fork seal orientation

[Yegster]

Pulled my right hand (cartridge) fork apart last night and neglected to note the orientation of the fork seal, i.e. which side is up.

Does anyone know offhand how the fork seal should go in? Writing up or down?

I could look on the other fork but I would like to do them one at a time as per the manual's recommendation.

Thanks for any info you can provide.

 

[dwalby]

the general rule of thumb is the flat side with the writing goes up, and the open side with the spring goes down

 

[TerryS]

There is a useful guide to fork maintenance on the AllBalls website, that also includes a nifty diagram for seal orientation. The critical direction is the wiper lips on the inside, the square edge needs to face the oil, the tapered edge faces away. You can install the seal either way, but if it is upside down you'll leak oil. DAMHIK.

http://www.cyclepedia.com/manuals/o...torcycle-intallation-guides/fork-disassembly/

 

[dwalby]

You can install the seal either way, but if it is upside down you'll leak oil. DAMHIK.

but it will do a great job preventing moisture from running down the tube into the lower fork

the cross-section diagram on that link is nice, but I'm not sure if all fork seals will have the same cross sectional appearance as the AllBalls seals. Over the last 20 years the generic seals I've used have gotten a little harder to identify which side is up because they don't seem to have the obvious flat side anymore, there's a cutout with a spring on both sides. But I seem to recall if you look really closely you can see some tiny writing on one of the sides, and that side goes up.

 

[Jim Van]

Snip........ You can install the seal either way, but if it is upside down you'll leak oil. DAMHIK.

http://www.cyclepedia.com/manuals/o...torcycle-intallation-guides/fork-disassembly/

That's a fact, and I know that from experience.

 

[TourNut]

You just remember the side of the seal that will pressure the seal tighter, that helps the spring instead of fighting the spring.

 

[TourNut]

My left fork has been seeping a little , I just used that seal cleaner plastic thing to see if that works. ( I saw no solid crud and tube is really nice & unscratched , 22K miles ) If I take off the cap , what should the oil level be ? and do you take out the spring to check the level as it would displace oil to be a difference in the level ? Thanks for some replies from those that are familiar to these forks.

 

[TerryS]

The fork oil level should be set with the springs out and the fork full compressed. If you support the front of the bike on a jack, then loosen both fork caps, you can lift the front wheel off the ground (e.g. plank of wood and block under it) until the fork is bottomed out. That gives access to the fork cap locknut so you can pull the cap off and release the springs (carefully). Lift the springs out (I use an unscrewing motion to avoid hooking too much oil out). Then use a tape measure to measure the oil level. For a 1300 that would be (...checks manual...) 62mm.

TBH if you are going to that much effort, it is not too much more work to take the brakes off, the wheel off, the guard off and then drop the forks out fully. That way you could drain and flush them and refill with some fresh oil.