Fork Seal Maintenance

[BlackburnD]

So I was riding today and noticed some leakage/seapage from the right front fork seal. I am curious what all parts I need to do this maintenace. I know to do them both at the same time. I am also curious how hard this is to do. I have done very little work on bikes, so i am just curious how hard it is. Here is the link for the site I was using to look it up, so If you just tell me what numbers I need for this I would greatly appreciate it.

http://partsfinder.onlinemicrofiche.com/cycleparts/Suzuki_OEM/SuzukiMC.asp?Type=13&A=172&B=50

Thank in adance.

[Lehbs]

first question is what condition are your dust seals in? Depending on their condition you may be able to reuse them. Secondly to replace the fork seals you need a pair of #5. depending on how worn your bushings are you may need to replace them. From memory, each tube takes 495 mL of fork oil (Arsenic???) It isn't hard to do just take your time, and keep things organized. If you don't have the manual search the threads for it and it will give a good diagram of how everythign goes together.

[DumbLuck]

i just replaced my fork seals a few weeks back. something to hold the fork tube firm without gacking it is essential. I used a vice with plenty of padding. it actually went pretty darn smooth. i used one of the old seals to drive the new seals home. Get a good service manual. my clymer is excelent, plus i pestered Black_Peter with questions beforehand. reaching up into the fork from the bottom to get at the hex screws in there was somewhat of a pain, the only thing to give me pause. A standard hex socket is just not quite long enough to reach. I didnt even touch the drain screws as i just pumped most of the oil out the hex screw holes, then tipped and poured the rest out the top of the fork. I purchased a Litre bottle of fork oil, filled my measuring cup to 500cc's, and used a syringe to suck out 5cc's. (book called for 493cc's for my '90 750). had enough left over doin this to slobber up the seals during installation no problem. I ordered my seals and wipers as a set/kit from Dennis Kirk.

[md86]

i just replaced my fork seals a few weeks back. something to hold the fork tube firm without gacking it is essential.

No , just loosen all the parts you need to loosen while the clamps are still tightened down . THEN take them out the clamps . Still got my number ? Gimmie a call and I'll go over it in detail if you wish ...

[DumbLuck]

No , just loosen all the parts you need to loosen while the clamps are still tightened down . THEN take them out the clamps . Still got my number ? Gimmie a call and I'll go over it in detail if you wish ...

for the most part this is true, BUT, getting the fork tube out of the lower needs some extra holding. either two people, or, i locked up the lower in the vice via the brake mounts and gentle slide-hammer style got them apart. I guess you could leave the uppers locked up in the tripple tree, and worry about tiping the bike over forward as you're workin them apart.

[Black_peter]

From memory, each tube takes 495 mL of fork oil (Arsenic???)

491ml.. And I would never add arsenic to the fork oil..

[BlackburnD]

So in reality should I tear it apart first to see what I need and then order the parts? That sucks if so...

[Black_peter]

The bushings you can only tell by looking if they need replacing. The dust seals you can tell right now. Are they really cracked? Then replace them. Bushings take at least 30K miles to begin wearing IMO... If you are under that I would be they are OK.

[Lehbs]

491ml.. And I would never add arsenic to the fork oil..

Ok so I was wrong by 4 ml, and I was asking for the resident dictionary to chime in on verification of quantity. smarta$$.

I agree that that the bushings, unless the bike has a lot of miles on it will probably be OK. Mine still were in decent shape and I had 64,000 Km on the bike.

[Steveb]

Better (IMO) to go by depth, rather than liquid measure.

[The CyberPoet]

Since you have a 98-02 from the looks of it, I would highly suggest getting the fork protectors from the 04+ models (not sure if they're on the 03). They won't "snap" into place the way they do on the 04+, but they will sit securely in place and protect the dust & oil seals from most debris. Cheap investment in longer term protection for the fork tubes right where they cross the seals.

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

[cat2of3]

491ml.. And I would never add arsenic to the fork oil..

LMAO