I have had a fork leaking for a little while. I tried the film trick but it keeps coming back. Do I need to remove the sweepers to do this right? Is there anyway to top off the oil without tearing the fork apart? TIA!
Word on the street has it that the right seal is susceptible to leaking if the forks are not aligned properly. I’ve had the same problem. Apparently if you can not install the axel bolt without pounding it, you need to align your forks to prevent putting excessive pressure on the seal. There’s a twelve step program to align them properly which involves slamming your bike into a wall (I shit you not!).
Any input on this 12 step program would be nice....thanks for the heads up. This is the first I heard of there being a problem.
I don’t know that I’d call it “a problem” any more than I ‘d call your chain being too loose a problem. It’s all just a matter of having things adjusted correctly. Now my source is a lot more reliable than my memory, but I’ll give it a shot: Front wheel & forks off the bike; Open beer; Install left fork at the desired height & tighten triple-clamp bolts to spec (assuming the left fork height is OK, you could probably just skip this step and leave it in place as-is); Reinstall the right fork and tighten lower bolt just enough to hold the fork in place; Install front tire & axel. Axel should “slide in with two fingers” and shouldn’t be “pounded” in; Tighten axel nut & left side pinch bolts; (Now here’s where it gets interesting…) Roll the bike over to a sturdy structure (i.e. wall or fat in-law) and slam it into said structure hard enough to damn near lift the rear tire off the ground (apparently this “knocks” your right fork into adjustment); Spill beer on garage floor & curse; Tighten right side triple-clamp bolts and axel pinch bolts to spec. Now, this is my recollection of the instructions given to me. I claim no responsibility for tweaked forks, ruptured seals, injured in-laws or spilt beer. If you want the real skinny straight from the horses mouth, call Mr. George down at “The Tightness” and ask him “How because mine forks be a leakin’ juices?”
Both of my seals leaked after a particularly bad mud ride. I tried the 35mm film negative trick w/ no luck. My pal Goosedog comes over and corrects me. He takes off the outer sweepers and takes a few business cards (1 at a time of course) and cleans out the gunk. End of leaky!
I will try taking off the sweepers this time. Do you think I can open up the air screw and plumb depth the oil on the left and compare to the right to get a gauge for how low the oil is? I know it is kind of rudamentary....I may give this a shot.
film trick Heard about the "film trick" but couldn't find it on the site. Had a leaky "just weeping" left seal. Didn't think it would work, but after i slipped the film negative between the seal and leg carefully worked it around twice, bam no more leaky. thanks for the tip.
just sent mine to the shop for seals.Its 9 mos old 900 mi.It will cost bout 190 bucks !,all this just for some dirt in the seal ? should we buy seal savers ? there ugly but will it stop leaking seals ?
there seem to be a few prescribed methods of aligning the front axle- thanks fro describing this one- (there's also having the front wheel in air and spinning it with pinch bolts loose- then hitting the break- several times) (also rather than hitting a wall- just pushing the bike forward and slamming on the front breaks)- Not using a bfg to install the front axle is probably really good advice like you mentioned too! I think it is important in muddy environments to use a neoprane "seal saver" on fork tubes- I like the ones from Siccass racing because they use Velcro and you can take them on and off to clean easily... Also I would periodically gently pry the "scraper" or "wiper" out of the tube and clean- that's where dirt stays trapped. then do the 35mm film trick. then apply grease in between the wipers and the seals. I have used normal synthetic hight temp grease but companies like race tech and procircuit make grease for this purpose. then put wiper back in place. early ktms were notorious for fork seals- I cleaned and maintained mine like this and use siccas seal savers and have not had an issue since-
Seems the 2 2000 HVA WR 250's I had went through seals. I learned about the fork alignment & tried to align them. Even when I moved to an '04 KTM, seals didn't seem to last for long....Until I started using the Seal Savers, best money I've spent. Seals CAN last for a year. Get some & see for yourself. GL
