Fork seal leaking?

blacked_busa

blacked_busa

Registered
I noticed the other day that I have a slight amount of oil on my left fork. It only leaves a little oil on my fingers when I wipe it. I do not see it dripping or leaking to my brakes or wheel. Should I be concerned about this small amount of oil? I am assuming this is not normal anyway? I found something online called seal mate. Does this stuff work or would benefit me since my fork doesnt have a serious leak?
 
Once it starts leaking it will continue. Some hear have tried sealmate, but i don't know who!

It will get worse as time goes on, maybe a good time to plan ahead to replace them soon.
 
i would imagine you can get a new set of fork seals at honda east eom parts finder. im sure there are others. i would not delay. ive had to replace mine 2 times since i bout it new in 06. common problem im sorry to say. but when mine started to leak it went from what you describe to a large amount in a very short period of time.
 
Yep - plan on replacing them. Michelle's started out the same way as yours and just got worse. Replaced them last year. I bought the parts from Honda East Toledo. There's a write-up on the .oRg on how to replace them... It was pretty easy.
 
Try a seal mate tool first. I've used one on my dirt bike and it worked great. Sometimes a bit of dirt or grit gets on the seal lip and causes it to leak. The seal mate removes the gunk without damaging the seal. Make sure you follow the instructions.
 
I wish i was able to do it myself but I just dont have the tools to do it. I got someone that can do it for $200. Thats included labor and all the parts. Doesnt seem like a bad price. Hopefully after replacing these I want have to do it again for awhile. I just took it to the deals gap and rode it pretty hard so that could have caused it to finally leak. Normally im easy on it around town anyway so hopefully the new seals will last for awhile.
 
It is a bummer but to swap seals / dust covers + new fluid is worth the effort...for you it may be a good time to change springs to match your body weight while you have it apart...
 
I weigh 185 pounds. Would it be worth buying new springs? I have noticed a spot on the garage floor so ill be change the seals this week.
 
From what i have read on the forums that if I change the fork springs that Ill also need to change some other things. I don't have the money to do all that. I recently rode deals gap pretty hard and im pretty sure that was the cause of my fork seals to leak. I dont plan on riding that hard for awhile.
 
My fork seals started leaking at 2200 miles. I have seen a lot of ppl post about there's leaking. I wonder if there is a factory defect on the seals. no bike should start leaking at 2200 miles.
 
FWIW- I just changed my fork seals about 3 weeks ago. I had changed fork seals before on a Honda Shadow, so I was a little nervous about changing them on this one. You'll have to make a fork compression tool (LOTS of threads on this), but know that, other than the job being a little messy, it was a breeze. The most difficult part was figuring out how to raise the bike to get the forks out. It was extremely easy- I took my time, was extremely careful that I was doing everything correctly, and I believe it took about an hour after I had the forks off.

Or, pay someone else to do it. The shop around me quoted me at $200, but they wanted to add fork oil and parts to this LOL! No thanks. I think that $200 for everything is fair if you take the forks into them. A lot less mess to have a shop do it.

I'm stubborn and sometimes less than optimistic about the work ethic of others (especially regarding any of my stuff with 2-4 tires on them), so I decided to do it myself.
 
mattymatt716 said:
FWIW- I just changed my fork seals about 3 weeks ago. I had changed fork seals before on a Honda Shadow, so I was a little nervous about changing them on this one. You'll have to make a fork compression tool (LOTS of threads on this), but know that, other than the job being a little messy, it was a breeze. The most difficult part was figuring out how to raise the bike to get the forks out. It was extremely easy- I took my time, was extremely careful that I was doing everything correctly, and I believe it took about an hour after I had the forks off.

Or, pay someone else to do it. The shop around me quoted me at $200, but they wanted to add fork oil and parts to this LOL! No thanks. I think that $200 for everything is fair if you take the forks into them. A lot less mess to have a shop do it.

I'm stubborn and sometimes less than optimistic about the work ethic of others (especially regarding any of my stuff with 2-4 tires on them), so I decided to do it myself.
Click to expand...

I'm taking mine to a guy that does most of my work and he's charging me between $200-$250 that's including all the parts. Doesn't seem to bad. Not crazy about paying it for just two stupid seals but it's a lot better than me screwing it up. I could screw up a wet dream. I've never been good at fixing things haha!
 
MoNoXiDe said:
My fork seals started leaking at 2200 miles. I have seen a lot of ppl post about there's leaking. I wonder if there is a factory defect on the seals. no bike should start leaking at 2200 miles.
Click to expand...

From what I've read, the busa's springs are real soft and it doesn't take much to bust the seals. I don't think it's a factory defect.
 
Too bad your so far away, i charge $100 for seals plus parts and oil!
 
GIXERHP said:
Too bad your so far away, i charge $100 for seals plus parts and oil!
Click to expand...

Yea to bad cuse that's a good price! I had another guy offer for $200 parts included but I just didn't trust him doing it right. I'll just spend the extra $50 knowing it's done correctly! For some reason it's not many options for bike work around here. Richmond va bike scene is lacking!
 
True- if you have a shop do it, then you have a level of "guarantee" (said loosely) that it is going to be done right. If they accidentally drop your fork and dent the side of it, they will take care of it for free (don't ask how I know that this is a possible risk...) and you won't have to pay for the replacement. I think that $250 is steep, and sounds like the guy knows you don't know your way around a shop (or, maybe you do), and he is getting a premium off of that.

I can respect that you want someone else to take care of it. But know that taking the forks out of the bike is more difficult than changing the seals themselves. If you watch a couple of Youtube videos and read through the how-to here on the forum, you won't have any problems... and you'll save yourself $215 or so.
 
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