tvlbott Posted August 29, 2021 Share Posted August 29, 2021 I am assuming I need to replace my fork seals. Anyone have this issue before? How hard is it for me to do myself? and price?(this would include a stands and spools that I do not own) What about a estimate if I took it to a repair shop? Its sunday so I cant really call around. Just curious if others got this work done before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member cornerslider Posted August 29, 2021 Premium Member Share Posted August 29, 2021 WOW!!! THAT is a catastrophic seal failure.... Did something hit the fork tube? I've never seen the dust seal get mangled like that? If nothing else is bent/broken, fork seals are about $40 for the parts. There are plenty of videos on YouTube that you can watch. Once you watch a couple of them, you should be able to gauge wether you're up to it or not. It's not "hard" just time consuming, and messy. Good luck- ""W.O.T. until you see god, then brake" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shinyribs Posted August 30, 2021 Share Posted August 30, 2021 Agree with Cornerslider, never seen one do that before! Any chance there's something different around the front of the bike that got changed? Headlight bracket, windshield mounts,etc? I'm wondering if the forks compressed and got snagged on something that grabbed that dust cover. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shinyribs Posted August 30, 2021 Share Posted August 30, 2021 Oh, and you can get the front tire up to do fork seals without needing to buy stands. A ratchet strap around the handlebar will lift the bike easily. Just need a beefy tree limb or a decent rafter overhead. You're only lifting half of a 400lb bike, so it doesn't take much. If you can swing/hang on the strap and it don't break then it's good to go. Anything to get a strap around. Gym equipment. Overhead patio. Ladders work, too! I'm sure you can find something. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tvlbott Posted August 30, 2021 Author Share Posted August 30, 2021 (edited) 5 hours ago, cornerslider said: WOW!!! THAT is a catastrophic seal failure.... Did something hit the fork tube? I've never seen the dust seal get mangled like that? If nothing else is bent/broken, fork seals are about $40 for the parts. There are plenty of videos on YouTube that you can watch. Once you watch a couple of them, you should be able to gauge wether you're up to it or not. It's not "hard" just time consuming, and messy. Good luck- I do not know unfortunately. I actually bought the bike yesterday from a private seller for $5000. When i did an inspection it was not like this. I rode the bike home about 100 miles and didn't feel any issues. Took my girlfriend around the parking lot of our apartment complex as well. Noticed it later in the day when I was putting on a rotor alarm system. I just noticed it also as the exact same thing on the other side of the gasket as well. Both look similar. 2 hours ago, shinyribs said: Agree with Cornerslider, never seen one do that before! Any chance there's something different around the front of the bike that got changed? Headlight bracket, windshield mounts,etc? I'm wondering if the forks compressed and got snagged on something that grabbed that dust cover. I will attach some images of the surround areas, but just like I stated above to Cornerslider I do not know what could of caused this. I am new to this particular motorcycle and dont know exact locations of brakelines or other things. One of the brakelines looked like it could be in the way but at the same time the forks would of had to compress a ton for it to hit. One thing I can say is that I believe the bike was not garage kept due to some random surface rust on rotors/bolts. Some corrosion on mirror stems. 2017 with 12k miles. Starting to feel I might have over payed for the bike now, but i really enjoyed riding it home. Between 45-80mph. I have ordered new spark plugs(LMAR8BI-9), Mobil 1 4t oil, OEM Yamaha filter, Oil washer/gasket, Engine Ice, Radiator bolt and washer/gasket, and Maximum Chain cleaning kit(since all mine I left in my home town). Should all come in Wednesday so I make sure everything is up to pair. Edited August 30, 2021 by tvlbott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member cornerslider Posted August 31, 2021 Premium Member Share Posted August 31, 2021 I would contact the seller.... There is no way a 100 mile ride home could do THAT much damage to BOTH fork seals. The seller must have known about it, and cleaned all the oil so you could look at it .... With a leak that severe, I would also check the front brake pads for fork oil contamination. If there's oil on them, they should be changed out as well. I don't think you paid too much for the bike, 12K is nothing on an FZ-07 . You mentioned you are changing out the spark plugs as well. NGK makes an "iridium" plug for the FZ-07. It's an extra $3 per plug, but they last 3X as long. As easy as it "looks" to change them, it's major P.I.T.A. I'm glad I won't have to do them again anytime soon- 1 ""W.O.T. until you see god, then brake" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mossrider Posted August 31, 2021 Share Posted August 31, 2021 Those were mangled by the person who replaced, or tried to replace, them before you bought it. And now they leak. They went unnoticed for a time (100 miles) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lone Wolf Posted August 31, 2021 Share Posted August 31, 2021 1 hour ago, mossrider said: Those were mangled by the person who replaced, or tried to replace, them before you bought it. Exactly. Looks like someone took a screwdriver to the dust cap. The real seal that does the work is below the dust cap. I have used this tool and gotten a couple extra years out of seals before. If you spin the tool around and it pulls out grit and debris, it can stop a leak just by doing that. It worked on a quarter century old Honda 750, then eventually I had to change out the seals. Replacing seals is a major pain in the ass. The amount of disassembly just to access the parts to replace is very time consuming. Next time I will also buy the proper seal driver, the econo methods of PVC pipe etc are very hit and miss. