Leaking Forks - HELP Please...

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May 25, 2010 | 02:33 AM

vladt

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Cruiser

Joined: Oct 2007

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Leaking Forks - HELP Please...

Hi All,

I am in a bit of a predicament here and not sure what to do.
I've just powdered fork lowers on my 08 Street Bob.
Just to be on a safe side, I've changed the fork seals when assembling forks back. I've followed the instructions outlined in a service manual precisely. I've used a little bit of grease on fork seals prior to driving them in. Also they did go in rally easy.

Now, I took my bike for it's first run and the oil is "spraying" out of fork seals. I am stunned. I have no idea what I've done wrong!!!
All seems to be assembled OK but the oil is leaking.

Any ideas? Any pitfalls that I might have overlooked?

Any advice would be much appreciated. I am going to pull forks apart again tonight, but what do I look for?

Thanks

May 25, 2010 | 04:13 AM

96 Wide Glide

Road Master

Joined: May 2007

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Well, are you sure you installed the seals with the lettering facing up?
I've heard people on this board asking about the spring. There's a spring on both sides of the seal, The lettering should be facing up.

May 25, 2010 | 07:28 AM

2007fxdc

Elite HDF Member

Joined: Aug 2007

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If they went in REALLY easy, something probably wasn't right. I lubed the one I just replaced really well and it was still a b@#$% to get it seated all the way in. I'd suggest pulling the lowers back off (you can save and re-use the fork oil if you catch it cleanly) and reassembling carefully making sure everything is in the right order and right side up. I recently had to change one of mine that was spraying fluid and started second guessing if I had the old one in "right side up" from the last time. But, with the help of this forum, I made sure and so far, so good.

May 25, 2010 | 09:16 AM

arkieollie

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+1 on the seal being upside down. I changed my forks a while back (going with the chromed ones) and had the same problem on one of my forks. I got some high dollar seals (good to 2,000 psi or something like that) and when I took the old ones off I noticed that one was "different" than the other. Turns out one was upside down. Maybe you beat the odds and put BOTH of them upside down. Also, it takes a while for the seals to seal real well, at least mine did.

May 25, 2010 | 09:59 AM

SC-Longhair

Club Member

Joined: Feb 2008

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From: Passaic County, NJ

The only help we can give you is that you probably need to pull them apart and redo it.

May 27, 2010 | 10:39 AM

96 Wide Glide

Road Master

Joined: May 2007

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One more thing. When installing your new seals, slide the old seal down the tube over the new one. The old part will take all the abuse from your installation tool.