Leaking fork seal again!!

[Ctshooter]

Hi all. This is the 3rd seal replacement in about 4500 miles on my right fork tube since I did them both at about 2200 miles. My bike is a 1995 with 1,013 miles on it when I bought it 2 years ago. I now have 8600 miles on it and my left seal is fine and not leaking. After cleaning up my right tube, I noticed some wear on the lower end. Since the chrome on the fork tube is in excellent condition, I started looking deeper into why my fork seal keeps leaking after awhile on that side. All I could think of was that there is some radial play between the tube and the lower fork assy when it is off the bike that I fiqured could cause blowby of fork oil past the seal. Is this a valid assumption? Has anyone encountered this problem in the past? Here are some pics of what I see....Is this normal?

 

[richwrench]

I just replaced my fork seals in Jan. & they are leaking again as well - I blame myself - I used LeakProof even though I've had probs with them in the past - ordered new ones from Yammy today - maybe I'll learn eventually...

 

[gleno]

Hi all. This is the 3rd seal replacement in about 4500 miles on my right fork tube since I did them both at about 2200 miles. My bike is a 1995 with 1,013 miles on it when I bought it 2 years ago. I now have 8600 miles on it and my left seal is fine and not leaking. After cleaning up my right tube, I noticed some wear on the lower end. Since the chrome on the fork tube is in excellent condition, I started looking deeper into why my fork seal keeps leaking after awhile on that side. All I could think of was that there is some radial play between the tube and the lower fork assy when it is off the bike that I fiqured could cause blowby of fork oil past the seal. Is this a valid assumption? Has anyone encountered this problem in the past? Here are some pics of what I see....Is this normal?

Your assumption is valid. This is not normal.

The scuffing on the fork tube and the slide bush should not be there.

These abraded areas will chop out new seals very quickly.

The abrasion would suggest that the fork tube is not straight or out of round and this can be checked by having the tube rotated between true centres and checked for deviation with a dial gauge. The abrasion on the slide bush would suggest that the mating fitting in the fork lower may also be abraded and needs to be checked.

Some tubes can be polished and hard chromed if the damage is minor but it's probably just as easy to replace the tube, seals and slide bush if the fork lower tube is not damaged.

 

[one2dmax]

Don't use the leakproof crap. I have never had one hold up. The stock seals have always performed the best for me. Depending on the year you can get new lower bushings for your fork tube. If you have not replaced the upper I would suggest to do that as well.

Sean