Is Replacing Fork Seals Easy?

[renegade master]

Hi guys,

Is replacing the seals on the forks an easy job? The other day I noticed on my 08' sherco that one of the forks was leaking oil, so I think I am going to have a go at doing it myself, has anyone else done this and if so have you any pointers for me? any info would be much appreciated.

Cheers

Colin.

[copemech]

No, I would not consider it EASY for a person not experienced at it. There are a number of tricks to these forks and a thorough understanding is need to even change the oil properly.

There is a lot of info within this forum if you want to study up.

However, one of the simplest things to try first is cleaning of the old seals. Dirt is a typical cause of leakage, so the quick fix goes something like this.

Find a sharp edge plastic to to get under the lip of the outer wiper seal and tap them up till clear of lower leg. Clean all under and around that as there may be more dirt trapped there than you think.

Once clean, find an old strip of 35mm film negative thin plastic and gently work in under the lip of the actual seal holding at such an angle to remove trapped debris and extract it as you rotate things around the shaft and withdraw it to take the dirt out.

Do this several times till things turn up clean and no dirt trapped under the seal lips causing the actual leakage as many times the seal is not actually damaged, just dirty..

Prolly took me more time to type this than performing the act, and you got a 50/50 chance of a fix I would give it. If not, then I would suggest experienced help the first time around. Just little things, like I usuly hang the bike with straps when pulling the front end off, makes life easier!

Ta!

[joeninety]

Agree with copemech, when I did my Sherco fork seals i followed some instruction I found on the web that were quite compreshensive. My seals were leaking but in quite good condition but they had totally lost there suppelness. Once you get to the point of using the stantion as a slide hammer to remove seal and bushes I thought this would be small light taps but I ended up clamping leg in a vice and putting the top half of the tripple clamp on the stantion and using all my weight to slide hammer the stantion out.This is quite un-nerving to start with but once the seals start to move its not too bad.

Once you've assembled and replaced the oil don't be fooled in thinking something is wrong as when you first push down on the forks. In my experience until the oil and air sort themselves out inside the forks they don't feel right. Riding around for 15mins pulling lots of small wheelies seems to sort this...

[b40rt]

have a look at this

[renegade master]

Ok thanks guys for your input, I will try and clean them frist before I dive right in and replace them, I have just ordered one of them seal mates on ebay, seems a hand thing to have in the tool box! I will let you all know how it goes

Thanks

Colin

[renegade master]

update on the fork seals, I took b40rt advice and got the seal mate, less the 5min job and both fork seals are cleaned and not leaking oil anymore.... job done so the lesson I have learned here is clean them frist before going replacing

so thanks for everyones input..... (specially b40rt)

[charlie chitlins]

I suspect the folks who made the Seal Mate are from my generation (wouldn't surprise me if Cope is about the same age) and were addressing the lack of availability of film negatives in the digital age!!

I bought a Seal Mate just to check it out...it was a bit pricey and, maybe mine had been on the shelf too long, but it was quite brittle and cracked easily.

I'm back to my stash of negatives!

AND...I just did fork seals on an '06 and an '08 Sherco and it's still pretty fresh in my mind.

If anybody needs a bit of help, I'd be glad to walk you through it.

Edited December 4, 2013 by charlie chitlins

[b40rt]

I fashion seal mates from plastic drinks bottles, thin and flexible.