Ace (harvey) suspension

[thenash79]

Got a 2008 te250 with 310 kit. At about 700 miles right fork seal just started showing signs of oil on tube. I saw it when I was halfway through my 100 mile ride one weekend. Tried to finish ride but twenty miles later i noticed puddle when we stopped for a min. I was a little pissed seal went so soon. I came off hondas my entire life and have never even had one leak .I mean over ten years on beating the snot out of one of my bikes and not a drop. Just routine matinance on them.
I wanted to setup suspension for my weight anyway cause im 130lbs with muddy boots on an it was very stiff. I did my homework and wanted to send them to someone that does just husky's and is as close as possible. So i found Ace , he came highly recommended and sounded very promissing about what he would do to set it up for my riding style. I told him i am not rich but whatever he wanted to do and whatever it costs i want to do this once and do it right. Mailed suspension out and got a call a week later stating it would be about another week. I gave him credit card info and said whatever it would be was fine. About a week or two later i get suspension back. I open the box and i see $650 recipet and old seals in all ballz package ! He installed all ballz seals. All ballz seals are the cheap ebay brand. I have used them on old junk atvs but my husky? Well he was reputable and knows what he is doing so ok. I took about three weeks to get bike back together and finally tested her out (busy with work) Felt a lot better right off the bat around the house. I deffinetly felt revalving an i still have to play with clickers. About a month goes by before i can do the day test ride. I just hit over a hundred miles of trail riding when i see the left fork seal is leaking. I was about 10 miles from home. I cleaned and checked when i got home and found left seal is leaking bad and right is starting. Ok stuff happens so i call Mr. Harvey an he is gone .He has moved on to greener pastures. Web site now reads this http://aceproducts.biz/
I was told to go to another rebuilder and have them replace seals cause its common for sand and dirt to get up dust seals an then into oil seals. IN ONE RIDE do u guys rebuild forks every ride?? There are no visible pits or marks on tubes, i was told seals were installed with seal installation tools and im sure if your doing forks all day u know what your doing an have the right tools. I do not strap bike down too tight and i haven't hit any big jumps. Forks haven't compressed more than 3/4 yet. I called another local rebuilder and he laughed when i said all ballz seals. So do u guys think its the cheap seals or are these forks just garbage to begin with? Is this the real reason he is not in business anymore? If this was a supercross bike jumping off cliffs i would understand but a day of easy dry single track. I am going to go spend another $200 for real seals installed and hope the rest of the work doesn't get laughed at. They felt good for the one ride i hope the mods are good. I wish Harvey would have said something about him leaving a week after he did suspension cause this was a trial and error setup an i might have to send it back to make more changes. Sorry for rant just want to ride

 

[R_Little]

Sorry to hear about your situation.

Harve had an excellent reputation with those crappy 45mm forks.

He's done 2 sets for me years ago and they never leaked a drop.

My 125 forks kick butt.

I know it means nothing for you now.

you need to learn how to change seals yourself anyway.

 

[Drew Smith]

WE use the OEM. NOK seals. NOK makes all the seals for WP, KYB, SHOWA, and Marzocchi. they offer a good balance between durability and low friction, spring 2010 was very wet in the north east and we have seen alot of seal leakage on all brands.
We have serviced many F.F.'s where someone has installed the ALL BALLS and have seen good results. Sadly I think it's bad luck I know that dosn't help. My opinion Harvy is A good mechanic.

 

[Izanliart]

The fork seal has become the scourge of the modern motocrosser. Leaking at the most in-opertune time and creating the highest level of incovenience. But what causes them to leak. I have been reading many of the posts on this forum and it would appear that fork seals create the greatest amount of havoc for the greatest number of riders. Fork seals, contrary to popular opinion, rarely blow. Mostly they leak because they have a foriegn object lodged between the seal lip and the fork leg, holding the seal open and allowing oil to leak out. Usually this is dirt or mud, sometimes grass and so on. As modern forks grow in diameter to increase rigidity we also see an increase in seal drag due to the increased suface area. This additional drag creates unwanted harshness due to additional stiction or - static friction. In order to reduce the unwanted stiction the modern seals have less tension against the actual fork leg. Now when your wheel hits a bump we see the impact work in two directions. One tries to compress the fork and absorb the hit, the other tries to break the fork in half and push the front wheel back into the motor. This secondary force causes the forks to flex, usually at the lower triple clamp area. As the forks flex the seals are stressed and any dirt on the fork tube may get past the primary seal lip, lodging uderneath the seal and creating a path for oil to escape. Another from of stress to the fork tube is caused by the brake rotor. As you apply the brake there is a rotational toque applied to the wheel, opposing it's natural momentum. This force also creates stress to the fork leg which can affect the seals and create leaks. Hence the reason why most leaks occur on the brake side first. Obviously the dirt or foriegn matter needs to be removed from the seal to ensure correct performance. This is best done by removing the seal. Whilst the seal itself may not actually be damaged, I would still recommend replacing it with a new one.

 

[Motosportz]

We have serviced many F.F.'s where someone has installed the ALL BALLS and have seen good results. Sadly I think it's bad luck I know that dosn't help. My opinion Harvy is A good mechanic.

Agreed, good seals and great guys (Ace's) seems like luck of the draw. It's EZ to get crap in the seals. Might try just cleaning them out with the film negative trick.

 

[robertaccio]

remember to get the forks in proper alignment a small amout of side load can cause premature seal failure, or even "false" failure, where you get them aligned and unloaded and they stop leaking.
Best of luck, it sure sounds like a real pain.

 

[ghte]

One thing I have learned and it supports Roberts comments above is make sure your easy out axle handle is not butted against the right fork leg. What happens is when you tighten the axel bolt the right leg is marginally crimped inwards creating an irregular angle for that fork leg to function in the same linear plane as the left leg. This causes seals to distort, wear and leak prematurly. Also agree that it is a simple task to do your own seals. Get on the net and get on to rocky mountain ATV MM. They have some bloody brilliant how to videos on line including open cartridge and twin cartridge fork seal replacements. Mate, they are great free vids and worth a real good review. BTW I have only replaced 3 sets of fork seals since 2004 across 2x450's a 510 and now a 310. It's part preventative maintenance, fork alignment and a dollop of good luck

 

[thenash79]

Easy out axle handle is not contacting flange and when i installed forks i used digital micrometer to set forks exactly the same height in triple. I also torqued all bolts to oe specs. I know i have to learn how to replace seals an stop cryin. I guess its just my luck, this usually happens when i pay to have stuff done. I did not want to come off bashing Ace i know $@#* happens. I am going to send forks out to another reputable rebuilder cause if there is a problem i want to catch it now. i could see if it was one fork , but not both with one good ride. If it is ok for a while after this time i will try to do seals myself next time. I have riden this terrain for the past 15 years without an issue. I know seals don't last forever but they should last longer than this.

 

[andy j]

had a similar problem, as mentioned it can be forks out of alignment. or twisted on the axel.. once re aligned them i have no issues since..
just to re confirm the forks leaked/weeped after re alignment it all stopped..

i followed a procedure from a post on here somewhere, will have to search for it when i got more time later tonight for you..

my forks are 50mm shivers

chin up


AJ

 

[pmpski_1]

Fork seals, contrary to popular opinion, rarely blow. Mostly they leak because they have a foriegn object lodged between the seal lip and the fork leg, holding the seal open and allowing oil to leak out. Usually this is dirt or mud, sometimes grass and so on.

Do products like Seal Savers work to help prevent foreign objects getting caught in the seal?

 

[Joe Chod]

Do products like Seal Savers work to help prevent foreign objects getting caught in the seal?

yes but it does not let you "set it-and forget it". They get dirty also and eventually the dirt gets in and you all know the rest. As a guy once said "don't ride them in the dirt or just don't ride them....otherwise expect it to happen."

 

[ioneater]

I think George brought this up on a thread somewhere regarding fork alignment. Having the fork heights equal in the triple clamps does not mean they will be aligned vertically at the axle end. He has a technique posted somewhere here or on TT on how to ensure they are equal at the bottom, which is what really counts. You should be able to easily slide the axle through with minimal force if they are aligned. Neither of my Husky's are the same height in the triple clamps but my axle goes right in. Hope this makes sense.