stupid freaking fork seals!

[airborneXS]

So i rebuilt my forks with progressive springs and new seals a few months back...all was good...as im leaving school i notice a huge puddle underneath the front of my bike...sure enough the right side seal blew...ARGH!!!...i dont remember what brand of seals they are but they obviously suck! could this simply be a seal out of place, or should i get new seals? what brand and type do yall recommend?

[bikerphil]

I use the K&L that Georgefix sells with no problems. Others swear by the genuine Yamaha seals. Strange that you would have a puddle of fork oil under your front tire. Usually they are not under that much pressure and the oil just weeps out since the seal is at the top of the unit. Did you by chance over fill them with too much air pressure? Could it be leaking from the drain bolt or the lower damper rod allen bolt?

[DAVINCI]

Hopefully it's not brake fluid, they are similar in appearance.

[airborneXS]

no its def fork oil...its not on my driveway so it happened while riding to school...i have fork gators and its coming from under those...i dont have any air in the forks, just oil...

[motoman]

I use the K&L that Georgefix sells with no problems. Others swear by the genuine Yamaha seals.

OEM forks seals last many years..............but for the Specials...NA.

[bikerphil]

OEM forks seals last many years..............but for the Specials...NA.

Strange, there are 2 different part #'s for the Special OEM seals and it does say they are available for $10.47 ea.

3H3-23145-00-00 is for the 79 Special
3J6-23145-00-00 is for the 80-81 Special

All 79-81 Special forks should use the same seal except the 81 Midnight special.

http://www.powersportsplus.com/parts...ORK/parts.html

NW Vintage says they have both Part #'s in stock but they want $24.32 ea.

[LuckyEddie]

Stupid Freaking......

AirborneXS,

Whenever I hear the phrases "at school" and "puddle" in the same sentance, the first thing that comes to mind are my jokester buddies.

[airborneXS]

yea thats what i thought at first...then i traced the leak to where the upper fork goes into the lower fork...its def leaking like a sieve....

[DGXSER]

Probably been leaking for a while, just filling up in the fork gator till it got enough to find a path out. I had a similar issue develop, whne I pulled the for back apart, I found the lip of the seal was torn.

Phil has posted his method of using plastic around the bottom edge of the fork tube to keep it from ripping the seal lip. I find that method works well for me.

Recently some have posted to put the tube in first, then install the seal. Sounds like a good method if you can make some method to install the seal over the tube.

[mjpxs11sh]

+

Wolf, ive been reading evrything here about fork seals b4 i looked for them for my Special. OEM is the way to go, part# 3J6-123145-00. i found 2 on Ebay and i was the winning bid $4.95ea. if u cant find OEM, there r BikeMaster avail and they're made in Japan, but i dont know anything about the brand. maybe someone here can advise.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/390425677313...=p5197.c0.m619

[mack]

Seals

I think the set I got from denis kirk's was $13.00 for the leak proofs.

[airborneXS]

i just ordered 2 pair from dennis kirk, for $30 with shipping...not leak proof but the other brand...bike master is what i had installed a few months ago...

[airborneXS]

so i got my seals out and i did find that a portion of the seal lip was severed...im guessing i did that when i was reinstalling them...it seems that it was leaking for months, but the fork gators had an air tight seal and i guess that the oil built up inside of the gator...then for whatever reason, while i was at school the oil found its way out...most of the oil was gone from the fork...i do remember feeling my front end was squirrelly, and i was beginning to think maybe my steering head bearing was going bad...

now my question is, how do you think that i severed that seal and how do i avoid doing it again?

[bikerphil]

Either put the seal in after installing the stanchion and drive it home with a long piece of PVC, or use a piece of plastic soda bottle around the lower bushing, pulling it out when the bushing clears the seal. Here is a new tech tip for rebuilding forks...

http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread.php?t=37331

[Prothec]

I put Bikemaster seals in my XJ.. I remember thinking that they seemed really cheap and that i didn't want to have to take the forks apart again for a while. Then I promptly accidentally put way too much air in ("pop"). They held oil for a month or so, but now every time I stop I'm just pumping oil out. I'm surprised how well it stops considering the rotors are usually doused in oil!