Front fork seals question…. again….

[Ric]

I recently discovered that my fork seals might be leaking.

I'll check that 'O' ring seal below the front fender mounts first. But both appear to have oil around the top plungers of the seals, and look like they might be weeping for a little while, because of the misty oil on the upper and lower legs.

Ok: The questions:

I surfed the old site for info on replacing the seals.

It appears that one must remove the front wheel, and then the fork tubes from the triple trees, then dump the oil.

Dismantle the forks to remove the lower, skinnier legs from the wider upper plungers. Pry out the old seals, and press in new ones, and reverse the process.

Have I got that part right so far???

My situation seems to be complicated by having a Kewl Metal front end on the bike. Are there any of you who have taken on said project. It seems more like a winter project for us, but I didn't discover the leaking seals until now. Right as the start of riding season. GRRRRRR!!!

Thanks in advance to those that offer up the best scenario in handling this problem.

Ric

[petitemoose]

Since your front end is new ... wouldn't this be Fixable under warranty? Sounds like Kewl Metal may have had a batch of bad seals. I think it is unusual to have two bad seals this fast.

[Mark]

Curious, isn't the Kewl Metal Set technically just a triple tree set which you use with the existing upper and lower tubes? So the seals are as old or as new as the bike is or is the Kewl Metal set coming with new seals when you do the conversion?

Regards

Mark

[502wingman]

May be it helps you when you search on youtube for the "inverted fork leak fix video" . I find that pretty smart but I have no own experience with that.

Regards Peter

[V8Bikers]

Here is a video that might help:

phpBB [video]

[Ric]

Ah…. that is the video I was looking for. It sounds like Tim's voice.

I'll tackle that first, before I get all excited about yanking the front end apart.

As mentioned: The fork seals are the originals from spring of 2006. I've got 80,000 miles on the bike approx.

The Kewl Metal kit consists of the raked trees and handlebar risers, and in my case a pair of tapered 'bells' siliconed to the bottom of the triple tree because of the significant size difference between the new Kewl Metal 'leg'… and the stock set up slides up inside the Kewl Metal legs, and has about six heavy duty pinch bolts to clamp it solidly in place. Of course, because of the rake in the trees, the original top fork tubes are aligned with a space between the top tree, and the top of the top fork leg.

Barry's technician installed this set up for me, and the complete suspension part of the front end remains stock. He DID put a spacer between the top of the fork leg and the Kewl Metal top triple tree. So that if I hit any monumental bumps or pot holes while riding… the fork leg will remain in the 'extended' mounting position.


The front end will have to be removed from the Kewl Metal trees, if it is in fact the fork seals that are leaking. Then a disassembly of the front forks will have to take place. Maybe if I have to go that route, I'll maybe replace any wear parts in the forks.

Thanks so far fellas!

[CanuckHoss]

Since your front end is new ... wouldn't this be Fixable under warranty? Sounds like Kewl Metal may have had a batch of bad seals. I think it is unusual to have two bad seals this fast.

Pretty sure when I sold Ric the bike it had forks on it. LOL

Speaking of seals...what do a walrus and Tupperware have in common?? They both like tight seals!!

[petitemoose]

Since your front end is new ... wouldn't this be Fixable under warranty? Sounds like Kewl Metal may have had a batch of bad seals. I think it is unusual to have two bad seals this fast.

Pretty sure when I sold Ric the bike it had forks on it. LOL

Speaking of seals...what do a walrus and Tupperware have in common?? They both like tight seals!!

I apologize, I thought the kewl metal front ends came with Forks ... i just assumed for that kind of jack they would. My Bad