Fork maintenance

[Ken Valkyrie]

Care to share the model info? My left seal is shot, and am rebuilding them this winter. Any future protection would be appreciated!

2009 ST1300 A

 

[Ken Valkyrie]

I replace the fork oil with every other front tire change since it's much easer to do with the front wheel off. It works out to every 15 - 20k miles. I haven't had to replace seals yet at 85k.

How do you replace the the fork oil and not replace the seals ?
Can you replace the oil without totally disassembling the fork tube ?

 

[Kevcules]

How do you replace the the fork oil and not replace the seals ?
Can you replace the oil without totally disassembling the fork tube ?

Some have tried just using the drain bolt at the bottom of the forks to expel what ever drains out while still on the bike. Then measure that amount, then remove the top cover and refill.
I'll always remove the tube so that the inside of the tubes and plunger are cleaned thoroughly and "all" of the fork oil is drained.
The seals are only in play if you separate the tubes.Not a regular function of a fork oil change

 

[dduelin]

There is no drain bolt with the ST1300 forks. If you drain by removing the oil lock bolt at the bottom of the slider that retains the cartridge and the damping rod in the fork and leaves the old dirty oil trapped in the cartridge. It doesn’t get the job done. You do not have to remove the fairing to drop the forks out. Then you just turn the fork tube side down and drain the oil out. When it stops straining on its own, pump it a few times to release the oil trapped in the cartridge and let that drain out. If you want to clean it out really well you can spray some brake cleaner or some low flash solvent in the fork tube swish it around and let that drain out.

 

[RobbieAG]

How do you replace the the fork oil and not replace the seals ?
Can you replace the oil without totally disassembling the fork tube ?

Yes, just remove the forks and flip them upside down to drain. I let them drain for a couple hours and pump them a few times to get all the old oil out. It's easier if you loosen the fork caps before taking them off (after loosening the top pinch bolts). Refill per the service manual using the distance from the top of the fork. My spec is different because I have Traxxion Dynamics straight rate springs so I use the spec they gave me. I have the Motion Pro tool that makes it easy to do so.

 

[Josh_ST]

Obligatory Fork Overhaul Article post:

Article [13] - ST1300 Front Fork Overhaul: An Illustrated Bibliography | ST1300 Articles

Hello All: This past winter, I wanted to overhaul the front forks on my 2012 ST 1300. When I began looking for information about how to do this, I knew nothing about the front forks, they were a complete mystery to me. I started doing research here in our forum and discovered that we have a...

www.st-owners.com

 

[Ken Valkyrie]

I got my new "socks" from Amazon but wanted to show this updated photo before I installed them

 

[Kevcules]

I got my new "socks" from Amazon but wanted to show this updated photo before I installed them

I received my NOJ socks from Amazon as well. Once I replace my seals this winter, the socks will go on.
My left fork seal is bad at only 54,000 kms even though I'm pretty good at cleaning the tubes fairly often.
I even tried using seal cleaners, no dice.