New leaky fork seals.

OK- Last year about this time I completely rebuilt my front fork. It lasted less than a month and started to leak again. There is no pitting in the tubes and top bushing seams fine. I have a fork brace on it, so there is no flex. I have decided that i will change the fork seals again and maybe go to a heavier oil if I can find come. In the old days you could find oil to about 30W today the heaviest you can find is 20W. I feel that is too light for me. This is for my GPZ1100 and I feel the front end is too soft and it bottoms out all the time. I never use my rear brake, since it has almost no effect on the bike and the front fender hits the fearing lower mount every time that I brake hard. I have decided that I will expend the money and get a set of Progressive front springs. But it is the front seals that piss me off. I cant believe that Kawasaki seals are any different than the Bike Master seals. I have read from some of you guys who swear by OE seals. I cant understand why my left seal is perfect but the right is leaking since after the second or third week i put it in?????

I cant believe that Kawasaki seals are any different than the Bike Master seals

Believe it. The BikeMaster stuff is probably made in China or Taiwan.

Z1Enterprises sells K&L parts which are made in Japan & oem quality.

Only use seals OE branded fork seals. Leak Proof brand, means they will leak. I've never had an issue with OE seals, so why switch? Sure you can save a few dollars, but you'll be changing them often.

Am I reading Otakar's post correctly? It doesn't matter whether he uses Kawasaki seals or Bike Master seals, they both leak? And it is the right seal that always leaks?

Mcdroid wrote:

Am I reading Otakar's post correctly? It doesn't matter whether he uses Kawasaki seals or Bike Master seals, they both leak? And it is the right seal that always leaks?

NO. I replaced the seals a year ago and they were aftermarket. I never put in OE seals. OE seals are 8x of what aftermarket seals are. OE are $12 ea and AM are $7 for the pair.

If you got a year out of the aftermarket ones you did pretty good. They never work. You'd think a seal would not be a delicate item needing to purchased through Kawasaki, but it is. I see several Yamaha's use the same size seal, but Yamaha is near twice the cost of original Kawasaki.

K&L parts are made in Japan & oem quality.

I ordered two sets one from BikeBandit and one from Z1 The ons I installed were a set of British seals made by Pyramid-Parts those are the ons which are leaking. Or at least one is. I also ordered new front springs from Progressive. These should be a bit lighter at the very beginning but much stiffer toward the end. Also they come with preload spacers to make them as stiff as you want.

Got the first set of fork seals today. they came from Z1. They are made by K&S and are made in Formosa ( Let you figure that one out) First thing I noticed was that the rubber was quite a bit stiffer on these than on the "Pyramid" ones from england.

Gee. It seems like Z1 no longer has the K&L seals. dang.

I contacted Z1 this week. They can get OEM or K&L fork seals.

have you taken a micrometer to the seal area of your leaky fork to check the amount of wear on it? after all you are dealing with a basic hydrulic cylinder.