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Weeping (slightly) Fork Seals

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7.9K views 41 replies 14 participants last post by  ferraiolo1  
#1 ·
Anyone experiencing this? Both my wife's and mine have a very slight oil residue even after repeated cleaning. Used my "Seal Doctor " tool, helped a little. Not an issue (yet), just noticeable.
 

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#5 ·
Yes. No removal/disassembly of anything required. They seal very good on the velcro, not letting any debris in through there. The FTR's protector does its job for items striking the tubes head on, but not for debris from any other direction trying to strike or stick to the tubes causing premature seal failure.
 
#12 ·
I'm wondering if this was in part the way the bikes were secured in their crates. The front was tied down from the triple clamp as you would if you were transporting on a trailer or ute. I don't recall anything chocking or working against that tension. I know from experience that forks can weep after being compressed for too long. Mine had residual oil on the stanchion for the first couple of weeks but it's fine now.
 
#25 ·
An oil film is normal. I took an emergency braking seminar. The instructor looked the line formed by the oil film on the fork to measure how deeply I was compressing my suspension. After 4 hours of practice, I was able to squat the front and rear suspension together and achieve stopping distances shorter than the ABS could achieve. I know I'll be losing fork oil past the seal with all that stress. I'll replace the fork oil after it gets low enough or reaches replacement age.
 
#31 ·
I'd say if that's going to be a regular situation for you changing the oil more regularly than the manual says might be the go. The forces from braking shouldn't really have any effect on the seal apart from the initial dive and bump response. The big load during braking is on the bushes, especially in longer travel units.
My old YZ426 supermoto would wear through bushes in less than a year of hard but irregular race use. Once the bushes are slightly worn the seals don't have a chance.
In fairness to that bike it wasn't designed to handle having half the braking of a superbike and the same front wheel/Tyre combo but the experience holds true regardless.
If it was my issue I'd be investigating fork oils and possibly aftermarket bushes.

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk
 
#30 ·
Normal operating procedure on USD forks.
Regular forks will leave a residue as well, but with USD forks more so just by its design. the seal must also seal against gravity. Not so with standard forks.
Also the telescoping action on USD forks where there is oil residue is closer to where it can pick up dirt to color it, so it shows up faster, and looks more significant.
Just wipe it clean periodically and go ride
 
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