Anssi

Member
May 20, 2001
870
0
My dad has had a '02 380 SX for a few weeks (less than 10 hours on it) and already both the fork seals have leaked. When I pried loose the dust seals I could see daylight between them and the inner fork tubes after I slid them down.

I was able to fix the things by sliding thin paper between the seal and the fork tube, but it's not very encouraging to have something like this happen so soon on both sides.

Does anybody else have similar experiences with the new 48mm fork? The '01 380 we had never developed any leaks in similar riding conditions.
 

Fox_Pilot_101

Member
Feb 26, 2001
75
0
hmmmm

did he bottom out or wipe out badly? what type of riding was he doing?

sometimes the seals just have to go, no matter how good your suspension and seals are, its only normal for it to happen now and again, just think of it like a flat tire.:D

P.S. if your dad races or was going to race would he have to race the open class? i forgot they made a 380 sx.
 

Anssi

Member
May 20, 2001
870
0
No really hard bottomings and no real wipeouts. One seal I could understand, but both so fast seemed like too much to be just coincidental.

We don't even have a 250 class here in Finland. It's under 125 and over 125 (I think you can race pretty much any displacement 2s or 4s in there) and a historical remnant of a thumper class.
 

Anssi

Member
May 20, 2001
870
0
My father went to the local KTM importer where the mechanics told him that one part of making the new 48s so smooth is that the brass bushings that align the tubes are looser, thus putting more stress and stretching action on the seals (both oil and dust).

They said that the spring that pushes the dust seal against the inner tube is made of two parts of which the shorter one can be removed to make it tighter. I will look into this and report.
 
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