Busted front seals

EricV

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OEMs seem to be the dominant favorite with fork seals. Make a seal saver cleaning tool and try that first before you spend the money on new seals and do the work. Lots of You tube videos on how to make a seal cleaner from milk jug, plastic pop bottle, etc and clean the seals.

Buy some Shock Sox and you likely won't have this problem again. I put over 100k on my '12 w/o any issues using Kreiga fork seal covers. Changed to Shock Sox for a bit better coverage. 30k on the '15 now and no issues. Just need to clean them now and then.
 

EricV

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I agree with Antanas, unless you had one heck of a puddle, it's likely fine. If it's been a few years or 20k miles since the oil was changed, it might be a good time to do a flush and re-fill with fresh oil anyway. Search the forum, there are some good threads on doing this.
 

Tenman

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Changed my seals at 25k and then again at 50k miles. I probably cleaned them 5 times since 25k. The leaks had gotten progressively closer together. Last cleaning lasted 1500 miles. One was 3 oz low.
 

Don in Lodi

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Changed my seals at 25k and then again at 50k miles. I probably cleaned them 5 times since 25k. The leaks had gotten progressively closer together. Last cleaning lasted 1500 miles. One was 3 oz low.
Sounds like another part might be worn out to cause so many rapid issues.
 

RCinNC

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I'm another believer in Shock Sox. I've had them on my bike since I bought it in 2014, and 60,000+ miles later, I haven't experienced any fork seal leaks. If I was replacing seals as often as Tenman, I think it might be time to pull the forks apart and look for some damage or corrosion on the fork tube that is damaging the seal.
 

Tenman

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I Replaced them twice n 50k miles. Bushings too at 50k. The outer bushing didn’t have hardly any coating on it the slider bushing still looked good
 

STenitus

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Oddly enough at just over 4600 miles, I believe my 13 has developed a slight leak on the right fork seal. As suggested, I plan to clean the seal. With the forks being inverted, is there a need to remove the fork and right it before cleaning?
 

escapefjrtist

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Oddly enough at just over 4600 miles, I believe my 13 has developed a slight leak on the right fork seal. As suggested, I plan to clean the seal. With the forks being inverted, is there a need to remove the fork and right it before cleaning?
Nah. Be quick with the Seal Mate and you'll only lose a little fluid. Once you slide the dust seal down, clean that area very well. Cleaning the area and using the Seal Mate is easier if you remove the front fender too. DAMHIK!

Good luck!

~G
 

tntmo

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Mine started leaking last year, I cleaned them a few times but it just kept coming back. I just changed them, made a YouTube video if you need any help.....not sure how helpful my videos are though, sometimes I do stupid stuff! :D
 

STenitus

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Mine started leaking last year, I cleaned them a few times but it just kept coming back. I just changed them, made a YouTube video if you need any help.....not sure how helpful my videos are though, sometimes I do stupid stuff! :D
Tom's Tinkering & Adventures?
 

navynuke

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I was blowing seals every 3-6k miles, had a good gouge on the lower tube. Tried to polish it out a few times, but was too deep.

New lower fork leg was cheaper through partszilla than even a new leg pressed in

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk
 

Tenman

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I'm another believer in Shock Sox. I've had them on my bike since I bought it in 2014, and 60,000+ miles later, I haven't experienced any fork seal leaks. If I was replacing seals as often as Tenman, I think it might be time to pull the forks apart and look for some damage or corrosion on the fork tube that is damaging the seal.
When I pulled my leakers apart. No corrosion but the fluid looked nasty.
 
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