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One thing leads to another. Fork Seals

2K views 10 replies 9 participants last post by  mobygrape 
#1 · (Edited)
Well I pulled the wheels off Lola today to give her some much needed new tires and discovered the left fork seal is leaking....:(

Can someone chime in on how big a job this is ?

Reading the manual it wants me to pretty much take the whole front end off..

I'm thinking there has got to be a better way. Only need to do the one side I think.. Not seeing too much on the previous posts about this..

David ? Ken ? Mark ? Advice needed..

Do you think this tire needs to be changed ? Or can I put it back on and get a couple more thou out of it.:D

Thanks

John
 

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#3 ·
jpspen said:
Well I pulled the wheels off Lola today to give her some much needed new tires and discovered the left fork seal is leaking....:(

Can someone chime in on how big a job this is ?
I had mine repaired at the dealer. It was part of a little over $1300 in repairs and luckily, I made it home from Key West before the front end gave way. Do it yourself. You will save a lot of money and at least you know how honest the mechanic is.

Lewis

btw: That picture was before the dealer got it three weeks ago. It cost me $200 to get it out and they tore the stabilizer off and scratch the hell out of the fender. They won't ever have that opportunity again.
 

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#6 ·
I haven't done fork seals yet, so can't help there.

Is that an Avon front tire? Mine look like that after 13-14K miles. They sure do get thin at the wear points.
 
#7 ·
Nope, It's a Metzler.. I think the P/O had the wrong tires on it. They were Z rated.

Lola's all back together but I have to play at the Arts Festival tonight and can't take her for a ride till tomorrow....Bet she'll be way different. Neither tire was an 880 but they were both some other kind of metzler. Still howled like crazy..

Thanks anyway Ken. :)

David, Mark, Some input on the fork seal change would be appreciated.

Thanks

John
 
#8 ·
Both my fork seals are leaking

I am in the process of changing both my front seals - both are leaking.

I have most the bike apart as I have finished changing the shocks (front and rear) which was amazingly easy with the information from this site.

However, I am having a problem with unfastening the top of the fork tubes.

Are the four small round indentations at the top end to the fork tube to be used to hold the tube from turning while trying to loosen the nut on the top of the forks? If so, does this take a special tool, and if so, how does one come by this tool?


I read Mark Nebletts information and while it is very informative, I can not figure out how a thin 22mm open end wrench would hold the fork tubes to allow the top fasteners to come loose and not being a former air head owner, I do not have the aforementioned thin 22mm open end wrench. Is this wrench supposed to fit into the small round indentations and hold the tube in place or is there something else the 22mm wrench is supposed to be used for?

The installations of the seals does not seem to be to difficult. The difficult part is getting everything apart to remove the forks.

If I can get the fork tubes off, I will have it fixed and back on the road tomorrow.

Thanks for any information.

Curtis
 
#9 ·
Curtis said:
Are the four small round indentations at the top end to the fork tube to be used to hold the tube from turning while trying to loosen the nut on the top of the forks? If so, does this take a special tool, and if so, how does one come by this tool?

I read Mark Nebletts information and while it is very informative, I can not figure out how a thin 22mm open end wrench would hold the fork tubes to allow the top fasteners to come loose and not being a former air head owner, I do not have the aforementioned thin 22mm open end wrench. Is this wrench supposed to fit into the small round indentations and hold the tube in place or is there something else the 22mm wrench is supposed to be used for?
I'm afraid the indentations are there to secure the leg cap to the leg. The thin 22mm wrench slides into the narrow gap between the bottom of the upper fork bridge and the top of the fork leg -- the fork leg cap has a large hex-head for the 22mm to grab to keep the leg from rotating.

Maybe you can borrow one from a local MOA member, or maybe an understanding tech at your dealer :) If you can't find the wrench, let me know.
 
#10 ·
More on fork seals

Mark, after a little more study, I noticed the black covers on the top of the fork tubes had been pushed up over the 22mm hex heads. I pushed them down and there they were. I did not even need to use a thin wrench, I could get at them with a regular 22mm.

Don't you just hate it when you just do not take enough time to thoroughly investigate the situation, then comment on it and then after a little more time, you find out it is just as someone tried to tell you.

Thanks for the information. After getting the fork tubes off the bike, the job is really very simple.

Thanks again and good riding.

Curtis
 
#11 ·
You don't need to remove the fork tube from the upper clamp to replace the seal. Take the front wheel off, then unbolt the fork lower section from the lower fork bridge. Pull it down and off the fork tube, replace the seal and carefully slide it back on.
 
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