Damage front shock absorbers

[Neil Warden]

Hi all

New to the forum, so thanks for accepting me.

I just bought a 58 plate ST 1300 with 18k miles in the clock, one previous owner.

Having a look through some of the paperwork that came with the bike I note the bike had a MOT in Jan of this year and the following advisories were noted by the tester

'Monitor and repair if necessary (advisories )

Shick absorber has slight external damage to the casing Nearside front (5.3.2.(b) same for the offside front shock absorber'

The dealer I bought the bike from put a new MOT on the bike from 8/11/19 and there is nothing on there as an advisory.

Having checked the bike over, the front shock absorbers are NOT new as there are stone chips etc, I accept these could have been replaced with used parts.
So my question is, does anyone have any idea where I should be looking/checking for a possible damage?

i had a short ride of the bike before putting it on a trailer and taking it home and it ran well, I also have a 12 month parts/labour warranty to fall back on, hopefully.

And advice would be appreciated

 

[technotony007]

Hi Neil,

welcome to the forum firstly. Try posting a couple of pictures on this thread to show what you mean. A picture paints a thousand words.

I am sure then , you will receive plenty of advice from then.

regards

tony

 

[CYYJ]

Hi Neil:

Welcome to our forum community, and congratulations on your purchase of the ST 1300.

If your moto only has 18,000 miles on it, it is unlikely that the front forks (shock absorbers) are damaged so badly that they need to be replaced. That would be quite unusual.

You didn't specify what part of the front forks have the "slight external damage". If it is the lower part (the casting), the apparent damage might be nothing more than surface corrosion. There are various ways of dealing with that, such as repainting or covering the forks with reflective film (see this post: Painting wheels and fork legs). Aberdeen, Scotland is a saline environment, so there is a good chance that all you have is minor surface corrosion, nothing to worry about. I bought my 2012 ST 1300 from a fisherman in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada - the bike was only 3 years old when I bought it, same mileage as yours, but because it had been stored less than half a mile from the ocean, and most of the roads in that area followed the ocean shore, it had minor corrosion on the front forks. I put reflective film over the forks, that solved that problem.

If the damage is to the upper part of the forks (the shiny chrome tube), you'll need to evaluate whether or not the damage is severe enough to cause loss of fluid and/or damage to the seals at the top of the lower fork casting. There's not much you can do to repair the shiny chrome tubes - about the only thing you can do is carefully sand away any raised areas caused by rock chips using very fine (2,000 grit or higher) sandpaper. For pits and scratches, if they are deep enough to cause fluid leakage, you will need to replace the fork tubes (not cheap).

There is an article here in the forum that explains how to disassemble and overhaul ST 1300 front forks. Here is a link to it: ST1300 Front Fork Overhaul: An Illustrated Bibliography. That particular post has a lot of pictures in it, if they don't all load satisfactorily, refresh the page with your browser and eventually all the pictures will appear.

Michael

 

[Upt' North]

+1 Michael, I don't think the MOT tester would have any interest in the sliders, only the stanchions; hope that terminology is right, but basically the top shiny bits.
This would be either due to corrosion or stone damage.
If they're not damaged now they've either been re-chromed or replaced. A visual check is all you need and if the seals aren't leaking you're good to go. Just check they haven't just been rubbed down and possibly filled.
Good luck.
Upt'North. But not as North as you!

 

[Bikeric]

Welcome to the forum from Cornwall UK! Check the fork tubes (the chrome tubes) for damage or corrosion and as the others have said, if the oil seals are good and there is no pitting, carry on riding.

 

[TerryS]

I agree with the comments above; damge will be either superficial (paint flaking off the leading edge of the sliders) or accidental (grazing/road rash from a fall or impact with a vehicle or object). If it were the latter, the rest of the bike would be showing related damage. My guess is the MOT inspector was playing the CYA game and noting the corrosion/flaking on the fork legs only. In my own experience, the paint quality on Honda fork lowers is terrible and all of my bikes have needed to be repainted. Otherwise just look at the stanchions for stone nicks or seal damage/oil leakage.

 

[Neil Warden]

Hi Neil:

Welcome to our forum community, and congratulations on your purchase of the ST 1300.

