Fork Seals

[Speedy1959]

Yesterday I renewed all the hydraulic fluid and then 1st thing this morning changed engine oil and filter...

Then took my bike out for the 1st time in 10 days.
How did she repay me?
By springing a leak from the right fork oil seal!
No warnings or oily damp marks on the chrome..
The leak was bad enough to be running down the fork leg!
Then after about 30 minutes for no reason it stopped totally.
Talked to bikers locally and they reckon its the unaccustomed heat 30C recently.

Is that likely?
Another biker said "If your gonna replace the seals / dust seals then its prudent to do the bushes as well.
Is that advice accurate?
The oil that came out was golden and clear..
My bike has had the lower legs powder coated Black so its likely the forks have been stripped in the past by the previous owner.

I have never done fork seals before..
If I chose to replace just the seals and dust seals then is it something that can be done WITHOUT stripping down the forks totally?
If it involves a strip down then I shall just pay the dealer to do it and do the bushings at the same time.
Remember I dont have the luxury of a garage / work bench so for me its more difficult than for you lucky guys with fabulous workshops.

Thanks in advance,

S.

[gsxbarmy]

To replace a fork seal, you have no option but to strip the forks down Simon

http://gsx1400owners.org/forum/index.php?topic=220.0

Whether you need bushes as well......whilst maybe prudent, it's typically more on higher mileage machines these need doing. But if you are going to get a dealer to do your forks then probably not a bad call.

[Del]

I would do the buses as well I did 2 seals of seals that both failed - 3rd set did with bushes all good not mate

[Mick_J]

If you are going to go to the trouble and expense of getting a dealer to do all the work I would consider going to a suspension specialist and maybe having the forks modified to suit you better with better internals.  Probably only cost a little more but will give you a better front end and maybe later do the rear.  Just my thoughts on it.

[grog]

mjgt, totally agree. thats what i did. i cant be bothered messing with forks, i could do it no probs, just not something i want to do.

[gsxbarmy]

If you are going to go to the trouble and expense of getting a dealer to do all the work I would consider going to a suspension specialist and maybe having the forks modified to suit you better with better internals.  Probably only cost a little more but will give you a better front end and maybe later do the rear.  Just my thoughts on it.

If you can find one!!!!!! I wanted mine re-valved when I had it, but was told that it could not be done by a couple of specialists as the parts were not available.

Only people I found who could possibly do it were Maxton, as they manufacture any "odd" parts required.

https://www.maxtonsuspension.co.uk/

[Speedy1959]

My "local" place has a good reputation..
I have sent off an e mail with details of my bike..
Will let you know if its doable or not due to potential parts issues..

https://www.twsuspensiontech.co.uk/

S

[Hooli]

You won't know if it's worth doing the bushes until you've got them apart. The wear on the bushes is quite obvious as the backing material is a different colour to the bush itself. I'll try n find a couple of pics once I'm home later.

I replaced the bushes in mine at 100k, from the difference I think they were due about 50k earlier but at £70 from suzuki for OEM I hadn't bothered.