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General Category >> Rubber Side Down! >> Fork seal leaking from excessive sitting?
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Message started by och on 06/07/24 at 08:54:34

Title: Fork seal leaking from excessive sitting?
Post by och on 06/07/24 at 08:54:34

I have my little Savage that I really no longer ride, except on a very seldom occasion. It is mostly sitting parked, but I like to keep it in a running shape. Exactly a year ago I replaced both fork seals. Only the left seal was leaking, but I wanted to do both. The bike had 6600 miles at the time of replacement. Right now the bike has 7100 mikes, and the left fork seal is leaking again. Its been sitting for the last six month, I only rode it once I think back in January. Can it be from excessive sitting, on the stand with more pressure on the fork?

Title: Re: Fork seal leaking from excessive sitting?
Post by Michael Moore on 06/07/24 at 09:21:28

That sounds unlikely to me. Instead, carefully inspect the surface of the tubes for a (possibly very tiny) nick/scratch/burr from a stone strike etc. A good seal on a good fork tube surface will last for a very long time as there's no reason for it to fail. If your seals fail so quickly there's probably something causing them to fail. Pull the dust caps up from the sliders and try to extend the forks as much as possible so you can inspect all the seal wipe area.

Title: Re: Fork seal leaking from excessive sitting?
Post by ThumperPaul on 06/07/24 at 12:39:57

It seems conceivable to me that just sitting up (especially outdoors) could allow dust/debris to get trapped in there. I just cleaned up mine after discovering some minor leakage on the left side, and so far so good.

Title: Re: Fork seal leaking from excessive sitting?
Post by och on 06/07/24 at 12:53:23

There is really no debris, besides a little rust from the spring clip on top of the seal. When replacing the seals I replaced the spring clip of course.

I'm thinking it must be my fork tube, the original leak started when I had the superbrace on the forks, it must have deformed the fork tube and now the seal wont fit tight.

Either way, while sitting its a very minor leak, I'll just keep an eye on it. I don't really plan on ever riding the savage other than very rare occasional short trips, so it should be allright.

Title: Re: Fork seal leaking from excessive sitting?
Post by Surviving Philly on 06/08/24 at 17:12:55

From my understanding and limited experience it's the little clip in there under the boot rusting that leads to leaks. I keep mine outside year round, albeit covered when not in use but my clips were very rusty in there before replacing.

Title: Re: Fork seal leaking from excessive sitting?
Post by Tocsik on 06/13/24 at 10:52:59

Pick up a Seal Mate. You may be right as rain. Sometimes it takes running the tool around the tube a couple times. I thought I had a leaking seal two different times and the Seal Mate took care of it. Not affiliated, just a happy customer.

https://sealmate.net/

A credit card is similar, but the shape of the Seal Mate with the hook and slot make it work better. It's thinner than credit card material, too.

Title: Re: Fork seal leaking from excessive sitting?
Post by och on 06/20/24 at 15:13:52

Man, its leaking pretty bad now that the weather got hot. Very annoying, but it wont be fixing it, just taped some paper towels to the work. If I ever ride the bike, it will just have to be the way it is.

Title: Re: Fork seal leaking from excessive sitting?
Post by Surviving Philly on 06/20/24 at 16:33:41

Annoying as the front forks are to work on (at least for me on the sidewalk with my bike repeatedly falling off of my stands and literally into traffic on the street) I would be inclined to fix the leak for safety -- two reasons. One is that the leak can get onto the caliper and totally nullify the front brake. The other is my intense fear of tank slappers. Just food for thought. I was able to replace my seals effectively with that jury rigged long bolt thingy -- there's a thread on it in here that brakes down the whole job.

Title: Re: Fork seal leaking from excessive sitting?
Post by ThumperPaul on 06/20/24 at 17:11:55

I like the paper towel hack!

My old HMO ID card worked pretty good as a Sealmate. Best use ever for my HMO ID card!

Title: Re: Fork seal leaking from excessive sitting?
Post by och on 06/21/24 at 03:34:03

5160746D6F6E6D606F010 wrote:

I would fix it if I was riding the bike, but with my other bikes the humble Savage at this point isn't getting much seat time from me. I live in NYC, so right now it serves as a parking space saver for me - I park it strategically in front of my house so that if anyone parks behind it, they would block my driveway. This way I always have a spot right in front of my house, which is a huge convenience in NYC.

If I ever ride it, I'm not taking it on the highway at this point, it may just be a quick trip around town. The fork did not leak onto the caliper, but I'll be keeping an eye on it, and this is why I did the paper towel "fix" - to keep the oil from leaking down the fork and getting onto the caliper.

If I do ever fix it, I will probably have to get a whole new fork, because clearly there is something wrong with mine causing the leak. I don't see any obvious scratches, so it may be just deformed.

The bike also sat all winter with no leaks, and it only started leaking once the weather got hotter.

Title: Re: Fork seal leaking from excessive sitting?
Post by ThumperPaul on 06/21/24 at 11:46:42

I’m shocked and impressed that you can park a Savage on a NYC street and it doesn’t get stolen!

When I went to UT@Austin, parking was always at a premium at the dorm. One time, we found a VW bug and moved it out of a parking space and into the grass so we had a parking space. The owner was a stoner and probably just figured he parked it there. :o ;D