95 K75RT Front Fork Seal replacement?

[dbamberger]

Hey folks. 

Went out on a camping weekend and as I was riding there and back felt as if the rebound on the bike was middling.  I'm a reasonably new rider so don't have a ton of experience to compare it with but it seemed bouncy on big things and jittery on small things especially in turns. 

I came home and noticed oil staining the right side tube down around the axle and a bit of gunk on the upper.  I have one of those thin, plastic fork seal cleaners and I rolled it around and pulled out some more gunk.  Then I figured out how to empty the forks thinking that I might as well change fork oil while I'm fiddling with things.  On the right side the oil came out grey and milky, on the left it looked like oil. 

So, the question is - is this indicative of fork seal(s) needing to be replaced?  Or is it symptomatic of another issue, perhaps?  If fork seals need to be replaced if someone has a good link to a HowTo on it I'd appreciate it.   Thanks in advance.

[sooprvylyn]

The Grey side def needs new seals. Water and dirt get into that oil and that's how the oil changes color. If it's milky Grey, water got in. If it's clear Grey it's probably rubber from the seals breaking down. I'd change em. There are some YouTube videos that show how.

You'll want to clean out that right side you'll want to clean that out well.  Dont just slap new oil in it because there is still water in it.  YOu'll want to take the fork all apart and get in there and clean it up.  its not too hard, will take a couple hours to do the whole job, but then you'll have good forks afterward.





Forks arent too bad, just pay attention to how they come apart so you can put em back the same way.  Fork oil details(weight and amount) can be had in the clymers manual, and Im sure can also be looked up here or elsewhere online.

[Martin]

I changed my fork seals 26 years ago and haven't had to do it since. What I do is pack thick silicone grease between the fork seal and the dust seal. This captures any road crap that gets past the dust seal. I normally change the grease every 12 months or after going on particularly dusty  roads. A couple of years ago a few of us went on a tour of three NSW motorcycle museums, on the way back we encountered a horror road, dirt dust and corrugations. I destroyed my front bucket flap and Jaimie destroyed his fork seals. Due to the fact that I had just changed the grease before I left I decided to changed the grease again and see how much crap the grease had stopped and it was pretty significant. The only problem with doing this is that straight after doing this the forks are pretty greasy but it does settle down. Newer dust seals would probably reduce it.
Regards Martin.

Fork Seal Grease Road Crap 1.jpg (22.37 kB . 768x432 - viewed 277 times)

[dbamberger]

Whoa.  That's a lot of junk. 

As a short term fix while I'm waiting on new seals and dust boots I refilled with Lucas 10wt.  It was green which surprised me.  I'm sure I'll forget that before the next go 'round and be surprised all over again.  Beginner's mind and all.  It rides a lot better now. 

Thanks for the video links.  I actually think I've got that one saved for when I have parts and time. 

[frankenduck]

If you have one handy a wheel puller is handy for depressing the fork cap to pick the clip out and put it  back in.