2008 wr450 fork seal replacement

[humpness]

i have a buddy with a brand new bike with 300 miles on it. he already has to replace fork seals. is this a common thing? what can be avoided in the future?

hes a rookie so there was no high impact riding.

[neevothespaniel]

Its best to check under the dust cap after a few rides to make sure there is not dirt in there. You might find that using the film trick you can dislodge any debris and fix the leak.

Failing that I tore into my 08 forks last night, checked all my seals after a big leak a few weeks ago and refilled with some good 5W oil. Its very easy and the second leg I did from memory in about 20 minutes.

You would probably find the seals are still fine just some dirt caught in them.

[WR450FGreg]

.

I agree with neevothespaniel.

More than likely they have dirt under them.

........Though they do have a reputation for not lasting long.

Mine leaked after about 700 km.

I always had the intention of changing the fork oil after this distance so I pulled the forks apart.

The seals were fine, they just had some dirt under them.

Yamaha recommends we put some lithium soap based grease under the dust seal. I've done that this time and will see if it makes any difference.

The Owners Manual says to clean under the dust seal after every ride. This is a good habit to get into.

Greg

[Fullbore4]

Didn't the 08's get a new type of front forks than pre-08?

[WR450FGreg]

Didn't the 08's get a new type of front forks than pre-08?

Fullbore4,

Not that I know of.

As far as I know the only differences between the 07 and 08 were graphics, black engine sidecovers and (some claim, I'm not sure) an internal gear ratio or two were changed.

Greg

[humpness]

ill have to read about checking the dust seal. i dont know any thing about this.

[neevothespaniel]

On the fork leg there is a rubber seal, get a screwdriver in there and gentle prize it away. This will reveal the oil seal up in the fork leg, get some film or I used cardboard and gentle slide it up into the oil seal where the seal touches the leg. Wipe it around the leg to clear any debris caught in the oil seal.

Clean up the dust seal and replace it back into the fork leg and you are ready to go. Some dump some grease inbetween the dust seal and oil seal to catch any dirt, choice is yours.

[JSanfilippo]

Fullbore4,

Not that I know of.

As far as I know the only differences between the 07 and 08 were graphics, black engine sidecovers and (some claim, I'm not sure) an internal gear ratio or two were changed.

Greg

Greg the ratios are the same.

When I shift my '07 into neutral and release the clutch lever it makes an awful lot of noise. Yamaha changed something in the clutch to make it less noisey.

[jasondemitri]

I just did this a couple weeks ago. It was leaking pretty bad so I thought for sure i needed to replace the seals. I stumbled on the 35 mm negative film trick and it worked like a champ. Unless of course, all my fluid leaked out!!!!

[Dube2]

So my seals started leaking on the second ride. Removed the forks from the bike in Feburary and been sitting on the bench ever since.

Just got that fork seal cleaner thing from Motion Pro. So helped a little bit but still getting oil from the seals when compressed.

Maybe I didn't do the right thing?

I didn't remove anything but the dust cover spring and used the seal cleaner, mfg suggested to slide the seal 1/2" past the head of the seal with a sweeping motion using the hooked part of the cleaner to pull out debri and whatever else you could get out of them.

Not nearly as bad ,but still get oil leaking. Should I remove the entire dust seal like others have suggested?

Same thing happended to my 05 on the second ride from new ownership, replaced the seals and no problems ever since. That was three years ago.

[wartsnuff]

Greg the ratios are the same.

When I shift my '07 into neutral and release the clutch lever it makes an awful lot of noise. Yamaha changed something in the clutch to make it less noisey.

not to sure about that... my 08 is noisy as hell when the clutch is engaded and in neutral. sounds like it coming out to say hello!

don't notice the noise when riding!

cheers

Warts

[RedBull420]

My 08 was the same deal, both legs leaking with under 300km's on it. Replaced both seals and put on full leg neoprene covers and all seems well. I did try the film trick to no avail. Yami's are kinda known for crappy seals. Would rather that than crappy valves.... cough.... cough.... red bike.