Front Fork seals HELP!

[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.