Fork seal agony

Hi,

I am in the process of changing fork seals and have problems. No problems in disassembling the forks. But the seal sat tight as a x%&¤## in a &%#%¤#. Finally I got one out and it looks like it was glued? to the fork. Of course the aluminium area where the new seal should go does not look perfect. I also managed to scratch it.

So I am thinking of mildly dremeling the surface as smooth as possible. And surely the seals are not to be glued or siliconed in there? I think the prevous owner had a problem and tried to use silicone or similar to make them stop leaking.

Any advice very welcome

Don't glue or silicone fork seals, they shouldn't need them.

I don't know if I would want to dremel the area the seal fits into, might make more problems than it fixes...is this to remove the scratch? Depending on how big and bad it is, maybe fill the scratch with some JB Weld or similiar and smooth out while it's still workable? What kills a seal is the fork tube sliding inside up and down, when that tube has a nick it eats the seal up quick.

Yeah the idea was to remove the scratch, but I agree that it probably is better to try to fill it, it is not very deep. Or take a chance and leak test it after the new seal is there with some air. The tubes are not a problem. They are in very good shape.

del

I can't see anyone gluing in fork seals. Probably just corrosion. Don't worry about scratches. It's not going to leak from that unless they are 1/4" deep.

Don't know about what number, but use some very fine emery cloth and go over scratch lightly to make sure no raised metal! That will tear up a seal fast!

Thanks all, I might be exaggerating, I did go over it with emery and it is now hard to feel, but it is visible. I´ll just put the new one in.

Here's the fork seal puller tool listed at Z1E

Z1E

I greased up the outside of my fork seals and the inside of the lower tube, just a very thin film to help it seat.

So I did the second one today, heated the seal first and it came off so easy, no scratches or anything. In the process of stripping the lacquer off right now, new seals on their way. There was very little oil in the forks and what little there was was black and smelled like death. Hopefully it will be better now.

Speaking of fork seals... I'm looking for a complete rebuild kit, seals, springs, and all the joy that goes with it. I have a '79 KZ1000ST. Any help would be Awsome!

Thanks,

Bear

You can get fork seals from Z1Enterprises, or BikeBandit, or probably the pricy ones at a dealer. Those links are on the right side --->

For springs I think the better route is to look at Progressive suspension rather than buying originals at a Kaw dealer. But check BikeBandit too;
I don't know if Progressive will have springs for older bikes but it doesn't hurt to ask them if you don't see it.

Post edited by: OKC_Kent, at: 2007/09/30 20:20