fork seals leaking
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Joined: Jun 2013
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From: duanesburg,new york
fork seals leaking
well over the winter I tore down the front end to have the lower legs powdercoated on my 2011 wg. while it was apart I put the ricor intiminators in. I filled them with 26 ounces of amsoil 10wt, according to the measurements on the bottles anyway. now the seals are leaking, has anyone run into this with just over filling them? I really don't think I could've cut both the seals without noticing but I guess its possible.
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Joined: Jun 2013
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From: duanesburg,new york
i cant say for sure but i don't think so. spring side goes down right? i don't think i would've done that but after a few beers i guess anythings possible lol. at first i didn't want to worry about it but the more i think about it the more it pisses me off. oh and were riding out to laconia bike week in less then a week now haha
Road Warrior
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 1,718
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From: Bay area, CA
Yes the spring faces the oil. Where did you get the new seals? I'm not sure what the wide glide front end holds so I can't tell you if you overfilled but you do need to account for the amount of oil that the ricors displace. What did you use to drive the seals in? I just did the front end on my bike about 3k ago (springs, ricors, amsoil 10wt) and the bottom bolts are already leaking and I torqued them to spec so I kinda feel your pain. Are the seals sweating or are they squirting oil when you hit a bump?
Road Captain
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 608
Likes: 42
From: Kingston, Washington
I always use new seals, and copper washers.
The oil level is measured with the fork vertical, collapsed, and bled with spring out, valve in.
Measure from the top down, quantity fills are not accurate.
The service manual will spec the measurement for your forks.
The oil level is measured with the fork vertical, collapsed, and bled with spring out, valve in.
Measure from the top down, quantity fills are not accurate.
The service manual will spec the measurement for your forks.
Tourer
Joined: May 2013
Posts: 256
Likes: 2
From: The D
Sounds like at least one (or more) of couple different things... Here's what I'm thinking:
1.) Did you cut your spacers down to account for the Intiminators?
2.) I'm fairly certain you put too much oil in as the measurement should be from the top of the fork tubes when they are perpendicular to the ground. You should also be a little below the specs (volume-wise) in the manual as you have the Intiminators taking up extra volume inside...
3.) The seals may have been bad or installed incorrectly.
*edit* Manual says 29.4oz for a WG. I think it was decided that the Intiminators take up about 1.5oz. So, you're still at the equivalent of 27.5oz. It has to be a spacer length or seal install issue then I'm thinking...
1.) Did you cut your spacers down to account for the Intiminators?
2.) I'm fairly certain you put too much oil in as the measurement should be from the top of the fork tubes when they are perpendicular to the ground. You should also be a little below the specs (volume-wise) in the manual as you have the Intiminators taking up extra volume inside...
3.) The seals may have been bad or installed incorrectly.
*edit* Manual says 29.4oz for a WG. I think it was decided that the Intiminators take up about 1.5oz. So, you're still at the equivalent of 27.5oz. It has to be a spacer length or seal install issue then I'm thinking...
Last edited by ShiftyCapone; Jun 14, 2014 at 03:33 PM.
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Joined: Jun 2013
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From: duanesburg,new york
well the old seals pulled out very easy, just took out the bottom bolt, took out the clip and the seal came right out. I just was able to just push the new seal in by hand. I didn't do anything to bleed them though, never even thought about that. I put about 350 miles on it so far and it rides fine there's just always a oil ring left on the tubes. and then it slings back on the rest of the bike.
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Road Warrior
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 1,718
Likes: 15
From: Bay area, CA
well the old seals pulled out very easy, just took out the bottom bolt, took out the clip and the seal came right out. I just was able to just push the new seal in by hand. I didn't do anything to bleed them though, never even thought about that. I put about 350 miles on it so far and it rides fine there's just always a oil ring left on the tubes. and then it slings back on the rest of the bike.
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Thread Starter
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Joined: Jun 2013
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From: duanesburg,new york
do these have a breather hole in the caps like the old front ends? so they could kinda work the air out them selves or do I have to pull the caps off? id look myself but am in the process of moving out of an apartment to a house so the bike is at my parents for the time being.
Intermediate
Joined: Apr 2014
Posts: 44
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From: Milwaukee, WI
Sounds like these guys have everything covered, but on the off-chance its just a dirty seal I highly recommend the Seal Mate by Motion Pro. I had leaky seals after a fluid change so I bought the tool in the hopes of avoiding having to do a whole seal job. Worked perfectly and the seals are now back to normal.