Leaky front fork

[Flux3D]

Leaky front fork.... Please read

So the other day I noticed that my right front fork was leaking a little oil. I went and bought a "seal mate" which is a thin paper tool that slips under the oil cover and (assuming that the seal isn't bad) should stop the oil from leaking.

So before I used the seal mate the oil would kinda drip out if I compressed my forks. After using it, there were only little rings of oil left over after compressing the forks. So overall it is way better.

Do you think this fix is good enough or do I need to do something else to ensure the seal is good? The little rings of oil might just be coming from left over oil that leaked out when I was using the seal mate, but I am not sure.

 

[fatboyslim]

Try taking a film negative, slip the dust seal down and stick the negative up into the seal and work it all the way around, a little oil will come out but this will dislodge and peices of grit stuck in there making oil come out. If that doesn't work then you may need new seals.

 

[Flux3D]

umm that is what the seal mate is, it slips under there and does exactly what you are talking about

 

[Ron2stroke1]

well then it sounds like you need some new seals.

 

[oldguy]

umm that is what the seal mate is, it slips under there and does exactly what you are talking about

unbelievable, someone came up with another way to suck some $$$ out of your wallet :)
You have a very temporary fix but trust me at the very worse time possible your sealmate will fail and you will need to do new seals, Might as well bite the bullet and do them now

 

[Flux3D]

actually i got the "seal mates" for free but yeah I figured it would be a temporary fix. I guess it's time to learn how to do seals :(

 

[fatboyslim]

It's not that hard as long as you have a manual.

 

[Flux3D]

So I really need to ride this weekend to help out with a dual sport race. I bought some seal savers which slip over the fork and cover the connection between the inner and outer tube. I dont really have time to do new seals or even have a shop do them, so I was wondering if I would be ok to ride?

I haven't lost too much oil and I wont be riding that hard since I am just helping out, not actually racing.

What do you guys think??

 

[antonyp]

You have a very temporary fix but trust me at the very worse time possible your sealmate will fail and you will need to do new seals, Might as well bite the bullet and do them now

Speaking from experience, I think you should follow oldguy's advice. There is no way that those seals/forks will fail at a time suitable for you. In other words they will not wait until you have the time to fix them. They WILL fail and it WILL happen when you least expect it and probably at the time when you need your bike the most. So, whether you are racing or just helping you won't be doing any when it breaks down. :ohmy: :bang: :nener:

So, stop typing and start fixing :cool:

 

[2strokerfun]

Yes you should fix them, but I doubt there is a person on this board that hasn't ridden at least once with a seal that leaks. They all start leaking sometime and it is usually while you are riding. Seal savers are great for protecting seals--I recommend them-- but they aren't going to stop an already leaking seal from leaking.

 

[Rudolph Biaggio]

Just finished my first fork seal installation today. Not to hard if you have a manual. Need heat gun and some sort of seal driver though. Put Seal Savers on also.... hopefully this will make um last longer this time!

 

[Jasle]

just remember to move the seal savers up once in a while and clean the crap out of them...yes they are supposed to keep crap out but some still can make it past. if you don't clean it out its then trapped there cutting away at the seals.