What does a fork seal cost to replace? | GTAMotorcycle.com

What does a fork seal cost to replace?

jc100

Well-known member
Tried a seal doctor and still get a small ring of oil at the compression point on the forks so I think I'm out of luck and it's looking less likely that I'll get a warranty replacement even though the bike's been cleaned on the fork area all the time and is only at 10k Kms.

Can any competent shop do this? Are some seals better than others for aftermarket? Mine is a big adventure bike if it matters.
 
Fork seal is easy to do. Probably around $30 or so. Get OEM, aftermarket isn't all that much cheaper...usually.
 
Weelll that depends. Right-side-up non-cartridge (no external adustments = "damper rod" type) forks are fairly easy to DIY although you may need air tools to knock the bottom bolt loose (the one that goes up inside the fork from underneath and holds the bottom of the damper rod in place). This could very well be the type of forks that the original poster has. If there is anything more than a preload adjuster on the fork cap then it is a cartridge fork, which is more complicated to do. Inverted forks require special tools, and following the service procedure to a T.

It's an hour or two for a shop to do it depending on type of fork. If I recall correctly the original poster is east of Toronto. It's worth the phone call and trip to John Sharrard (Accelerated Technologies) in Buckhorn.
 
Electronically adjustable cartridge forks, I'm not sure they are straightforward but again, I don't have experience here.
 
Ooooh, those won't be straightforward. Get John Sharrard to do them. Probably a couple hours of work.
 
I'm going to try to get the manufacturer to cover this under warranty as I don't think it should have failed so early and I'm very careful to clean off the fork tubes after every ride and especially in the muck, heard back from some owners that did get them covered. If I have no joy there I'll check quotes. Might just have to ride on down to GP Bikes again though. NP...the back roads back to Kingston through Peterborough are good fun.
 
I'm going to try to get the manufacturer to cover this under warranty as I don't think it should have failed so early and I'm very careful to clean off the fork tubes after every ride and especially in the muck, heard back from some owners that did get them covered. If I have no joy there I'll check quotes. Might just have to ride on down to GP Bikes again though. NP...the back roads back to Kingston through Peterborough are good fun.

Give us a hint - what bike and how old/kms ? If the manufacturer ends up not covering it I second John at http://www.acceltechracing.com/
 
Just had an inverted fork seal done at Gator. Very reasonable price and quick turn around.
 
Get OEM fork seals, I replaced mine once with ebay alls balls seals (or whatever they're called) and within 3 months they were leaking again. Put OEM in and haven't touched them in over 10k.
 
Get OEM fork seals, I replaced mine once with ebay alls balls seals (or whatever they're called) and within 3 months they were leaking again. Put OEM in and haven't touched them in over 10k.

all balls seals always leak, some of their older stuff was one lip seal.

When I rebuild forks - I only use OEM.
 
Thanks all. In the end the seal was replaced under warranty, can't fault KTM Canada or GP Bikes who went to bat for me. I also bought some seal savers and fitted those over the forks immediately afterwards. Hopefully it will be a while before I need to think about this again.
 
jc100, did you ever get an idea of what that repair was worth if it wasnt under warranty? I'm just curious, as cool bikes just get more complicated the thoughts of me pulling apart an electronically adjustable becomes more remote , and I'm very well equipped and fairly handy. Its exactly stuff like this that scares me off the purchase of complicated suspensions ect.
 
jc100, did you ever get an idea of what that repair was worth if it wasnt under warranty? I'm just curious, as cool bikes just get more complicated the thoughts of me pulling apart an electronically adjustable becomes more remote , and I'm very well equipped and fairly handy. Its exactly stuff like this that scares me off the purchase of complicated suspensions ect.

The seals themselves are cheap I think but I was quoted 1.5h Labour for one fork and 2.5h Labour for both. Hope that helps.
 

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