Right side fork leg need input

[lowkey]

Hey all,

At 14K the right side fork leg started to weep oil so I had them rebuilt buy Catalyst Reaction. When I got the them back they said they polished the legs and that the leak was from the finish of the leg, but they look perfect to me. I put 1K or less over the last year and now the right is leaking again. I was headed out to Laughlin bike week from Orange County when a lot of oil had started to leak all over so I took it back home. Today I pulled the fork leg off to see what the problem is. I pulled the dust cover down and wiped the leg clean, now if I cycle the fork it isn't leaking and the seal looks fine.
Now what do you think I should do next?

A) Pull and replace the seal and oil and slap it back on to see if it was an anomaly? I'm thinking "All Balls" seals and they are in stock down the street.

B) Buy a new lower fork leg from Harley at $130.00 and be done with it hopefully?

C) ???

I also need someone to point me to how to measure the oil level with no special tools, I've heard people use a rod or string? The bike is 2007 STT so I think it is the same as the SS's forks. I can't find the exact oil level depth spec for this model though.

Trying to get these back together in the next few days and open to ideas to try. As of now I've got the right leg down to releasing the spring, so I can disassemble it all the way down or put oil and see what's up depending on ideas.

 

[ocgreenmachine]

EBR (LAP) had front forks for $150 on their online auction... Wondering if you can still get them

 

[lowkey]

EBR (LAP) had front forks for $150 on their online auction... Wondering if you can still get them

IDK what that is, that may be an option (are they new?) if I have to buy the new lower but my forks are otherwise in like new condition so I would like to keep them.

 

[lowkey]

The lower leg in silver P/N is J8143.1AS and runs $133.98 at Newcastle Harley. Included is the seals and sliders so all I'd have to get is oil as well. This P/N also crossed with the SS model so that is why I ask about oil level as there isn't really any info on the STT model and more likely someone knows for the SS.

Ether way I go, I'm thinking of not touching the left leg since it was rebuilt with so few miles on it...

 

[Cooter]

If you can't see an issue with the finish on the shaft, why change it? Fork seals are pretty forgiving unless they get cut by pitting, rust, rock ding....

You might have just got a piece of dirt stuck in the seal causing the leak? Try the ol' 35mm film trick to clean between the leg and the seal. Go for a ride and see what happens. You have to leak a TON of fork oil to get a damping issue.

 

[lowkey]

If you can't see an issue with the finish on the shaft, why change it? Fork seals are pretty forgiving unless they get cut by pitting, rust, rock ding....

You might have just got a piece of dirt stuck in the seal causing the leak? Try the ol' 35mm film trick to clean between the leg and the seal. Go for a ride and see what happens. You have to leak a TON of fork oil to get a damping issue.

I should have put more information, the shaft looks fine to me but after the rebuild they warned me it could leak again and that they did there best to polish it up. There is usually a slight ring of oil after a canyon ride only on that leg since the rebuild. When looking the bike over before that ride there was some oil on the leg so I tried a business card around the seal, as expected when I ran it around oil came out as I did it. I wiped it up and it was fine before I took off the next morning. When I stopped for gas about 50 miles into the trip I saw the oil all over and that my tire was wearing out like a mohawk on ether side so it has lost its ability to dampen, indeed a TON of oil has been lost. There is still some in there as I can hear it slosh if I flip the fork around. That is why I pulled the dust seal and cycled the fork a bunch of times to see if it would leak or where in the seal but it will not leak a drop doing this. I'm thinking it may need to cycle up to a heated temp before I can see some kind of leak?

I will try and run something around the seal again now that the leg is off and I can see exactly whats going on with it. I will still have to fill the leg with oil before I can install it and see if it's fixed.

 

[user_deleted]

fork seals ride on the surface of the tube. a tube cannot be "polished" with any degree of accuracy or certainty though millions thru the years have tried. not to repudiate the good intentions of your repair shop but polishing never works and never will. if the seal was installed correctly, fluid level not ridiculously over-filled....then the tube is shot. replace it.
re. your question regarding 2007 ulysses/stt tube oil level....it is:
Oil Level 172 mm from top with fork fully compressed......+ or - about 8 mm
no special tools needed as i don't consider a metric ruler "special".

 

[lowkey]

o

fork seals ride on the surface of the tube. a tube cannot be "polished" with any degree of accuracy or certainty though millions thru the years have tried. not to repudiate the good intentions of your repair shop but polishing never works and never will. if the seal was installed correctly, fluid level not ridiculously over-filled....then the tube is shot. replace it.
re. your question regarding 2007 ulysses/stt tube oil level....it is:
Oil Level 172 mm from top with fork fully compressed......+ or - about 8 mm
no special tools needed as i don't consider a metric ruler "special".

Perfect reply lunaticfringe!

