All-Balls Fork Seals anyone try them?

schmidty

schmidty

Joined
Mar 19, 2010
Messages
43
Location
Wisconsin Rapids
Bike
09 ST1300
Seals started leaking at the end of last year and it's time to get the bike ready for the road this year. Has anyone tried the seals from All-Balls found here All Balls ST1300 fork seal kit. I saw one post mentioning them but none talking about using them on the ST.

Dealer wants about $70 out the door for the OEM seals and these are significantly less expensive. I've read through other posts about aftermarket seals leaking but those seals didn't include a metal ring within the seal itself and relied on internal fork pressure to maintain seal integrity.

Just thought I'd see if anyone had any experience with these.
 
I put All Balls seals in my Valkyrie. What can I say? No leaks. Just be sure to install them with the correct orientation to the oil. Any seal aill leak if they are installed upside down (very easy to do).
 
The Wing guys mentioned these as the better choice due to the third ridge yhey have on the ID. OEM has two. Take a look at the graphic in the features tab.
 
Ron Ayers has the OEM seal set for $25 per side. I always ask my dealer to meet online pricing.
 
I know the dealer won't match online pricing :( I guess I'll have to order a set of the all-ball seals and see how it goes. I'll try to remember to post an update when I get around to installing them.
 
schmidty said:
I know the dealer won't match online pricing :( I guess I'll have to order a set of the all-ball seals and see how it goes. I'll try to remember to post an update when I get around to installing them.
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What a smart businessman he is. He's getting 100% of nothing instead of 75% of something and a satisfied customer in his showroom who will come back next time he needs something.

Print this and give it to him. It couldn't hurt.

For the record I pay online prices plus $1 to $5 "handling" depending on the part or parts price. I don't mind paying the little extra in order to give my business to the local dealer plus I would have to pay shipping from the online seller anyway.

BTW I used All Balls for the head stock bearings in my ST1300 and I think I used them in my BMW several years ago. The quality seemed just fine for the application.
 
Just curious, was the $70 for the oil seal and dust seal combined?? Someone else mentioned 'set' for $25 per fork, so I'm assuming its two seals for that price.

FWIW, I've never replaced a dust seal in my life, and have always replaced fork oil seals with the aftermarket ones that are usually about $12/pair. Never paid much attention to the brand names, but I think the last ones I used were Vesrah. Never had any problems with the cheap seals, always got 40-50k miles out of them. That being said, I always change my fork oil with every front tire replacement, which is about 10k mile intervals, and I think that helps the oil seals last longer as well. Not sure about the 1300, but my 1100 typically has fairly dirty fork oil even at the 10k replacement interval.
 
Having rebuilt my forks late last fall. The OEM is called a set, but the set is the seal and the dust boot. Not a pair of seals. I have extra dust boots as I ordered on line and they were kind enough NOT to contact me about the fact the seals come with the boot. The local dealer did.
 
FYI for OEM comparison only-

From Ron Ayers last week:
The set of seals (718090) is one oil seal and one dust seal, so to do both sides you need two. The entire order included seals, bushings (both sets) and a backup ring. I already had a O ring for the top cap and a new sealing washer for the bottom bolt that attaches to the damper rod.


SKU Part Number Description Qty Price Ext. Price
718090 51490-MCA-003 SEAL SET, FR. FORK 2 $24.69 $49.38
715781 51412-KZ3-003 RING, BACK-UP 2 $5.62 $11.23
715844 51414-MCH-003 BUSH, GUIDE 2 $7.20 $14.41
715913 51415-MCS-G01 BUSH, SLIDER 2 $3.74 $7.48

Sub Total $82.50
Shipping $15.00
State Tax $0.00
Specialty Tax Total $0.00
Coupons $0.00
Grand Total $97.50
 
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schmidty said:
Has anyone tried the seals from All-Balls found here All Balls ST1300 fork seal kit.
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Yes, I installed these seals back in June of 2011.

That was over 40,000 miles ago, with no leaks. Where as the OEM seals started leaking at 25,000 miles.

I'm quite happy with my decision to install the All Balls fork seals.
 
Thanks for the feedback everyone! Seals are ordered. Looks like they won't get here until next week or the beginning of the week after that so I may just limp to the next Tech event and go through it there as this will be my first time messing with the forks. I noticed the site doesn't have any tech article on doing the forks so maybe that would be a good opportunity to write something up and take pictures :)
 
Just a quick update. The new seals only have about 100 miles on them but the forks are dry. The one problem I did run into on the install was that the All-Balls wiper caps did not want to snap in place. The sides kept walking out of the lower fork so I ended up reusing the OEM wiper caps.
I did forget to snap pictures. The only thing I wasn't expecting during the process was that the upper slider bushing for the forks did not just slide into the lower fork, they needed a little persuasion with the fork seal driver.
We also needed to create a fork seal driver but that was accomplished by getting a length of PVC pipe, I'm guessing 2 1/2" diameter, and making four cuts in a cross pattern and extending those cuts about 4 inches down the side of the pipe, then a worm drive clamp was added to adjust the diameter. Worked like a charm and no need to track down a PVC reducer of the appropriate size.
If you don't hear anything else from me, assume that all is well with the fork seals.
 
schmidty said:
The only thing I wasn't expecting during the process was that the upper slider bushing for the forks did not just slide into the lower fork, they needed a little persuasion with the fork seal driver.

We also needed to create a fork seal driver but that was accomplished by getting a length of PVC pipe, I'm guessing 2 1/2" diameter, and making four cuts in a cross pattern and extending those cuts about 4 inches down the side of the pipe, then a worm drive clamp was added to adjust the diameter. Worked like a charm and no need to track down a PVC reducer of the appropriate size.
If you don't hear anything else from me, assume that all is well with the fork seals.
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I've always just tapped on those bushings with a very small screwdriver and they eventually fall into the gap where they reside. Its always random though how much time it takes me to get them to fall into place.

For a cheap seal driver I use the old seals that I just took out and flip them over so the two flat sides are facing each other. Then drive the top (old) seal with a piece of wood or something similar.
 
Glad I saw this thread. I'm due for seals again after replacing them a year ago. I did OEM seals & dust seals (both sides). 35k miles later the same one is leaking (left) again. I'll try the All Balls and check my fork tubes VERY carefully while they are apart. I'm guessing the cold weather of winter riding, and/or our very rough roads are to blame.
 
schmidty said:
......... The one problem I did run into on the install was that the All-Balls wiper caps did not want to snap in place. The sides kept walking out of the lower fork so I ended up reusing the OEM wiper caps.........
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I had the same problem. I, like you, finally went back to the OEMs.

Anyone else have this problem with the All Balls dust seal?

RJ
 
rljudge said:
I had the same problem. I, like you, finally went back to the OEMs.

Anyone else have this problem with the All Balls dust seal?

RJ
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Weird, I wonder why they missed the size on the 1300 application. I had no issues with the Wing's seals.I bet they would like to know there is a problem.
 
I hope I don't have this problem. I have the All Balls set and am going to try to install them tomorrow night.
 
Update on the All Balls- everything went together as they should. Seals went in fine, and so did the wipers. There is a step to them where they go into the fork tubes, and they went in until there was about a .010" gap (thickness of a few sheets of paper). Both sides are even, and both went in so far and so tight that I doubt they will come out. I think this is as was designed.

Time will tell how they hold up.
 
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