| Author | Message | ||
     Mike_dinger |
at 8,000 miles!!! I discovered this on Saturday! Black sludge on the seal ring and all over the axle brace. A little soon for that to happen on an "adventure" bike. The adventure is keeping everything in check! LOL! Anyone blown a fork seal with less than 10k miles? I hope it's a warranty fix! Jeez! | ||
| Maximum |
I recently got my first leaky fork seal (which was on the right) at 23,000 miles. I was past due for fork servicing anyway...so I had new seals on hand in anticipation of the service. | ||
| Baggermike |
7000 miles and seen a puddle of oil under the tire bike has been sitting and then found out it came from the fork, bought the bike new in june 07. | ||
| Xbimmer |
Right side or left? I've got a theory that I'm sure some will surely dispute... My first blew (right side) about 30k. Blew again about 40k. Left side has been no trouble at all. Al at American Sport Bike suggested that before taking down a fork, to slip a piece of thin material (he suggested photo film) up between the seal and the stanchion. He said that sometimes they've found material from the bushings flakes off and gets jammed in the seal. Since I'd already torn the fork down before I talked to him I couldn't try that but it sounded good to me. In my case there was very minor pitting at the bottom of the stanchion, just above the casting. Since I didn't think the fork would compress low enough for the seal to hit the pits I just cleaned it up when I did the seal the first time. After the second failure I noticed the seal had two nearly invisible cuts to the lips. I dressed the pits with my wife's manicuring buffers (  ) til smooth and so far everything's ok 4k later. You're almost due for the 10k fork service anyway, maybe you can get it warrantied but from my experiences with my dealer there's no way I'd let'm touch my forks. It's not that difficult to do when you prepare with the proper tools. | ||
| Debueller |
I had a fork seal fail on my '06 and it was fixed under warranty at Downtown H-D/Buell in Tukwilla, WA. They have treated me very well, thank you very much.  | ||
| Mike_dinger |
Ok, I'm gonna try what you said XBimmer. that sounds like a logical quick fix. I ride every day, so another 2k miles will come quickly. I made an appt with my dealer, and apparently the tech has only done Ulysses forks 3 times. I am kinda iffy on taking it there now. I would almost rather pay a suspension pro to replace the seals. More than likely I don't have the proper tools....yet! | ||
| Jammin_joules |
10k maintenance has the fork seals being rebuilt, if I am not mistaken. What year bikes have seen these premature failures? I have the fork seal kit along with the 2008 triple clamps to gain my extra 20 degrees of freedom sitting aside for one weekend soon. ~jammer | ||
| Mike_dinger |
Mine is an 07. at 8000 miles. | ||
| Rwven |
"More than likely I don't have the proper tools....yet!" Buy 'em, they'll have paid for themselves the first time you use them. Good tools never cost money. | ||
| Froggy |
17k miles, with at least 5 wheelies a day and lots of rough pavement, pot holes, and off roading. 0 fork issues. You guys should let me break in your forks and your problems will go away | ||
| Mike_dinger |
Damn Froggy. Did i get the shit end of the stick here or what? | ||
| Froggy |
Well its more evidence that the pampered bikes break as a form of protest. Hell my overloaded electrical system never had an issue either, but thats another issue. Perhaps my rear shock mount broke because i never did any endos? Who knows. | ||
| Xbimmer |
Perhaps my rear shock mount broke because i never did any endos? Who knows. 17k miles, with at least 5 wheelies a day and lots of rough pavement, pot holes, and off roading. 0 fork issues.  Maybe I should've been a lawyer...  | ||
| Dr_greg |
I got 45K miles before my R side fork began leaking. Awaiting parts, but I figured that was pretty good service life. Changing fork seals is not part of the 10K service. |
