Leaking Fork Seals...

[Okieboom]

Took a trip to Big Bend National Park back in February of 21. Upon returning oh, when the bike was sitting in the garage I waited have an occasional drip underneath the left front tire. How hard are the fork seals to change or to recondition and to refill? Live in the Medina area if anybody can help that would be great. Steve

 

[Sadlsor]

I'll just offer an opinion here, without actual ST fork experience.
Forget about "reconditioning" fork seals, if you meant that literally. Replacement is required.
Difficulty (strictly from my extensive reading of the Articles and Archives here) would be considered "moderate", in my opinion.
But everything required, in terms of knowledge, is already here. The seal driver tool can be easily and cheaply made, but as in most things, there is the more involved "Right" way, and also the less- involved and more failure-prone "quicker" way.
But I'm confident you could do the job as well as service guys at a dealer.

 

[Andrew Shadow]

Have a look through the below article. It will provide you with everything that you need to know to decide if you would like to tackle this job yourself.
ST1300 Front Fork Overhaul: An Illustrated Bibliography

 

[Obo]

If it's just a bit of crud caught in one you may be able to just clean it out vs do a complete overhaul.

Seal Mate https://sealmate.net/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIz8S6lvmp9AIV1W1vBB2p6QcDEAAYAiAAEgIy_PD_BwE



You can buy one of these or make your own out of the plastic from a milk jug.

 

[CYYJ]

How hard are the fork seals to change or to recondition and to refill?

Hi Steve:

It's not a difficult job, but there is a lot of detail involved. It is a perfect "winter layup" job, because you can then spread the work over a few days, taking it easy and enjoying the process. If you were to try and get it all done at one go it would probably take you 8 to 12 hours if you are doing it for the first time.

The suggestion that @Obo made above (to try cleaning around the seal in case the problem is caused by a bit of debris in the seal) is a worthwhile suggestion, but if you have not previously overhauled the front suspension, changed the fluid, etc. it's worth your while to do the whole job... the result will be a significant improvement in front suspension performance.

FYI if you have any old 35mm film around (old negative strips), you can make a "fork seal cleaner" out of 35mm film, you don't need to buy the SealMatic product.

Michael

 

[Kevcules]

Try to clean the seals first for sure, then decide whether they need to be changed. If you need to replace them, Andrews link will help you with disassembly and determining what other parts you may need while you're in there. (bushings)
I found that the plastic container from a package of spinach is the perfect thickness for cutting your own "seal mate" tool.
Good luck....

 

[Sadlsor]

Your spinach package may vary.

 

[SMSW]

I suggest you check the sag at the front end before you begin. That way you will know if you need to change the spacer length and approximately how much preload you will need to add. Larry uses an old triple clamp in a vise to hold the fork legs while he works on them. I drilled the appropriate sized hole in a 2x4 (well, I came close to the diameter and then used a drum sander to get to a slip fit) and ran a saw cut (kerf) down through the center of the 2x4 and through the diameter of the hole. I then cross drilled the 2x4 and put a piece of threaded rod through with nuts on each end, making a clamp to hold one fork leg. All the other tools you will need are standard types, though a hypodermic type fork oil adjuster makes this part easy.

 

[Chiefpep]

I just just placed a very detailed Youtube series on suspension overhaul (on my ST 1300). I tried to film everything as good as possible these professionals do so you could do it yourself step by step. Next video on putting the forks in will be aired 26th of November at 15:00hours CET. Perhaps this gives you more confidence! P.s. if you order any parts at HK and mention my name (Chiefpep) you get a discount on your products!

 

[ReSTored]

Have a look through the below article. It will provide you with everything that you need to know to decide if you would like to tackle this job yourself.
ST1300 Front Fork Overhaul: An Illustrated Bibliography

You'd be pretty hard pressed to find a more thoroughly documented or illustrated ST1300 fork rebuild anywhere, kudos to Michael for creating and posting this.

 

[Igofar]

Anyone else see the couple serious mistakes that he made in both of these videos?
I didn't listen to the audio because the grandkid was asleep, and to be fair, their spring may be longer than the OEM or Sonic springs (stack height) but I didn't see him put the pre-load spacer back in before he put the cap back together?
But that was NOT the mistake that could cause issues with this model.
Anyone care to take a guess?

 

[Igofar]

Really? Nobody?
What he did could cause damage to the SMC (hint)

 

[Andrew Shadow]

I didn't watch the video Larry, and have no plans to. So, unless you spill the beans, I guess that it will remain a mystery.

 

[Igofar]

Besides washing out the grease from the needle bearings that the smc pivots on in the solvent tank?

 

[Bruno]

I'll just offer an opinion here, without actual ST fork experience.
Forget about "reconditioning" fork seals, if you meant that literally. Replacement is required.
Difficulty (strictly from my extensive reading of the Articles and Archives here) would be considered "moderate", in my opinion.
But everything required, in terms of knowledge, is already here. The seal driver tool can be easily and cheaply made, but as in most things, there is the more involved "Right" way, and also the less- involved and more failure-prone "quicker" way.
But I'm confident you could do the job as well as service guys at a dealer.

Not wanting to take my ST1100 out of service for any length of time, during the riding season, I tryed the seal cleaning using a plastic as per the YouTube. I also injected a seal conditioner (AT-205) while cleaning out the seal with the tool. I then put in fresh fork oil. It worked. No leaks. Nothing. I may not even change the seals this winter.

 

[core-aggie]

Not wanting to take my ST1100 out of service for any length of time, during the riding season, I tryed the seal cleaning using a plastic

Yea, I did the same thing, and it worked (though I didn't watch a YouTube video) to clear up the front fork leak.

I downloaded an image of a Seal Mate, printed it out, then used that as a template to make my own seal cleaner from a 2.5 gallon water jug ... and of course, made from an official Texas Ozarka water jug