Hello, just wondering if anyone else has had an issue with their seals leaking a lot?
After every ride i see that my fork seals are leaking.
The first time this happened was right after buying bike, it went to suspension shop for re-valve, it worked great but after the 3rd time i rode it the right side seal was gushing oil. I sent it back to suspension shop, everything was in spec, and I had new oem seals put in to be safe.
Then after a ride it was leaking again.
I pulled dust seal, cleaned and did tearoff trick. It stopped leaking.
Rode again and both forks were leaking, cleaned again, did tearoff trick and they both stopped.

Does anyone else need to clean their fork seals out after every ride?
I am gng to get that shock dr seal cleaner to try.

Hey rev,

I use Shok Sox.  Unlike Seal Savers, they are on or off in 30 seconds.  I've used them for two seasons on two different bikes (a season apiece)  with zero seal leakage.  They last about a season.  I don't have any trick seals or anything like that.  I remove them after each ride when I wash the bike and wash them if they're dirty, which is most of the time.  I use the 6 inch.

In the 9 years i have been back on a bike, diffrernt bikes and brands, the only time i have had a leak was when i had a bur on a leg or a bad seal.  Sounds like you have something going on, either forks not aligned, burr on the downtube, or something going on inside.  I didn't have a fork seal leak in the 3+ years i owned my 05 200, and it was revalved once, and sedviced twice.  Never have ran covers.  Didn't clean under the seals much, and rode in plenty of mud.

a burr on the tube, dried-on mud on tubes. Those things will cause even brand new seals to leak.

you gotta watch the dried-on mud. Clean the tubes (right to the bottom) before the next ride. Some mud is hard and sticks like glue.

I thought i had an issue with fork tube too, had it checked and there is nothing wrong (i looked also and tube is perfect).
Forks are aligned, properly torqued, and they always stop leaking after cleaning with tearoff film.

Lol' every bike i have had the fork seals and shock end up leaking within a year, this is just the quickest its happened.

I try to avoid mud, if possible.

If you don't bleed the air out of your forks enough pressure can build up to force a little oil out. Then not realizing that you go riding. The excess oil attracts dirt and now you have a real problem. I had three bikes that sat over winter and I didn't bleed the air out. As summer temps arrived the pressure built up in the forks and forced oil out. I cleaned up one of the bikes and problem solved. I rode the other two before I realized what was going on but it was to late. I roached the seals. Don't know if this is your problem?

More than likely you meed to replace the bushings..  As well as the seals..  When the bushings wear out they allow the fork legs to move around tooo much and they do not seal well as a result..

Bushings were replaced during service at begining of year, only 5-10 hours on them at most (they were leaking with less than 1 hour)

I have tried to be good with venting the air. I have the motion pro bleeders. I have noticed that the one side that leaks the most often also builds up the most air, sometimes after a few laps it will blow out a LOT of air...hisses for a few seconds.

I have never experienced it myself, but I have heard and read that the air bleeders let more air in than they let out.  I would pull them and see if the situation gets better or stays the same.  Wouldn't surprise me if they are letting air in, pressurizing the system more than it would otherwise.  I broke one, one time, so I decided that wasn't something that I had to have.

Btw, Tusk seals are inexpensive and much more durable than OEM.

Not to be rude, but how much do you weigh?

mattysuehurricne, on 05 August 2012 - 05:05 PM, said:

LOL, 160-165...I am a massive land whale, a real fatty.
Stock springs front and rear, suspension has been re-valved.

gmoss357, on 05 August 2012 - 12:46 PM, said:

This is worth a try.
I noticed that the one side that i have the most issue with used to get a lot of air in it even when I had the screws in it.
The first time I bled them it sprayed fluid out all over the place becuase there was so much pressure. This was why i got the push buttons, so I could easily bleed without tools and try to keep pressure down.

Haha no we're in the same boat I also weigh 165 lbs my fork seals don't leak but I had to put speed bleeders on my fork because they build up so much pressure and would get so stiff they wouldn't move