fork seals leak in the cold?

Sorry if this has been discussed before... Please point me in that direction if so. I noticed the fork seals are both leaking last night. Bike only had 14k on it. Seems weird BOTH would start leaking this soon. Would riding in 30 deg. F temps cause the oil to blow by the seals due to high viscosity?

Is this on the 08? Sitting too long can cause it.

You've been neglecting it since you got the 14 I'm guessing.

30° isn't that cold, and 14K isn't that far -- but which bike? If it's the '14 I would suspect a manufacturing defect or a really serious bump. If it's the '08 then the age of the seals start to be an issue. Hopefully it's the '14 and still under warranty, since they are a royal pain in the butt to change at home.

I don't have a 14, just this '08. Already got about 1000 miles on this spring. Bought in 2013 with 8k.

Northwoods Snowman said:

I don't have a 14, just this '08. Already got about 1000 miles on this spring. Bought in 2013 with 8k.

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Your signature says you have a '14 as well.

Clean and scrape them and they'll probably seal up.

Google cleaning fork seals, watch a couple how to videos and make a scraper out of thin plastic like a liter Coke bottle.

I'll have to look at my Sig on the computer.... No idea how a 14 showed up on there!

I just ordered a seal kit, I need to change the oil anyway.

Temperature is not the issue. I have ridden many, many times down as far as 13 degrees F. never had a leaky seal. I rebuilt my shocks at 64K miles. Is it possible the previous owner like to wheelie a bit and maybe came down hard a few times?

Dave

Northwoods Snowman said:

Sorry if this has been discussed before... Please point me in that direction if so. I noticed the fork seals are both leaking last night. Bike only had 14k on it. Seems weird BOTH would start leaking this soon. Would riding in 30 deg. F temps cause the oil to blow by the seals due to high viscosity?

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Snowman,

A Sealmate tool will probably fix the leaks, and costs maybe US$5 unless you make one yourself. Milk jug plastic is the classic DIY material, there. There are several threads here for the Sealmate process, which is easy enough.

Cheers,

Infrared

Is this a current thread?!?!?! Where the hell are you seeing temps of 30 degrees??!?!?!?! Unless that's Celcius......

But yeah, temp has nothing to do with leaky seals. And save the coin on a Sealmate and cut up a plastic milk jug.

08FJR4ME said:

Temperature is not the issue. I have ridden many, many times down as far as 13 degrees F. never had a leaky seal. I rebuilt my shocks at 64K miles. Is it possible the previous owner like to wheelie a bit and maybe came down hard a few times?
Dave

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I doubt the PO did, but I've railed on it a few times enough to get the front end up; though I don't think I've lifted it more than an inch, or two at most because it doesn't stay up for more than half a second. Maybe you're on to something. I noticed today on the way home from work I've pumped more fluid out than I thought because I've lost much of my damping. I think the FJR is going on bed rest until I can pull the forks off and service them.
I've tried the sealmate trick on my dirt bikes and never had much luck, more of a temporary bandaid in my experience. I just assume fix them right. I just like to know why stuff fails so I can prevent it.

wfooshee said:

Is this a current thread?!?!?! Where the hell are you seeing temps of 30 degrees??!?!?!?! Unless that's Celcius......But yeah, temp has nothing to do with leaky seals. And save the coin on a Sealmate and cut up a plastic milk jug.

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Lol, its called MN. It was up to 55 this morning going to work. Summer was last weekend, we going back to fall now, lol

The Sealmate should do the job for you. At that age/mileage, the factory rubber ought to be quite serviceable.

Both of mine did that last spring after taking out of cold garage where it sat all year (44k on the bike then). Ran a seal mate around both and they've been fine for the last year. I wouldn't mess with replacing the seals just yet.

One of my Wings did that years ago. It was shortly after winter storage and an early spring ride in 30-40 degrees. They both stopped seeping after the weather warmed up a bit.

I ended up rebuilding the forks. I needed to change the fluid anyway and I figured the lower bushings would be shot, and they were. Now I have clean fluid, good seals, and good bushings.