125-200cc Leaky Fork seals

My WR150 had a leaky fork two months ago (about 100hrs on the bike then) and had the seals changed/forks serviced at the shop. Now they are leaking again, not as bad but still leaking. I have cleaned them a lot and that hasnt helped so looks like I need to replace the seals. I figure I should learn to do this myself rather than paying a shop. Any tips on doing this?

I don't know what forks came on the 11's, so I can't help you there... But when you tear them down, I would look real closely at the stantions for scratches... I installed 2 sets of seals & wipers before I realized my stantion was scratched...

true to check for knicks and knacks. fine emery...very fine

sad fact is dirt gets in

thhey are dirt bikes

sometimes gets in in a week..sometime takes months

the nature of the beast

I use "seal savers" on all my bikes and they greatly extend the life of the fork seals especially in muddy conditions.Just my 2 cents!

Thanks Dirtdame your one leak where it went all over the front brake sounds like my last one, it poured out all over. huskybear, I'm going to try the seal savers, seems to be mixed info, but a lot of people use them especially in muddy conditions it seems, so I figure it can't hurt with two leaks in a few months.. worth trying!

you can make your own seal savers using a felt strip between the seal and the scraper just collects the dirt that gets past the scraper and replace regularly.

There are some pretty good tutorials on youtube about this. I know they helped me do mine, always nice to have pictures. Also, since I didn't have a seal driver I saw somewhere about using the old seal cut in half (use a hacksaw) and lay the old halves on top of the new seal. Whack with a rubber mallet (gently) until seated. I am sure the seal driver works better but that worked for me.

Front brake side always leak due to tiny bits of brake dust mixed with dirt that can get caught up on the stanchion which digs away at the wiper plus the twist or flex caused by braking.
There are heaps of seals out there and to add to Dirtdames post, take your time bleeding the air out and lay out all the parts in the order you took them off.
Write down your settings as you should back off all the adjustments before stripping.
To loosen the cap, keep the fork(s) in the triple clamps but loosen the top bolts then loosen the caps - harder to do off the bike if you don't own a vice.
Invest in a seal driver and fork oil level tool - just makes life easy.
Pay attention to fork oil height as this will determine the air gap and WILL effect your ride.
Don't need a seal bullet, electrical tape does the job in protecting the seal on installation.
Always clean stanchions with some 1200 grit sandpaper and use wd40 or sawing machine oil as a lubricant - insures that small nicks are smoothed out...and sand up and down too.
Clean seal savers regularly and pull down the wiper and give that a good clean as well - there products on the market that can clean under the seal and l highly recommend Rhinomx seal doctor......or you coul use an old goggle lens.

Changing seals are, in Australian slang, a piece of piss .... Tuning is another story

Another rookie mechanic question... went to start this tonight, and reading a bit more online it mentions one reason forks can leak is due to improper fork alignment after mounting the front wheel. When I removed the wheel tonight, the axle on the right side is showing wear. Last tire change I did it myself and basically just put it back on and tightened the bolts. So, with it not leaking badly, rather than changing out seals, if it's all clean and I remount the front wheel with proper fork alignment this time, is there a chance that the leaks could stop?

Yeah the way l do it is to tighten the nut with the pinch bolts loose. Once the whole axle spins,l tighten up the pinch bolts and then use a torque wrench to properly torque the axle nut.
When the forks leak, they leak....try using an old goggle lens and slide it up the seal and slide it around as it may clean some debris which may cause the leak.

Yeah I was using the camera film or 'seal mate' (like a goggle lens) with lots of brake clean, and it's helped. Just wondering though if I get the wheel aligned properly if that will help. Might just try doing that and see how the next ride is before replacing the seals. I picked up a set of the long fork skins as well, so can get those on.

Improper alignment is really caused by people overally tightening the axel nut and then the pinch bolts so what happens is that the forks ever so slightly tapers to the fork bottoms.
You can check this yourself after you've installed those fork sox's by taking the caliper off, mount the wheel, tighten the axle, if you have the easy pull lever thingo that stops the axle from spinning just be sure to have it at 3 oclock and tighten until it just touched the fork leg. Now, spin the front wheel (you need a crate or bike stand too), whilst spinning, tighten the the axle nut...you should be able to see the rim slow down with resistence each time you tighten the axle.
Summary: Tighten axle nut, free spinning wheel, tighten pinch bolts, spin dat wheel and then tighten the axle nut keeping an eye that that rim is still spinning and there you go, fork's aligned

Here's a good article on how to make sure your forks are properly aligned
http://www.moto-pro.com/files/shoptips/fork_alignment.pdf

Okay I am taking the forks apart to do the seals, any tips for removing the fork caps/bolts (upper and lower) tried with them on the bike and gave up. Going to borrow a vice and impact wrench and see if that should do it.

Make sure the open spanner or socket is tight and a breaker bar or pipe to give you leverage...please don't use a shifter (adjustable spanner) here as the caps are aluminum and soft, filing down a 19mm fork cap down to 17mm is a real PITA!!
PS..open up the bleed valve too...discharge any built up pressure!!

Loosen the bolts on the top triple clamp before you try to loosen the cap.

I don't think anyone has said this yet, (it's in the video) make sure you back the clickers all the way out before you start taking the forks apart. Count clicks so you can go back to the same settings when you are done.