Forks seals.. OEM or not?

[degrom]

OEM fork seals or Vesrah?

89' Kawasaki ZX1000B2... (Old forks...)

[riffer]

You're saving for a house aren't you Bert?

That should answer your question.

Pay for OEM if you can afford the extra $$$.

[degrom]

You're saving for a house aren't you Bert?

That should answer your question.

Pay for OEM if you can afford the extra $$$.

LOL... Ended up buying in Totara Park...

The OEM seals are $40 and the after market ones are $23...

Might as well go for the OEM parts as they are guaranteed to be good. :)

[riffer]

Oh well then, welcome neighbour!

Personally, I've never really noticed much of a difference but FWIW, I usually buy OEM.

[sugilite]

I have a 89 ZXR750 and the OEM fork seals crap out very quickly under race conditions.
I get these ones (Leak Proof Pro-Moly Leak Proof Fork Seals) from the states and no further probs, they last well and have less stiction to boot!:cool:

http://www.denniskirk.com/jsp/product_catalog/Product.jsp?skuId=14591&store=null&catId=416&productId=p14586&leafCatId=41606&mmyId=6024
(These are for your model)

[degrom]

I have a 89 ZXR750 and the OEM fork seals crap out very quickly under race conditions.
I get these ones (Leak Proof Pro-Moly Leak Proof Fork Seals) from the states and no further probs, they last well and have less stiction to boot!:cool:

http://www.denniskirk.com/jsp/product_catalog/Product.jsp?skuId=14591&store=null&catId=416&productId=p14586&leafCatId=41606&mmyId=6024
(These are for your model)

Thanks for that...

What weight fork oil do you use with these fork seal?

[merv]

If you only talking about $20 difference that won't go very far on the house either except to pay for getting another couple of keys cut or something so go for quality because the pain of changing them more often isn't worth such a tiny saving.

[sugilite]

Thanks for that...

What weight fork oil do you use with these fork seal?
Same as OEM.
The 750 has cartridge forks recommended 5 wt, I use 7.5.

[Robert Taylor]

I have a 89 ZXR750 and the OEM fork seals crap out very quickly under race conditions.
I get these ones (Leak Proof Pro-Moly Leak Proof Fork Seals) from the states and no further probs, they last well and have less stiction to boot!:cool:

http://www.denniskirk.com/jsp/product_catalog/Product.jsp?skuId=14591&store=null&catId=416&productId=p14586&leafCatId=41606&mmyId=6024
(These are for your model)

I always dispute such claims, the so called ''leakproof'' seals almost always increase both stiction and friction. It would be interesting to do a truely scientific test devoid of all preconceptions and politics.

If you are looking for long life servicable sliders and good bushings are the first pre-requisite. High quality seals ( and dust seals ) with a ''curtain rail'' on both sealing lips are a second pre-requisite. So is a good quality oil.

And no chemical cleaners / detergents directly on the sliders etc. A dose of crc or similiar every now and then followed by a wipe with a lint free cloth.

Cheap seals almost always means just that.

BTW, fork seals should last a full season of NZ road racing with careful installation and a proper maintenance regime.

[sugilite]

The seals I mention are very flexible and made a difference on the ZX9R I raced.
The oem seals lasted about 4 meetings and I did get a year out of the flexi type seals I replaced them with.

I've gone through 3 sets of OEM seals on the 750 and are quite sure they were fitted correctly.
I've done some research and have found that H model ZXR750 forks regularly do their seals. I'm about to fit the new ones, so here is hoping they have the same effect as the ZX9R ones :yes:

[degrom]

Another thing.. When I removed the seals there were wire clips on them to keep them in place.

The wire clips are rusted. Is that bad or does it not matter?

[bimotabob]

Hi
I wouldn't try Vesrah again after having 2 leak on the same bike and after redoing it with OEM it never leaked again.
Honda seem to do a kit with both dust and oil seals for a good price -
the common 41mm size anyway.