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruzian3 Posted September 17, 2021 Share Posted September 17, 2021 On 8/30/2021 at 8:39 PM, Lone Wolf said: The real seal that does the work is below the dust cap. I have used this tool and gotten a couple extra years out of seals before. If you spin the tool around and it pulls out grit and debris, it can stop a leak just by doing that. It worked on a quarter century old Honda 750, then eventually I had to change out the seals. Replacing seals is a major pain in the ass. The amount of disassembly just to access the parts to replace is very time consuming. Next time I will also buy the proper seal driver, the econo methods of PVC pipe etc are very hit and miss. ^^^ This ^^^ I did this twice now over the past 20K miles using a water bottle that I cut up in the same shape as the fork seal cleaner sold online. Works like a charm and haven't replaced the fork seals in the past 60K miles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lone Wolf Posted September 23, 2021 Share Posted September 23, 2021 On 9/17/2021 at 4:22 PM, cruzian3 said: ... using a water bottle that I cut up in the same shape as the fork seal cleaner sold online. Works like a charm and haven't replaced the fork seals in the past 60K miles. Right, that would be a copy of the Motion Pro one (seal mate). I used that with success, then got the Seal Dr. Eventually I replaced the seals, but that bike was 30 years old. If a bike has been stored outside, you need to steel wool the fork tubes to get them super clean and remove any outer corrosion. If there are any pits large enough to hang up your fingernail, you clean them with acetone and use JB Weld to put a super small amount of filler in the pit and use a razor blade to smooth the wet filler in the pit while removing 100% of the excess filler. If you do it right you don't need to sand it - but if you do use very fine paper like 400 grit wrapped around a flat block of metal. 90% of the problem is garbage trapped in the seal itself, but you have to make sure there isn't anything on the tube that scrapes or cuts the seal during movement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kspjk Posted September 23, 2021 Share Posted September 23, 2021 To me, it appears to be the damaged fork seals that are letting the oil leak. As an earlier poster rightly commented, the rubber seal on top is a dust seal and not the actual fork seal, so don’t pay too much attention to that. It’s the oil leak that is the concern. More importantly what’s caused the seal/oil to leak? Does the bike have a lot of miles on it, then it could be just wear and tear + neglect. It is possible that the forks were misaligned for a long time causing excessive wear on the seals causing them to fail prematurely. Motion Pro sells a fork alignment tool which would help you determine whether or not the forks are true. If they were misaligned, replace the seals, clean out the inside of the forks of all debris that might have built up, refill with fresh oil and install them on the bike ensuring they’re aligned. Another possibility is if the front has sustained a significant impact, the tubes may have bent, causing excessive and uneven wear on the seals. You might be able to see the uneven wear on the “chromed” surface of the silver tubes once disassembled. If this is the case, I personally wouldn’t risk it, and would replace the forks entirely. If corrosion on the silver tubes is the problem, even if you clean/polish off the rust, the corrosion is likely to come back very quickly. I’d just replace the tubes if it was my bike. I also heard on a suspension thread that the washer which goes above the spacer (on top of the fork springs) is prone to shedding metal inside the fork - causing damage to seals etc. I don’t know how true this is. But if this was true, maybe replacing it with a beefier washer might do the trick of preventing further troubles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElGonzales Posted September 23, 2021 Share Posted September 23, 2021 (edited) Yeah, #1 on top is only the dust seal (the one in the picture is not original Yamaha, that's why it looks different), #2 is the oil seal, located a bit down in the outer tube, secured by a steel clip Only for the people who have never repaired a fork, I know a lot of you have much experience with this stuff. My personal opinion is, as soon as the chrome surface/coating has rust or scratches in the area that touches the oil seal -> scrap @kspjk Quote I also heard on a suspension thread that the washer which goes above the spacer (on top of the fork springs) is prone to shedding metal inside the fork - causing damage to seals etc. I don’t know how true this is. But if this was true, maybe replacing it with a beefier washer might do the trick of preventing further troubles. I also heard/read of this, one reason I took my fork apart at ~28000 km. I think this is the combination of parts which should shred metal: I have found nothing, no real signs of wear or unusual amounts of metal in the oil. The oil was disappointing clear. But that's just one fork of thousands. Edited September 23, 2021 by ElGonzales 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M. Hausknecht Posted September 23, 2021 Share Posted September 23, 2021 Using suitable grade scrub pads you should be able to remove rust and minor scratches. Whether that is enough to remove the scratches you've got, you'll just have to see. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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