Fork skins ...good idea or waste of money?

[SlingerofMud]

What are your thoughts on the neoprene fork skins?  Love or hate, I'd like to hear what your experiences have been like.

[Claw74]

Love them, keeps mud/sand from tearing up the fork seals, I've been running them for years, and NEVER had a problem with them.

[SteveThe Snakes]

What claw74 Newbie said.

Edited March 16, 2016 by stevethe

[ktmRacer601]

Worth every penny

[Betarocker]

My bike must be Jewish. It doesn't have a fork skin.

[SnowMule]

dude...?

[dirteta]

I've found in really muddy situations they let mud in behind them. SKF mud scrapers are way more effective.

[G 9.5]

My bike must be Jewish. It doesn't have a fork skin.

 

Beat (no pun intended) me to it........

[zemiller]

If you clean them as part of your regular maintenance they are fine. If maintenance is not your thing, they'll fill with dirt and hold it against your fork seals. They do slowly fill with fine dirt that gets past. At least in my experience. 

[Turboloader]

Beta! As for fork skins, too much trouble to do a simple cleaning, i'll keep it simple. and keep it stock.

[jthaderlie7]

I just bought some when I re did my new fork seals so we will see how they work

[NoFiddyPilot]

Never used them, never leaky seals from mud, dirt, or sand. Lucky? Not sure. Only be riding 30+ years. Might need more time.

[mlatour]

I had some for a while on my YZ125,

installed them after I got a leaky seal replaced hoping to prevent future leaks.

 

Stitches quickly got stretched / torn from folding them over every time I washed the bike and rinced under the skins.

Indeed dirt accumulates very fast under the skins, unless rinced out at every wash and

unless you use them to prevent tube damage from severe trail-off-roading you are better off without them IMO.

Debris that would normaly be wiped off by the dust seal get trapped in the material and held against the tube.

Edited March 16, 2016 by mlatour

[DonO]

Lets see,

03 CRF450, 07 CRF450, 11 KTM350, 12 CRF450 all had fork skins and never had a leak. All rode in Florida's best and worst conditions!!

Prior to those I had leaks here and there on my bikes.

[4Sevens]

Lets see,

03 CRF450, 07 CRF450, 11 KTM350, 12 CRF450 all had fork skins and never had a leak. All rode in Florida's best and worst conditions!!

Prior to those I had leaks here and there on my bikes.

I literally get a fork seal leak about every 20 hours of riding.  Pisses me off.  I don't ride in mud much but lots of dust.  I might have to try these.  DonO, which ones do you use?

[SenorThumpy]

I've always thought they were pointless. They were on my old yz125 when I bought it. I kept them on for a few rides but just ended up taking them off. I've never had fork seal issues, I guess i'm a lucky one or the terrain I ride doesn't impact seals like others are experiencing? 

Dirt would get behind the skins and rub directly on the tube so I was taking them off and washing everything out anyways after every ride... pointless since i'm washing the bike after every ride anyways... 

[NoFiddyPilot]

I literally get a fork seal leak about every 20 hours of riding.  Pisses me off.  I don't ride in mud much but lots of dust.  I might have to try these.  DonO, which ones do you use?

 

Hmmm. I logged many, many hours in similar conditions (Mojave desert). How do your fork tubes look?  Getting this with different brands of seals too? Are you finding junk under the seal at the site of the leak?

[turbo dan]

In the long term they will accelerate wear on the fork tubes by trapping abrasive grit.  That is a deal breaker.  I find the stock dust seals do a very good job without trapping crap against the tubes.  The worst thing you can do is ride with dried mud on the tubes.  It is also important to dry the tubes after washing to ensure there are no water spots or leftover residue.  This goes a long way.

[4Sevens]

Hmmm. I logged many, many hours in similar conditions (Mojave desert). How do your fork tubes look?  Getting this with different brands of seals too? Are you finding junk under the seal at the site of the leak?

Fork tubes look good.  As for brand, I have a shop do the work so I'm not sure.  I am going to question them about it though.  Just seems like a constant problem I'm having.  Do you recommend a certain brand?  This is on my 2005 CRF450R but my son has had trouble on his 2004 Suzuki RMZ250 also and of course the same shop services both of them.

[NoFiddyPilot]

I've always had good luck with stock, but I've heard good thing about Synergy Seals and SKF brands. Maybe do some rootin' around on those?