fork seal question

[kaw Bill]

has anyone had luck with cleaning the dirt out of leaking forkseals? I replaced the seals last year and only rode a couple of times since and noticed a puddle under my front fork. upon further inspection I noticed alot of dirt under the fork boot and a badly leaking seal. I took a small section of film negitive and some contact cleaner and cleaned it out. The leaking did stop but I haven't had a chance to ride yet. any thoughts?

kaw Bill

 

[David Trustrum]

The damage may have already been done to the seal but you may be lucky. If the bike is old then worn fork bushes will help cut out seals. On bad cases of worn forks even this may not help enough & as a slightly more desperate measure you can tighten the seal spring of the new seals (flick out spring, twist to undo, cut off a couple mm from the larger end & twist back up & refit).

 

[Matt90GT]

When you replace the fork seals, also replace the wipers. If the wipers are worn out, they will let dirt past them an onto the seals. The seal savers are also a great purchase for $20!