Leaking forks, how critical?

STimpa

STimpa

Livin my best life!
Joined
Jun 24, 2007
Messages
198
Location
E Oregon
Bike
05 ST1300
STOC #
6950
Two months ago I noticed my left fork was leaking and pulled both forks and took them into a local shop. The first set were aftermarket seals and both forks leaked right away. I took them back off and back in and they replaced them with OEMs. However the left fork continues to leak intermittently.
First, is this a typical problem... 25,000 miles on the original set? There was some pitting from rocks, I assume. Is it possible the pitting is the culprit? They don't seem that serious, but what so I know?
Secondly, I have a ride coming up I have had planned for a year. Is the oil level critical to the integrity of the forks? Is it just a matter of rebound management?
I would appreciate knowledgable advice...
Tim
 
Yes, damaged forks will just keep damaging the seals. That's why you should clean your fork tubes - dried bugs are VERY hard and can mess with seals. I have some NOJ fork guards on mine and after 55k miles, no bad seals and the tubes look brand new.

I think it depends on how badly pitted the tubes are, but sure sounds like yours might have issues.

Loosing fluid can cause handling issues and you might even have a wreck because of that, not saying it's impossible to ride with a leaking seal, many have...
 
Mellow said:
Loosing fluid can cause handling issues
Click to expand...
+1. The difference was night and day the first time I repaired a bad seal.

Also, that leaking fluid tends to run down onto the brakes, contaminating the pads.
-STeve
 
Leaking seals are not common at 25,000 miles. That is barely broken in by ST standards. The fork tubes shouldn't be pitted at this low mileage either but they may have been damaged somehow and once the tube(s) surface is damaged they will ruin each new seal in short order.
 
Joe,
How did you attach the NOJ guards? Did you remove the stock slider guards or install over top of them?
Does rainwater run out the bottom somehow? Any chance of a close pic?
Thanks,
Dale
 
dhall854 said:
Joe,
How did you attach the NOJ guards? Did you remove the stock slider guards or install over top of them?
Does rainwater run out the bottom somehow? Any chance of a close pic?
Thanks,
Dale
Click to expand...

It's just one strip of neoprene w/velcro edges. You wrap around the lower black fork guard thing and that's it, the top part of it just connects to itself and doesn't touch the upper fork much if at all. I've ridden through lots of rain, there's no way for water to collect as the velcro connection will let out any that gets in there.

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Have you run over a cat, Joe? There's a lot of fur on that fender. I'll bet there're a few more than just one Missing Moggie poster round your way.

On leaky seals and to tell a dit, Shadowfax's seals leaked lightly for 50,000 miles before they got to a point I decided to have them looked at: just a smudge of oil on each. I figured over the time that smudge might only equate to 5cc - 10cc of oil total.

There were 3 "stamps" visible on the fork that were blamed for allowing oil to escape on hard braking. I thought these were from some Rail Freight (previous owner) farkle, security mask, or other, but on drawing the forks apart in the shop, my mechy Danny discovered the marks were at both ends of each fork inner - consistant with their having both being in a vice. He thinks this may have been from their being straightened sometime - not unusual, he says.

Anyway, Danny rubbed down the blemishes (dulling the chrome :( ), changed the seals, and that was the end of any leak. That was 3-months and 6,000 miles ago.

The forks are being replaced today by coincidence - more for cosmetic reasons than anything. If I'd known about the cause of the leak before, I'd have stuck replacement forks on straight away. Instead. I'm kinda paying twice for the same fix, but the 'newer' ones look really smart since I took the opportunity to spray them Audi silver with gloss laquer:)

I'll sell the older ones on; there's nothing operationally wrong with them after their refresh - just lightly dulled chrome (I'll spray them before they go and link to this post, of course).

Those protectors look a canny idea.
 
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