Front Fork seals HELP!

[adamt]

Hey guys just went for a quick ride tonight and noticed my front left fork seal is leaking but only when it was tied down on the ute it started happening and at such short notice as i'm going on a 2-3 hour ride (foresty tracks nothing hardout) tomorrow i'm thinking if i cant get new ones would it be sweet just to ride anyways ? could i do any damage ? just top it up maybe ? also how on earth do you replace them? and how do you fill em up with oil? what type of oil ? there upside down forks on a 92 Kdx250

Thanks guys!

[Motu]

Top them up with ATF and go for your ride - the oil will stop the mud sticking to your forks....you didn't know there was an upside eh? Do the seals when you have time - I've never done upside down forks,but I don't think they are hugely different from normal forks.Get a manual and read it sometime.....

[Henk]

The other thing you could do if you have time is slide the scraper seal down and clean out the seal proper with either a piece of film negative if you can still find some or a thin piece of plastic from a drink bottle (e.g. H2GO).
This isn't a long term fix but it has got me through an enduro before today. I wouldn't get to stressed out about topping the oil up for one ride if they have only just started leaking as you probably haven't lost that much oil anyway.

[adamt]

Sweet! i thought it was all gonna be DOOM and GLOOM dont ride! nah awesome cant wait to ride tomorrow with peace of mind! thanks guys!:2thumbsup

[adamt]

by the way how do u top up front forks? where you put the oil?

[Mattyc]

by the way how do u top up front forks? where you put the oil?

loosen the top tripple clamp and undo the caps at the top, seals arent that hard to do, i did the ones in my Mrs's bw CR 80 in about an hour including removal, had to use the gas to get the seals out , three of us gave the slidehammer type method where you hold the fork stanchon in then slide it out with great vengance and furious anger, over and over till it pops out, since i couldnt be bothered pissing around, i got the gas out and very lightly heated the bottom of the top part of the fork where the seal sits, a couple of slides and they both popped out like having a shit.

now i just gotta do my own forks at they are bottoming going up some jumps

[adamt]

hey matt i dont have access to a gas tourch can you unbolt the bottom bolt where the damper adjuster is and pull the whole hub off and slide the lot off ? what would i use to get that flipping mission nut off anyways impact wreach me thinks!

[Mattyc]

Hey

have you removed a long rod from inside the shock yet ? its the damping rod, also there may be a circlip under the wipers - on top of the seal. I personally wouldnt attempt to get the clamps off the bottom, ive never tried it, and it doesnt really seem like the thing to do - getting them to stay on after removed may take some witchcraft.

also i hope you have the caps off and have drained the oil and removed the springs ? you dont need a gas torch, some of them are just stubborn, if you cant get it apart slidehammer method, take it to a local mechanic, give him 10$ to gently heat where the seal sits and whack them out

edit - If i were to get it out (although id avoid like the plague) the hex things out the bottom, id use a big ass allen key, with a long bit of steel pipe over it, but again if it doesnt come out you might need that gas set again to heat it. Im not 100% on those particular shocks but you should not have to take that out . my mrs cr80bw the damping rods came out with the caps.

[Wellyman]

Make a Fork brace out of wood,I use one for my bike made at home . or you can buy them from shops but it is easy enough to make.

[adamt]

yup got the huge as hex bolt at the top off and the damper rods WONT come out spring did oil did! but teh damper rod wont its really annoying! so basically by the slide hammer method you mean slide the shock up and down real hard and they come out ? i'm kinda lost sorry! thanks for the help aye first times always the worst!

[Brian d marge]

hi there
They Kayaba forks ???

I ll post a picture of the 2 forks make sure which one you have as there are different method s for each

Stephen

[adamt]

hey, they are the image A bigger pic is that the kayaba forks?

[Mattyc]

yup got the huge as hex bolt at the top off and the damper rods WONT come out spring did oil did! but teh damper rod wont its really annoying! so basically by the slide hammer method you mean slide the shock up and down real hard and they come out ? i'm kinda lost sorry! thanks for the help aye first times always the worst!

which shocks do you have ? like the left pic a or right pic ?

the slide hammer method, you compress the fork and then rip it out as fast as as hard as you can with great vengance and furious anger. do this over and over

but id wait to see if you can get this rod out first, can you see it if you look down where the springs / oil sit

[adamt]

my shocks are picture on the left the bigger picture of the two, when you look down the shock sleeve where the damper rod lives theres like some kinda specialized tool that you need to hold this special nut at the bottom of the damper rod then i'm guessing you turn the bottom nut under the hub as shown in the pic i posted and they will seperate coz before i knew you had to hold this nut it was just spinning up top where the damper rod is inside the shock and not doing anything! gotta be an easier way!

[Mattyc]

well im fucked if i know, id have to have a gander down there myself, but it sounds like you might need to talk to someone whos stripped them shocks before.the different to the ones i have had in bits

[adamt]

yeah took them to a mechanic loooks like u need specialized tools! thanks for trying to help anyways matt

[Wellyman]

Take it to Tjbbe Bruin, he does all the suspension on my bikes, he's a real wizard.
WM

[XTC]

They say you need specialised tools to hold the damper rod when trying to undo the allen bolt at the bottom of the fork that is unless you have a compressor and a rattle gun then Viola!. The way I pop the seals out is to loosen the top cap fill the fork with oil (any old oil will do) screw top cap back on then put the fork in a press (you can bodgy one up at home with a trolley jack for this) when you compress the fork the oil presure will pop the seal out with out using the slide hammer method and damaging your bushes. Using the slide hammer type method quite often damages the coating on the bushes of the Kayaba forks. If using the press method ensure you have a container under to catch the oil that will ooze out. I have made up a seal driver out of PVC pressure pipe split down the middle for seal installation. You can spend money on special tools or you can improvise.... The inetrnet is a good source of "how to" articles just have to use the search function. Also ensure you set the oil level correctly after bleeding all the air out of the forks. You can also buy a special fork oil level tool or do what i did and get a large syringe from your local vet, use a piece of hose on the end and a peg on that hose set at the oil level you require then just extract the excess oil down to that level using the syringe to suck it out. Easy really... Whay would you pay someone to do this? Now showa's latest forks now that's a different matter...
Andy.