Front forks

[ccogswel]

I'm lazy today. And hate to ask. I have a friend that has a 79 11 special. Need to replace the front forks. My questions. What years will fit? And what about the size of the seals? Seems like there were different sizes from what I found. Also what would be a good quality seal to get? And what about oil weight and how much?

The reason for replacing the forks is he wrecked it into a ditch. I wasn't there to see. Happened in Nashville he said. Anyways the wreck bent the tubes causing the disc brakes to rub inside the groove in the lower portion of the shock. So I'm thinking replacing the tubes will fix it?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Gallaecus]

the calipers are attached to the lower leg, so he may have bent (or twisted) some other things as well. ? e.g. rim, axle, rotors, triple trees,. etc.
i think 79 and 80 special are the same. compare to your old one before you get new ones.

check out the maintenance and repair sections on this site.

[DGXSER]

Any year special forks will fit it. The MNS forks will fit, but be black on the lowers.

The tube are different from Special to Standards. As well as the lower geometry. Unless you swap out the triple tree, you do not want Standard forks.

For seals, I personally like the All Balls brand seals. I have used them successfully on several bikes. For fork oil, I use 15 wt in my forks, I think stock spec is 10 wt.

[ccogswel]

Thanks DGXSER. I found a set on ebay that are off a MNS. The lower tubes seem to be fine on this bike. Just need to upper tubes. And I'll look into the All Ball seals. I hope they are better then their bearings. Have had bad luck with their bearings. In atv's anyways! But thanks for all the info.

Gallaecus. It's not the calipers. It's the disc rotor on the wheel rubbing the lower fork tube. Both sides. It has groove the disc runs thru. And it is rubbing the outer inside edge. It's like someone squeezed the upper tubes together causing the lower tubes to lean in towards each other. Never seen a set bend like this before. Usually bent forward or backward or sideways! Guess theres a first for everything.

Thanks!

[DGXSER]

Keep in mind that on the Specials, the pinch bolt is what holds the right side lower fork or slider in the centered position of the rotor on the wheel. The impact could have forced it in-ward making it rub on the rotor.

[rdmcguy]

my 2 cents

Hello,
As for fork seals, according to my local Yamaha shop
standards specials and midnight specials use different sizes,
The special seals are a half a mm larger(id)od is the same.
I don't know about m.n.s. seals
No explanation was given I can only guess that the special is larger for less stiction.
I tried aftermarket ones that were either badly manufactured or ?
Stock Yam slid in nicely
good luck
Joe

[bikerphil]

The size of the fork seals for the Special is 37X48X10.5

[ccogswel]

Yeah I found the size the other day. Just trying to decide and to find out what brand to get.
DGSXER said he had good luck with all balls.
And rdmcguy said stock ones slide in great. So I'm at a loss on brand.
I just know I don't want to do this job twice and would like a good quality seal.

[bikerphil]

I just know I don't want to do this job twice and would like a good quality seal.

Genuine OEM Yamaha would be best IMHO, they are about $12 each.

[sparkfly88]

Here. I'll confuse you more.

I put a set of bike master seals in.

Haven't leaked a single bit, and I've even took a trip from FL to Ohio n back.

Goodluck.


Don't forget to make the special tool to take Em apart.
I tried to do it without.. All it did was give me a headache.

[jetmechmarty]

Please explain!

When it comes to OEM seals, the SF takes a 3H3-23145-00-00. All of the other Specials use a 3J6-23145-00-00. What is different about the '79? Also, when it comes to aftermarket, the SF gets the same seal as the other Specials? What gives?

[DGXSER]

I will tell you to take Phil's advice over mine on the brand. I am a cheap azz, and also usually building for resale. so I go with the less expensive, but good quality of the All Balls stuff. I have not tried the OEM, and I know Phil has down many more than me.

[ccogswel]

Well for me it's like this. Back in the day we had no internet as most of here know this. So when we needed parts we trusted our local parts dealers. But now a days we have internet and google searches and ebay and amazon you find a bunch of parts. Some say what you want to hear and others leave you guessing. That's why I asked here. As phil stated the oem are like 12 bucks. Maybe where he's at but for me here the want 22.75 each! I'm still leaning towards oem unit's but I'll end up ordering online from a cheaper dealer then here.

[bikerphil]

Marty, there should be no difference in the 79 Special seals from the 80 or 81 Special seals. I can't tell you why the part numbers are different, the 3H3 number should fit the later forks also and vice versa, the only one that is different is the 81 Midnight Special, which uses the same seals as the 82 XJ11.

Chris, if you order the seals online they should be about $12 each plus shipping of course. Pretty sure Boats.net or Partzilla list them as $12.

I'm also a cheep azz and I use the K+L brand or Parts Unlimited. I don't use the air assist and they are fine, but for air usage, I would go with OEM.

[motoman]

Genuine OEM Yamaha would be best IMHO, they are about $12 each.

......+1 using the OEM fork seals.