Fork seal leaking

[JonDredd]

I noticed my left side fork seal was leaking. Some residue was noticeable down from the leak, so I am not sure how long it was going on, but I don't recall seeing anything to cause concern a few weeks ago when I last washed the bike.
I cleaned and refit the existing seal, and it seems to be fine now. a few rides later, and no signs of leak.

When I was "repairing" the seal, there was oil coming out, so I assume it still had a decent level, but how can I tell?

My only concern now, is not knowing how long the leak had been going on, and not knowing how much fluid may have leaked out. Is there a way I can "top off" the fluid without removing everything? How would I do that? How would I know how much to add?
Anyone know any cool tricks I am not smart enough to figure out on my own?

 

[MC Hammered]

Had a similar leak as you described and I used a "Seal Mate" tool to clean the seal and everything is dry again.

The tool is cheap and I am sure they have copies of it out there.

The fork holds a lot of oil, so I wouldn't be overly concerned if you lost a bit... unless it was haemorrhaging oil.

 

[GregoXB]

If you dont want to buy a seal mate, you can make one from a water bottle. Works just as well.

 

[JonDredd]

Leak is fixed... just wondering if I need to add more oil... and how to know for sure?

 

[Cooter]

Like MC Hammered was saying, unless it was absolutely soaking the ground in fork oil, theres no need to worry. A single ounce of thin oil leaves a circle up to 8" or more on the ground and will be a massive mess everywhere.

If you still want to be sure, remove the front wheel, loosen the triple clamps and slide the fork tubes out, remove cap, turn upside down, and then refill with the oil spec'd for whatever your bike is.

RTFM
Buellmods.com

 

[njloco]

Would this ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ be considered a fork oil change ?

 

[outthere]

It would if you got all of the oil out.

 

[Cooter]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oShTJ90fC34