Fork Seal

[beull4me19]

I believe i have a blown fork seal. Does anyone know how to replace a fork seal, or anyone know how much a fork seal would cost? I know a good mechanic that will do it for a great price. Just want to see if its something i can do myself.

 

[Johny Kidd]

Fork seal doesnt cost much.. just download the service manual and read fork disassembly and assembly -parts.

you will need a few special tools for spring compression and fork seal driver to assembly.

 

[beull4me19]

So i would probably be better off taking it to my buddy who has a shop? And buy the fork seal myself?

 

[vance580]

Fork seal is about 5 bucks. Dust cover is another 5 and about 10 for oil. So about 20 for parts. If you arent mechanically inclined take it to your buddy. If you are get the tools at the very minimum get the driver. I did them myself and made a seal driver that worked ok so it took me about 6 hours using a rachet strap for a spring compressor.

 

[uly luigi]

I havent rebuilt forks before, but, aren't there some bushings, not just seals that should also be replaced, in my experience if seals leak, there is some wobbling going on

 

[TooFst]

I rebuilt mine about 4 years ago and just paid to have them done last winter... IMO it's worth the 125$.. (I actually paid like 85$ from a buddy). The first time a different buddy helped and everything looked fine but last year the dude said the bushings needed replacement. They were the most expensive component in the operation... A whopping 12$ each. First done at 14k, 2nd time done around 26k..

 

[dave_xb12r]

I'll be doing a video soon.

 

[williegoat]

I will be doing the Showa forks on my '99 S3 this weekend. I got all the parts from ASB for $42.50

 

[beull4me19]

So if my fork has some oil on it is it the seal or is it the bushing?

 

[konarider94]

that would be the seal. but if you have it apart change the bushing. its not really any harder to do. i rebuilt my forks and had never done it before. took me 20 mins per fork. i have posted some videos showing a rebuild of a showa fork in other threads.

 

[konarider94]

note: you do not need to remove the damper rod assembly to change seals and bushing. the allen head cap screw in the bottom of the fork.

a recent post about it
http://www.buellxb.com/Buell-XB-Forum/Buell-Firebolt-XB12-XB9/Troubleshooting/fork-seal

some videos
http://www.buellxb.com/Buell-XB-Forum/Buell-Firebolt-XB12-XB9/Fork-rebuild-kits#bbcodes

 

[Whiteboy12r]

If your bike is an 04 or older it will have 41mm showa forks. the fork seals measure 41 inner diameter 54 outer and 11 height. i went to a local super bike shop and got the seals for less than half of what the harley dealer wanted and they had them in stock. i believe the following bikes is what will interchange f3 cbr 600, 06 cbr 600, and i know there was more i just cant remember. Pretty much any bike with a 41mm showa are all the same. In 05 buell went to 43mm showa forks but same concept with the 43s. Hope that helps

 

[1972c10]

I do all my own work on all my bikes except fork and shock work, its just so much easier to let someone else do it. Maybe oneday i'll get the tools and start doing myself

 

[Whiteboy12r]

Once you do it a couple times its a breeze. More labor is involved taking the forks off the bike than the actual r&r on the seals