking on braking. Radman did chew me out for not changing the fluid sooner when we cleaned and refilled the forks 2 years ago.

Hope they get the parts in early so I can try it out on what will be left of the CFO! They had to next day air the bushings. Bummer.

mr.paul

 

[mr.paul]

Well, the dealership finally got a chance to pull it apart. Seems like I not only need seals, but the bushing (s?) are in need of replacement too. Only a bit over 41,000 miles. Does this seem normal? If I could have planned better (hindsight) I would have considered an upgrade. I don't remember hearing much about seals or bushings going bad on FJR's. Well, at least I was right on worrying about that clunking on braking. Radman did chew me out for not changing the fluid sooner when we cleaned and refilled the forks 2 years ago.

Hope they get the parts in early so I can try it out on what will be left of the CFO! They had to next day air the bushings. Bummer.

mr.paul

Update: After a bit over $500 (ouch) the forks work great! Then again, they should.

mr.paul

 

[Greb]

Well, the dealership finally got a chance to pull it apart. Seems like I not only need seals, but the bushing (s?) are in need of replacement too. Only a bit over 41,000 miles. Does this seem normal? If I could have planned better (hindsight) I would have considered an upgrade. I don't remember hearing much about seals or bushings going bad on FJR's. Well, at least I was right on worrying about that clunking on braking. Radman did chew me out for not changing the fluid sooner when we cleaned and refilled the forks 2 years ago.

Hope they get the parts in early so I can try it out on what will be left of the CFO! They had to next day air the bushings. Bummer.

mr.paul

Update: After a bit over $500 (ouch) the forks work great! Then again, they should.

mr.paul

mr. paul,

I would consider 41,000 miles normal for the forks to wear through bushings. I would also venture to say it highly depends on your riding style and road conditions as to how fast they wear. Mine were showing wear at 25K when I rebuilt both forks.

Now to the reason for resurrecting this post: 5k miles after rebuilding both forks I picked up a leak during the WTF-0 meet in Idaho. I hit some dirt roads while up in Idaho and this caused my left fork to start weeping. I noticed it this week when I found fork oil was coating the entire length of my outer fork tube and the chrome was covered in oily dirt.

I was very skeptical to try the seal mate tool but damn happy to find out that their claims are true. This thing works! I didn't even have to take the fork off the bike. I'm taking a trip next week and this thing saved me some serious coin and aggravation. A very cheap tool that I'll keep with me on tour.

Not affiliated with these folks but I'm hoping to get the word out since our forks can be quite temperamental and changing the seal can be overkill if you don't at first try this tool or at least a homemade version of one.

Seal mate tool

 

[odot]

Anyone in the dfw metromess have experience with this seal mate thing?...other then baby seal beaters....like me? I have some leaky seals and don't want to change the whole set up just yet. Pm me er sumpin.

 

[Bustanut joker]

Anyone in the dfw metromess have experience with this seal mate thing?...other then baby seal beaters....like me? I have some leaky seals and don't want to change the whole set up just yet. Pm me er sumpin.

Look here penguin Dik..You do have reasonable mechanical ability's I've seen 'em.

It's an easy job man, **** Carver did it an so did I. :blink: Go to FJR Tech and follow the directions there, or search out Carvers post where he did his for a few tips/tricks.

My total cost for seals and oil was under $50 and it took about four hours and 9 beers.

You don't need that big assed socket extension they call for if you have an air or electric impact gun..

You's guys with the leakers and low miles need to learn how to either keep the front tire on the ground or learn how to set it down gently after the flight..

 

[Good2Go]

You don't need that big assed socket extension they call for if you have an air or electric impact gun..

If you're just doing seals and not bushings or removing the cartridge, you don't even need that. Loosen the top cap while the fork's still on the bike. Pull the fork, remove the spring, dust seal, retainer ring. Fill the fork with oil. Jack the fork up against something sturdy. The seal will pop right out:

Then get a length of 2" pvc to drive the new seal in, change the oil and put it all back together.

 

[odot]

Anyone in the dfw metromess have experience with this seal mate thing?...other then baby seal beaters....like me? I have some leaky seals and don't want to change the whole set up just yet. Pm me er sumpin.

Look here penguin Dik..You do have reasonable mechanical ability's I've seen 'em.

It's an easy job man, **** Carver did it an so did I. :blink: Go to FJR Tech and follow the directions there, or search out Carvers post where he did his for a few tips/tricks.

My total cost for seals and oil was under $50 and it took about four hours and 9 beers.

You don't need that big assed socket extension they call for if you have an air or electric impact gun..

You's guys with the leakers and low miles need to learn how to either keep the front tire on the ground or learn how to set it down gently after the flight..

Penguin dick? Now that just hurts my feelings. Not far from the truth but nevertheless....still hurtful. I got enough projects going on what with a harley that needs peicing back together and a virago that won't start after it's been run for a while. Last thing I need is for "Jackie-O" to start leaking oil all over me mud stompers.

Hey, bust....bite me. And quit using yer neighbors sheep for uncarnal uses.

 

[dcarver]

penguin dick? :rofl: