Got a bit of a leaky seal on the left side.

It's not gushing oil out... but after a ride, there is a good amount on the stanchion tube... which is collecting dust obviously.

I've done hundreds of MTB forks, worked in a few shops, never needed any special tools...

Can someone recommend me some aftermarket fork seals? Or are the OE ones a great seal to begin with? I know Fox has wicked new seals for 2012 MTB forks...

Also, anyone know how to take this fork apart? I watched some Motorcycle fork rebuilds on YouTube and most seem to treat the fork as a fragile piece of glass, needing special tools etc... Can I just remove the foot nut, and slide the stanchion out? Swap in new seals, and put it back together, with fresh oil?

Just a note, the dust wiper is doing a GREAT job making oil rings and cleaning the upper part of the stanchion, it just appears to be the oil seal that has failed.

On another note... I don't think I've ever gotten over half the travel out of this fork? A regular highway ride with some bumps seems to use about 1/3 the travel, and doing some curb hopping uses about 1/2 the travel, and so does super hard braking.... is the top half undamped for compression and the second half a hydraulic bottom out circuit?

Sorry for 1000 questions in one thread, I'm just learning a lot about Motorcycles with this bike. I build my own wheels, bleed brakes, re-shim forks/shocks on my MTBs, but I like to get into things knowing any potential issues before hand.

Thanks for any help guys.

 

Have you tried the camera film/negative cleaning the seals out first? The trick is to slide a piece of disposable film or negative underneath the seal lip to try to clean out the dirt/debris out without having to replace the seal at that time. Sometimes it works sometimes you have to replace the seal.... its worth a try to see if you can avoid having to disassemble the forks.

best of luck

 

Agreed, see if you can clean the seepage by swiping the seal with a thin flexible material. I have used playing cards in the past while at the track as a desperate means. Generally, I use this thin ruler that you can get from walmart. Cut it to shape. You can also see the motion pro seal cleaners in the background.

I have had really good luck with factory seals on my street/track rides.

 

You can cut a plastic milk jug too, it works. I have had to do this numerous times.

 

Silly street bike that never sees mud... fork seals take a beating off road...

 

hahaha, true, seals take a beating off road. But trust me that street and track rides blow seals just as often. My CR480 blew less seals than my track rides.

I like the milk jug idea.

 

I usually cut it in the shape of a hook to grab the dirt out...Windshield Washer fluid bottles are too thick to use. Milk jugs seem just about the right thickness.

 

nice, need to cut me up one and keep it in the suspension box. Cheap too! The motion pro's I think are too thin.

 

I dont keep them, i just cut one up as needed. lol Works great, if it wont stop the leak, time to replace the seals.

 

Interesting... Nobody I know in the bicycle industry has ever slid anything under the seals to clean them out.

I'll have to try that out...

I'm guessing I'll have to slide it past the bulge in the forks upper leg where the oil seal is?

Maybe the seal started leaking due to brake dust accumulating on the stanchion? I'm really good about wiping down stanchions on my MTB, but always forget on the KLX, plus it's an inverted fork, so I can't just wipe it with my hand like I normally do.