What did you do in your garage today..?

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I've had similar luck with a homemade sealmate made out of a 2L pop bottle. It worked so well so many times I didn't mind springing for an actual Seal Doctor which is less flimsy than the Sealmate and has better grip when doing upside down forks when the oil starts seeping out.
 
Relax said:
I've had similar luck with a homemade sealmate made out of a 2L pop bottle. It worked so well so many times I didn't mind springing for an actual Seal Doctor which is less flimsy than the Sealmate and has better grip when doing upside down forks when the oil starts seeping out.
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I have a Seal Doctor in my side bag on the KTM. I also fitted these to keep out dust and they work very well and are cheap protection https://fortnine.ca/en/pro-x-neoprene-fork-protectors-40-fsp3604450
 
Sunday Rider said:
I know it maybe too late now, but did you try a Sealmate or something similar to clean around seals? I had this happen on a trip many years ago far from home and 40,000 miles later there is still no leak after using the Sealmate I've been carrying for the last 15 years. I do change the fork fluid every couple of years.
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Never heard of Sealmate and fork oil is not something I change on a regular basis. I figure it is a sealed system so outside contaminants should not be an issue. However, I am serious about cleaning the fork tubes to keep them free of anything that could damage the seals. I think a 10 year interval between seal replacement is a good span, one that a lot of riders never see because they sell their bikes well before they have had them for that long.
 
Malks said:
I figure it is a sealed system so outside contaminants should not be an issue.
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You would be amazed. I've pulled many forks apart and they are ALWAYS filled with a silver tinted brown soup. Even when a fork seal goes early and you pop it apart thinking this won't be too bad I did this not lone ago, yet it is.
 
Malks said:
Never heard of Sealmate and fork oil is not something I change on a regular basis. I figure it is a sealed system so outside contaminants should not be an issue. However, I am serious about cleaning the fork tubes to keep them free of anything that could damage the seals. I think a 10 year interval between seal replacement is a good span, one that a lot of riders never see because they sell their bikes well before they have had them for that long.
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What usually wears out are the bushings and that is usually due to mileage and or contaminated fluid. There is a grey coating in them that disappears and then it starts chewing up the copper bushing itself. The seals tend to last much longer unless a dust or sand particle wedges itself in there and create an escape route for the oil.
The seal mate is just a thin plastic film with an S shape that bends around the curves of the fork with the purpose of fishing out that suspected intruders.
 
Over to a friends place, who pulled the forks off my Tracer GT and replaced the springs with something better suited to my weight. Already feel the difference on the ride home, but will fine tune preload, compression and rebound settings after a few rides up at the cottage next week.

Very nice to have a buddy with a full workshop, knowledge and specialty fork tools to make this type of upgrade so easy.
 
Malks said:
Never heard of Sealmate and fork oil is not something I change on a regular basis. I figure it is a sealed system so outside contaminants should not be an issue. However, I am serious about cleaning the fork tubes to keep them free of anything that could damage the seals. I think a 10 year interval between seal replacement is a good span, one that a lot of riders never see because they sell their bikes well before they have had them for that long.
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I had a minor fork seal leak on my ST1100. I slid the dust seal down and used a small piece of smooth plastic a friend cut for me to push past the seal and remove the grit. Worked perfectly, no weeping after that.

Had my ST1100 for 18 seasons. You absolutely have to change out the fork oil periodically. I did it 3 or 4 times over 135,000 km. The design of the fork means the oil gets contaminated by internal fork component wear. You probably don't notice the degradation of the oil as this takes place over time. I noticed a significant improvement every time I switched it out. The old oil was filthy.
 
ReSTored said:
I had a minor fork seal leak on my ST1100. I slid the dust seal down and used a small piece of smooth plastic a friend cut for me to push past the seal and remove the grit. Worked perfectly, no weeping after that.

Had my ST1100 for 18 seasons. You absolutely have to change out the fork oil periodically. I did it 3 or 4 times over 135,000 km. The design of the fork means the oil gets contaminated by internal fork component wear. You probably don't notice the degradation of the oil as this takes place over time. I noticed a significant improvement every time I switched it out. The old oil was filthy.
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I've now owned my 97' ST1100 for 19 years and in that time I have put 140,000 km on it. I am currently replacing the seals/oil/bushings for the third time. The first time was in 2007, the year I bought it and those were good until I had to do it again in 2016. So counting the current event I now have changed the fork oil 3 times in 140K km, about the same as you suggest.

It will be interesting to see if I feel any difference in the ride once I get them back on the bike.

From now on I will consider changing the fork oil more frequently.
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