If your moto only has 18,000 miles on it, it is unlikely that the front forks (shock absorbers) are damaged so badly that they need to be replaced. That would be quite unusual.

You didn't specify what part of the front forks have the "slight external damage". If it is the lower part (the casting), the apparent damage might be nothing more than surface corrosion. There are various ways of dealing with that, such as repainting or covering the forks with reflective film (see this post: Painting wheels and fork legs). Aberdeen, Scotland is a saline environment, so there is a good chance that all you have is minor surface corrosion, nothing to worry about. I bought my 2012 ST 1300 from a fisherman in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada - the bike was only 3 years old when I bought it, same mileage as yours, but because it had been stored less than half a mile from the ocean, and most of the roads in that area followed the ocean shore, it had minor corrosion on the front forks. I put reflective film over the forks, that solved that problem.

If the damage is to the upper part of the forks (the shiny chrome tube), you'll need to evaluate whether or not the damage is severe enough to cause loss of fluid and/or damage to the seals at the top of the lower fork casting. There's not much you can do to repair the shiny chrome tubes - about the only thing you can do is carefully sand away any raised areas caused by rock chips using very fine (2,000 grit or higher) sandpaper. For pits and scratches, if they are deep enough to cause fluid leakage, you will need to replace the fork tubes (not cheap).

There is an article here in the forum that explains how to disassemble and overhaul ST 1300 front forks. Here is a link to it: ST1300 Front Fork Overhaul: An Illustrated Bibliography. That particular post has a lot of pictures in it, if they don't all load satisfactorily, refresh the page with your browser and eventually all the pictures will appear.

Michael

Hi

Thanks for the links and advice.

There is slight corrosion on the lower (tubes) of the forks, if you run your hand over the tube it feels rough, but nothing too be concerned about.
It doesn't state on the MOT cert which part of the shock the damage is unfortunately
The first owner was based in London and I bought the bike from a dealer in Manchester and I'm in Aberdeenshire Scotland

The dealer service book has been stamped up to and there is an invoice detailing some extensive servicing including new fork seals, oil etc on the

+1 Michael, I don't think the MOT tester would have any interest in the sliders, only the stanchions; hope that terminology is right, but basically the top shiny bits.
This would be either due to corrosion or stone damage.
If they're not damaged now they've either been re-chromed or replaced. A visual check is all you need and if the seals aren't leaking you're good to go. Just check they haven't just been rubbed down and possibly filled.
Good luck.
Upt'North. But not as North as you!

Hi all

Thanks for the welcome

Sorry, didn't realise the post I started to write posted when i was called away from my desk. Below is the complete text


The dealer service book has been stamped up to April 2011, with nothing more until Jul 2017 on a service receipt from an independent service agent. On one of the invoices, it shows some extensive servicing including new fork seals, oil etc. This was completed on the same date as the MOT was conducted.

Agreed, the surface of the fork tubes are a bit rough.

The bike was sold to a doctor in London who moved to Wiltshire, I bought the bike in Manchester, England it now being in Aberdeenshire is probably the closest it been to the sea environment, but I hear what your saying.

Thanks again for the info

 

[technotony007]

Hi Neil,
post some pics of the front suspension or folks and we can advise you better …..

regards

tony

 

[ST Gui]

Corrosion on the fork tubes (not the fork legs) could make short work of fork seals. Maybe that's what the MOT cert was referring to. Pics might help.

 

[Neil Warden]

Hi Neil,
post some pics of the front suspension or folks and we can advise you better …..

regards

tony

Hi

Unable to post pics as the bike is with a mechanic friend at present and he is old school, i.e. not in to mobiles phone etc.

However I had an interesting conversation with the previous owner tonight who confirms the bikes genuine mileage, and history.
Asked about the forks and he said that it was the MOT testers definition of the condition the forks i.e. stone chip damage, nothing serious to cause concern but had to be noted.
The previous owner was a doctor in London and used the bike to commute as well as for being on call. He said anything the bike needed it got, as he needed it to be reliable. He also confirmed the bike has never been involved in an accident, the only damage on it would be from when he dropped it on his drive when stationary. The damage is mainly scratches etc.

Many thanks for everyone help