| Author | Message | ||
     Skyguy |
This is neat, I have planned a ride to NorCal and am supposed to leave this evening. Then it struck. The fork seal starts seeping badly. I know there is not a HD shop with a part in stock for hundreds (if not thousands) of miles. So I am screwed. I trailered it down to my buds shop to change the tire anyway and he gave me this great trick and it has saved the day. He told me to take a tear off from a face shield and cut it up to form a slight curve with a small rounded tip. Then slide the tip under the dust seal with it pressed flat to the fork leg, spin it around under the dust seal to get out any loose dirt. Then with the concave side facing in the direction of travel continue to push it up under the lip of the seal. Best to keep a little forward motion as you do this. You will feel it slide in. Then slide it around the fork leg and slightly down. The idea is to drag the dirt out and down. I noticed lots of dirt in mine. Do this several times and then grab a rag and go for a short ride. Stop to clean the oil off the fork leg every couple of miles. At first I thought the trick was not going to work for me but I noticed that some oil gets trapped behind the dust seal and takes a moment to work its way out. Day saved! I guess sometimes it is just some dirt up there causing a leak. Mine is dry as a bone now. I am going to order up the seals though just in case. | ||
| Gearhead998 |
Thanks for the tip. Good to know. | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
Interesting idea. | ||
| Old_man |
For what it might be worth; On some bikes I had in the past, when the fork seals began to leak, I drained the forks and then filled them with automatic transmission fluid, rode the bike a little to work the fluid, left it in a few days, riding a little to work the forks. then drained it out and refilled with the proper fluid. Seals then worked as good as new. ATF has a conditioner in it that revived the seals in the fork, thin fluid seems to clean out everything. I'm not recommending this, but it used to work. | ||
| Al_lighton |
Tim, We have those fork and dust seals in stock if you need them. We're not an HD/Buell dealer, but we are within 100 miles! http://www.americansportbike.com/shop/cgi-bin/cp-app.cgi?usr=51F7827572&rnd=2217 216&rrc=N&affl=&cip=69.160.135.44&act=&aff=&pg=prod&ref=9201&cat=&catstr= http://www.americansportbike.com/shop/cgi-bin/cp-app.cgi?usr=51F7827572&rnd=2217 216&rrc=N&affl=&cip=69.160.135.44&act=&aff=&pg=prod&ref=9203&cat=&catstr= Al | ||
| Bomber |
OM -- we musta gone to school together (back when fork seals were good for a year or two, tops!) I'm thinkin that, these days, the ATF trick (which I assume works by swelling the seals, just a tad) may lead to increased sticktion on the forks operating -- who woulda noticed this in an oil-bag bonnie or XLCH? certainly not me ;-} | ||
| Bluzm2 |
Belray makes fork oil with seal swell alreacy in it. It has helped me many times on my old dirt bikes. Brad |