I know what your saying about "polishing" the stanchion, It's something that they do to refresh the finish when doing a fork rebuild, giving a nice cross hatch pattern like a cylinder hone on an engine block. I can't imagine much gets removed on a chrome steel tube but you never know. I may measure with calipers to see for myself, you would think a rubber lip seal could make up the difference though. As for the shop they are part of Dave Mosses crew of motorcycle suspension setup fame, so I specifically went with them. They had experience with track oriented Buell fork rebuilds and I'm confident in their work. I may even give them a call tomorrow and see what they say since they didn't last even 1K miles.

 

[user_deleted]

giving a nice cross hatch pattern like a cylinder hone on an engine block.

that's the problem right there. you're thinking in terms of piston rings and cylinder walls....which in conjunction with combustion pressure on the rings helps them to "bed-in" during break-in procedures. trust me....it never works with fork seals.

 

[Decker1970]

Lowkey I just repaired the right fork on my 07 xb12ss. Had a local suspension shop do it and it was supposed to be an easy fix. Got a call the next day that there was a score in the cylinder causing the leak that needed to be polished or replace the lower leg. $130 later I had them replace the leg. I ride with confidence knowing both forks are fresh and ready to go. There are certain things I like knowing are new and won't let me down on a ride, suspension is one. I tend to ride a little aggressive so that contributed to my decision as well. Good luck

 

[lowkey]

your question regarding 2007 ulysses/stt tube oil level....it is:
Oil Level 172 mm from top with fork fully compressed......+ or - about 8 mm
no special tools needed as i don't consider a metric ruler "special".

Still confused on oil levels as you quote ulysses/stt being the same. It's my understanding the fork travel is something in between the SS and Ulysses? My left fork uncompressed from dust cover seal lip to bottom of fork shaft is 160mm or 6.299", I've found these as a resource.

2007 STT = 5.63 inches (143 mm)
http://www.topspeed.com/motorcycles/motorcycle-reviews/buell/2007-buell-lightning-super-tt-xb12stt-ar15939.html

2008 SS = 4.72 in. (119.89 mm) No listing for 2007 model
http://www.topspeed.com/motorcycles/motorcycle-reviews/buell/2008-buell-lightning-long-xb12ss-ar53736.html

2008 Ulysses X = 6.51 in. (165.35 mm) No listing for 2007 model
http://www.topspeed.com/motorcycles/motorcycle-reviews/buell/2008-buell-ulysses-xb12x-ar53810.html

2008 Ulysses XT = 4.9 in. No exact spec sheet like the other listings
http://www.topspeed.com/motorcycles/motorcycle-reviews/buell/2008-buell-ulysses-xb12xt-ar50961.html

So I'm thinking of just popping off the cap of the left leg and with it standing vertical and measure the depth since it has never leaked a drop but who knows if it was set right in the first place. Hopefully it is in the ballpark of 172mm from the top but I was thinking of not pulling the spring to measure and I assume that is with spring removed height right? While I've got the left one opened up I think I'll replace the oil for piece of mind they are the same brand and weight, I'm about 75% sure he said it was Maxima 10wt so that is what I'll be putting in.

 

[lowkey]

Alright that idea of just making a dip stick from the left fork leg didn't work because with the spring and tube still in I can't see the oil level. I watched the two videos on doing the forks on youtube, one was the ulysses and the other the SCG. Anyway my fork seems to be different because there isn't a snap ring on/under the blue top adjuster, can't figure how to separate that... when I pull down the spacer tube to slip in a 17mm it must be a smaller size than that because it isn't catching on any keyed section. When I peer into the two holes for the special tool it looks like a 14 or 15mm 6 sided nut and not just a keyed shaft like the videos state. So stuck with blue adjuster knob on the silver cap portion of disassembly.

No snap ring on these, that "washer" goes all the way around...

When I try and back off the blue portion from the silver cap it just spins when loosening but it will stop if I tighten it up never rising like it is threaded though.

 

[lowkey]

Ok looks like for my bike the whole top cap assembly comes off in one piece, but yeah it was both a 17mm and 14mm to separate this whole assembly.

I dug up a 2008 manual that covers all XB's, here it says 118mm from the top, though I don't know if they are talking from the aluminum outer tube that clamps to the triples or the "outer" steel tube that sits 5mm just inside of that tube from the diagram it appears they mean this steel tube...

 

[lowkey]

Got it all back together, a couple tricks were making a dip stick out of a metal coat hanger at 118mm and hanging it on the inner sleeve just inside the aluminum outer tube, the other was use what was left to catch the damper assembly and pull it up through the preload tube to re-attach the damper rod/top cap portion. I'm still unsure why exactly my preload adjusters are different from the manual and all other info I've seen so far, like I stated they do not rise or lower so the # of lines stated for preload are irrelevant as of right now. I weigh 180-185 geared up so backed them out 3 full rotations counter clock wise from full stop clockwise for right now, any input? The lower blue adjuster on the fork leg does nothing right? Just the inner flat blade adjuster for compression.