Speed Triple with a rooted fork seal after 21,000km

[Pumba]

Right the S3's left hand fork seal has gone and given up the gost and is dumping its oil out over the ground.

Question 1, what the hell would have caused this after only 21,000 odd km? Seems a bit premiture to me.

Question 2, assuming I strip the front end down my self and take the fork to someone to replace the seal (trust me I am to ham fisted to do it myself, I have tried on othe bikes in the past and failed mierably), who would be the best person to undertkae such a task in Auckland?

Question 3, should I be doing the right hand seal while I am at it?

Just to rub salt into the wond the bike is only about 3 months out of its waranty period, if I could have convinced them to cover it.

Cheers, a currently really pissed off Pumba

[JimO]

to many monos

[Mom]

you could have picked up a little stone and it has damaged the seal, any number of things could have happened. I dont think that would even be covered under warrantee. Pisses you off though. Check the fork legs and make sure there is no damage on the surface too. I would advise doing both of them, it is not an expensive repair. Any bike shop with a half decent workshop will be able to do it for you.

[Hitcher]

USD forks are the problem. With the slider bit at the bottom covered with a thin film of oil they attract road grime and abraded material off the front discs. This acts as an efficient grinding paste that lays waste to fork seals. Regular and studious attention to fork hygiene is an answer.

My Shiver's fork seals are also in need of attention. Arguably this is a warranty issue, but there is no way that I am going to raise this with the New Zealand distributor. Their studious inattention to my last warranty claim clearly demonstrated the worth of Aprilia's unlimited mileage two-year factory warranty: it was clearly a waste of Triumph New Zealand's time and resources.

[Big Dave]

Cheers, a currently really pissed off Pumba

Dude. It's a fork seal - unless a meteorite has hit it and damaged the leg badly - it's a 40 minute job at a shop and what can be a semi regular occurrence in your motorcycle lifetime.

Inspect regularly and keep some fine emery paper handy to dress any stone nicks in the fork leg before they cut up the seals - easier said than done.

Deep breath now and recite the Eskimo joke.

Oh and Shane at AMPS always treats me fairly. Cycletreads would do it too.

[Big Dave]

USD forks are the problem. '

'Bernie I said';

[T.W.R]

Question 1, what the hell would have caused this after only 21,000 odd km? Seems a bit premiture to me.:

Any number of things, take your pick
try owning a bike that did it on a regular 12mthly basis not matter what was done to remedy the issue

Question 2, assuming I strip the front end down my self and take the fork to someone to replace the seal (trust me I am to ham fisted to do it myself, I have tried on othe bikes in the past and failed mierably), who would be the best person to undertkae such a task in Auckland?

Any decent mech worth their salt should be able to have it done in 30mins

Question 3, should I be doing the right hand seal while I am at it?

If it ain't leaking leave it alone, but change the oil to match the other fork

[Robert Taylor]

Right the S3's left hand fork seal has gone and given up the gost and is dumping its oil out over the ground.

Question 1, what the hell would have caused this after only 21,000 odd km? Seems a bit premiture to me.

Question 2, assuming I strip the front end down my self and take the fork to someone to replace the seal (trust me I am to ham fisted to do it myself, I have tried on othe bikes in the past and failed mierably), who would be the best person to undertkae such a task in Auckland?

Question 3, should I be doing the right hand seal while I am at it?

Just to rub salt into the wond the bike is only about 3 months out of its waranty period, if I could have convinced them to cover it.

Cheers, a currently really pissed off Pumba

Has the fork oil ever been replaced in line with recommended maintenace schedule? I could rattle off at least 10 or more reasons why fork seals dont last forever and most of that is due to the conditions they operate in and overall maintenance regime. I dont think there is any justification to be unhappy about a fork seal leaking after 21000 ks or several million compression cycles.
MX bikes can trash a set of fork seals in only one mud meeting, as an extreme example.
Get both seals done by a competent and very experienced mecahanic and dont use cheap seals or multilip ones masquerading as long life seals.

[Pumba]

Yea you are probally right it was a bit of an over reaction. Saw it when I left work and nobody was home when I got here so I vented on line. I have had a bit if a run round and am feeling much calmer about the situation

Cheers for the advise all

[dipshit]

You may have already had the forks seen too... but...

Watch this vid.. http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/5690943 (skip the first 12 minutes)

If I was you I would take this opportunity to get a full strip and rebuild of the forks. (probably the oil has never been changed before...???)

And I wouldn't trust just any mechanic to do the job either. (half the ones down here can't even change engine oil or do basic servicing jobs without ballsing something up!)

Find a mechanic with a good reputation of doing suspension work.

[Squiggles]

Take it to AJ at Motohaus, he's literally just round the corner from you