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Has anybody used Athena fork seals? My forks have gone off for rechroming. Genuine Yamaha seals are seriously expensive. Are Athena ones crap? No point buying cheap seals if I have to do it again tomorrow!
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I have never, as far as i know, used Athena seals. I, as I am sure you have as well, looked them up and found out they are made in Italy and don't seem to have a bad rap out there. I know you are probably looking for opinions so here is mine. With the proper maintenance of your machine, and the fact that you are sending yours out to be rechromed, indicates you take care of your bike. I think that a lot of factors play a role in the failure of seals. Environmental, as well as abuse etc. I have always been in the habit of cleaning the upper tubes after I ride with the seals in mind to try to keep all the grit and in my case the bug guts out of them. I live in the deep south eastern US so bugs are always a problem. With all that said and the fact that replacing the seals is not that difficult I would say paying the extra money for Oem seals is the way to go. One of my bikes I have owned since new and I have only replaced the seals once. The reason the originals went bad was because I let the bike sit in storage, both inside and covered storage over those years and they simply dried out and hardened like anything rubber will do over time. Those Athena seals might work out as well, but I always like to go with Oem quality when it is available.2 - 80 LGs bought one new
81 LH
02 FXSTB Nighttrain
22 FLTRK Road Glide Limited
Jim -
I can't say I've used Athena fork seals. I'm of the opinion that the green Athena gaskets in the engine kits are inferior to just about everyone else' gaskets. They leak long before they should. Based upon that experience, I wouldn't. I'm running OEM fork seals.Marty (in Mississippi)
XS1100SG
XS650SK
XS650SH
XS650G
XS6502F
XS650EComment
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I have the same experience as Marty with the green Athena gaskets. I won't use them anymore unless I have to.
I don't have any expereince with Athena fork seals.-Mike
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'79 XS1100SF 20k miles
'80 XS1100SG 44k miles
'81 XS1100H Venturer 35k miles
'79 XS750SF 17k miles
'85 Honda V65 Magna ~7k miles
'84 Honda V65 Magna 48k miles (parts bike)
'86 Yamaha VMAX 9k miles
Previous: '68 Motoguzzi 600cc + '79 XS750SF 22k miles +'84 Honda V65Comment
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Same here. Athena paper gaskets are worthless junk. The rubber seals could be Chinese based on Athena's apparent commitment to profit over quality. I have used these in my bike(s) with good high mileage results. The key is proper installation and a smooth fork tube.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/20158123787...Bk9SR5SvhpGiYw
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