Cheers

[Robert Taylor]

Another thing.. When I removed the seals there were wire clips on them to keep them in place.

The wire clips are rusted. Is that bad or does it not matter?

They are there as extra insurance to hold the seals in, if they are rusted so much it affects their mechanical integtity replace them.

[degrom]

They are there as extra insurance to hold the seals in, if they are rusted so much it affects their mechanical integtity replace them.

Lucky they still work fine.. Just wondered if the rust would contaminate the seal and cause it to leak...

Not to worry then. Thanks for all the advice!!! (That goes to everyone helping)

[Robert Taylor]

The seals I mention are very flexible and made a difference on the ZX9R I raced.
The oem seals lasted about 4 meetings and I did get a year out of the flexi type seals I replaced them with.

I've gone through 3 sets of OEM seals on the 750 and are quite sure they were fitted correctly.
I've done some research and have found that H model ZXR750 forks regularly do their seals. I'm about to fit the new ones, so here is hoping they have the same effect as the ZX9R ones :yes:

Although I am not so familiar with that model I suspect there may be not so much overlap between the load bearing surfaces in the fork assembly and that in turn causes a lot of seal distortion.

And because of the shortcomings of upside down forks ( lots of friction under delective braking loads etc ) many manufacturers clearance their forks rather liberally.

To that end I guess your flexible seals are the hot ticket in this sensitive model.

[Robert Taylor]

I always dispute such claims, the so called ''leakproof'' seals almost always increase both stiction and friction. It would be interesting to do a truely scientific test devoid of all preconceptions and politics.

If you are looking for long life servicable sliders and good bushings are the first pre-requisite. High quality seals ( and dust seals ) with a ''curtain rail'' on both sealing lips are a second pre-requisite. So is a good quality oil.

And no chemical cleaners / detergents directly on the sliders etc. A dose of crc or similiar every now and then followed by a wipe with a lint free cloth.

Cheap seals almost always means just that.

BTW, fork seals should last a full season of NZ road racing with careful installation and a proper maintenance regime.


This thread is worth resurrecting as I have real concerns about the hype surrounding some currently available 3 sealing lip fork seals that are quite different in appearance to the norm. They are supposedly lower drag than oem, my own tests and those of other high volume suspension tuners confirms exactly the opposite.

A number of bikes now come out with a slippery coating ''veneered'' over the base hard chrome on their sliders. These coatings eg ''DLC'' on GSXR1000 and the Kawasaki variation on some models are VERY slippery and effective, as is the more common gold titanium nitride. These coatings can in certain instances wear rapidly as they are only wafer thin. Anything that increases drag and friction i.e low quality high friction seals, cheap oil, improper cleaning, dusty roads etc will accelerate the likelihood of such a possibility.

Caveat emptor.

[riffer]

Interesting Robert.

Is there a service available to recoat these sort of forks?

Also, would you believe that the coating would wear off unevenly, potentially causing repeated failure of the oil seals?

[Robert Taylor]

Interesting Robert.

Is there a service available to recoat these sort of forks?

Also, would you believe that the coating would wear off unevenly, potentially causing repeated failure of the oil seals?

I dont know about the DLC etc but there is at least a service available in OZ for the titanium nitrate. As it is so wafer thin it tends to wear off ''smoothly'' so doesnt usually give an operational problem. But certainly an appearance problem.

I think the DLC is very protectively licensed at present, making the cost of a service prohibitively expensive.

[degrom]

I dont know about the DLC etc but there is at least a service available in OZ for the titanium nitrate. As it is so wafer thin it tends to wear off ''smoothly'' so doesnt usually give an operational problem. But certainly an appearance problem.

I think the DLC is very protectively licensed at present, making the cost of a service prohibitively expensive.


I am sure there were a place in Auckland that did the titanium nitrate.

I used Vesrah seals in the end ,have not done any extensive riding yet,but they seem to be working fine. Was a really interesting experience replacing them and I will definitely do them myself in the future.