WTF! is up with fork seals!!!

[hrc85250r]

well, i have now gone through my 2nd set of fork seals on my R in 2 years...its ridiculous, i put the new ones in this spring and they are leaking like a SOB again....these are the beter ones, but not pro-moly....the last set of vesrah ones sucked really bad, now these suck too...WTF!...anyone else had the same problem???? any special brand of really good fork seals???

i do have to note that there is 3 tiny tiny tiny dings on my fork tube, im talking TINY! you can barely feel them with your finger, and arent very visible to the eye...they dont cause an indentation or anything like that they are pretty much like idk... .000001" in diameter or smaller, i can take a pic but i dont think you can see them, do you think these would cause this massive seepage?

also i installed them right...so putting them in wrong isnt an option....

thanks guys

[ATCWRENCH]

if you jump your trike a lot that has a lot to do with it. when you land real hard all the fluid goes to the top of your forks with a lot of pressure, of course once the landing has occured the fluid settles back down quickly to dampen the rebound of the forks. I have a buddy with an old dirt bike that he trashes around on and he jumped it a little to high and when he landed the seals blew and he got shot in the face with old qoagulated(sp) fork oil. it was nothin for the old racers to have to do that every one or two races in a season. it's just the high exerted oil pressure against the seals that makes them blow up and leak.

[hrc85250r]

yeah, but god damn, i dont jump!!!!! i just crank around and through fields....idk...i am pissed about this crap....

[Dammit!]

Is it both sides or just one?

A slightly tweaked tube can cause it. Air build up can cause it too. Don't run ANY air in them at all and remember to bleed the air out occasionally.

[ATCWRENCH]

well then ya got me stumped as well cuz I dont have clue either. the only other thing i can think of is the forks moving up and down to fast when ** burnin across a field. beyond that i dont know

[Billy Golightly]

Are you, by any chance, using aftermarket seals? Thought so. Go OEM, or you'll keep on replacing them. Thats just how it is. I had a set of the high dollar pro moly ones in my Z, and it leaked 2 weaks later. Now its so bad the oil runs out and onto the front brake caliper and it gets on the pads. Have fun stopping then!

[HRC1]

I'm in the same boat. I jump my 85" R but christ, 2 summers ago i put in new seals and i noticed them leakin just from sitting the bike on end over the winter. I thought it might be a little seepage, no big deal. I took it to the dunes, didn't notice anything weird, went trail riding last weekend and DAMN! smoked the clutch side seal bad. Leakin like a faucet. Now i gotta get new ones again, might try oem and see what happens. From what i have hurd, never get the never leak ones. they will leak i am told. And i run oem forkboots, so it's not like my tubes are trashed. The bike is about as nice as i could ask for, not beat up, maybe it's somethin we gotta live with?

[hrc85250r]

well, my right tube was bent a little when i got it, but its within a couple thousandths now....its probly within spec if there was one...and the one thats leaking really bad is the left....i will get oem from sovies this week or next and maybe it will be better...i hope so....or i can always get a mint front end off ebay for like 50$.....

[Huffa]

Any seal will leak if crude gets locked in between the lip of seal and tube but that doesn't nessasaliry mean your seal is shot. I might be able to help some of you out, read below.

Film negative trick : Pop the dust seal up and make sure that is clean 1st (you should do that all the time anyway), THEN take a film negative and sneak it in between the seal and tube and proceed to go around the tube using a bit of contact cleaner. To aid in it sliding down hold the negative firmly against the circumfirence of the tube to get it inbetween tube and seal. Make sure you have a nice straight, crisp edge and go back and forth a bit with negative as your going down. You will feel it tuck in.

Many of times I have cured a slight leak on my motoxer by using this method.

Now if it's weeping like crazy, well then forget it but a slight leak this method might work.

If you have a real weeper and just noticed it on a day of a ride, try putting a little gause in between dust seal and main seal to help absorb the fluid. If you have a cap and no boots load the cap up with gause. Fork boots you could probably put a good amount in there too. At least you could finish out the day with out it weeping on your brand new brakes that you most likely just bought!

[250rAL]

What are you running for fork oil? If you're using ATF, that could be the problem. It's what Honda recommends but real fork oil makes the seals last longer. I just looked it up in my maintenance log and the last time I changed my seals was 1989! They started leaking within a year of when I started using ATF. I now use PJ-1 oil and Honda seals. You can also try mixing a little power steering stop-leak with the fork oil. I forget the ratio but it softens the seals and they may stop leaking without changing them out.

[deathman53]

it has to be something with the atf, I jump my 250r like crazy and the only fork problems I had were leaking fork seals(I dumbly put some air the forks and did ALOT of big jumps), almost 2 years later, my fork springs were shot and caused the bike to bottom very easy. I always used fork oil and regularly jump the bike like crazy, I'm on my second frame, second linkege botls(they all were bent) and my third top bolt for the shock mount(again always bends) and one fork rebuild. It has to be something with the oil you are using in the forks. I just recently ordered a new rear shock for my bike, elka daul rate, 0 preload, compression, rebound and ride height adjustable. I just replaced my forks with ones I rebuilt as spares, might as well go with all new suspension and I bought new springs too.

[hrc85250r]

well, i figure my problem is one of three things, i used atf fluid, i put air in them (3psi), and i used aftermarket seals....so i wont do any of that next time...thanks guys

[Huffa]

I don't think ATF will make them leak any quicker at all. Neither of us have any scientific proof that it does or does not. I'm sure Honda though would not recomend for years and years in the manuals to use the stuff if that was the case.

[Red Rider]

Do any of you guys ever replace the bushings in the forks, or do you just keep throwing in new seals? I replaced the seals twice within about 2 years, and this was after the stockers lasted several years, so I knew there was something else causing the seals to leak so quickly. If your bushings are worn enough, they'll allow just enough play in your forks that the seals can't seal properly. I've always used PJ1 fork oil & aftermarket seals. I replaced the bushings & seals on my last fork rebuild several years ago, and still no leaks yet. Any dings or nicks in the chrome fork sliders must be smoothed out with very fine sand paper & polish, or all of the work will have been for nothing.

[hrc85250r]

ok, so where do you get the bushings, and how do you install them? or is it in the clymer manual?