Fork seal replacement

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My brother has 11K miles on his 05 and the right fork started leaking, 2 dealers said it was normal wear item and would not be covered under the YES warranty. I believe the cost for the repair with changing the brake pads was $171. Hope you have better luck than he did.

 
Thanks for all the feedback! I talked to the local dealer and they said it should be covered. However, as mentioned, there is a 3 week awaiting period. Luckily, they happen to have a seal in stock, so I purchased it and did the install myself. Good thing I had just enough Silkolene left over from the Wilber spring swap a few months ago.

-Ken

 
Thanks for all the feedback! I talked to the local dealer and they said it should be covered. However, as mentioned, there is a 3 week awaiting period. Luckily, they happen to have a seal in stock, so I purchased it and did the install myself. Good thing I had just enough Silkolene left over from the Wilber spring swap a few months ago.
-Ken

:good:

 
Just did mine and they said they called Yamaha and it was a wear and tear item. I bought it a bit reluctantly because I couldn't swear I wasn't a bit hard on them in the past 25,000. It was about $180 for me for both seals with most of it being labor.

 
Most fork seal failures occur due to contamination or a ding in the fork tube from a rock etc.

I had both seals replaced recently for $110 which included, full strip down, check/clean all components and polish fork tubes, new seals and fresh syn. oil. All taken care of in 2 days by my local suspension shop.

I was aware of the "try to remove any contamination trick" but for piece of mind and the risk of being caught out a long way from home, decided to get them replaced.

Even though the Y.E.S. is covering some of them, I would consider this repair a wear and tear item.

 
Been procrastinating the task of replacing fork oil. As I was sitting at a stop light, I looked down and saw traces of something splashing on the inner dash panel on the left. I looked down and saw the tell-tale signs of fork seal failure. I called the dealer and he said they would do the fork seal under YES. I told him I would pay to have the other fork seal replaced. Although the other one hasn't gone bad, I'll have piece of mind that I have a new one and I'll have fresh fluid in both fork legs for 1/2 the price of having new seals done in both fork legs.

 
Coming from a Concours, I must say that Kawasaki's formal policy is that ALL SEALS ARE COVERED for the duration of the warranty.

Not good news about seals not being considered warranty items.

 
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If you go back up and read what Tony said, It is covered. Tony is a DEALER! Gee Whiz people! Listen to what you are reading!!!!

 
I guess if the motor or transmission blew up, that could be considered as wear & Tear too then...I mean why not? In reality, what's the difference? What concerns me after reading these post, is why one dealer claimed to have gotten Yes to pay for it and yet another dealer claims Yes said they wouldn't.....It has the smell of a self-insured warrenty plan to me... I used to sell em a long time ago to New Car dealers. It was a fronting arrangement as there was NO REAL WARRENTY CO...In reality, the dealer got all the money for the warrenty he sold, and he was responsible for paying for the repairs thru out the warrenty period....If this is the case as it very well could be as it would explain the different replys supposidly from YES when it's really the dealers decision...as as cheap and desperate as some of these Yamaha dealers appear,,,,Then, as Robin would say: Holy excretion, Batman!

 
Coming from a Concours, I must say that Kawasaki's formal policy is that ALL SEALS ARE COVERED for the duration of the warranty.
Not good news about seals not being considered warranty items.
Seems to depend on the dealer you go to. Valid argument would be: "assuming adjustment is the same on both forks, they travel up and down at the same rate and bear the same weight. if both go at the same time, it could be attributed to wear. however, if one goes and one is ok, then there must have been a defect, so, it should be replaced".

Compare it to front brake pads. Brake pads are wear items and are typically not covered. However, if you had 1 brake pad that wore down beyond the wear indicator and the other 3 were like new, then there must have been a defect and it should be replaced.

 
The more I think about it....based on the comments, I'm almost sure YESA is sometype of a self insured fronting arrangement warrenty plan which the dealer is quota sharing with Yamaha on, as there is no actual insurance co I can find named YES. I bet its just a name made up by some Yamaha Executive for the name of their warrenty Co..........However, State laws require there be a 1-800 # on your warrenty paperwork for you to be able to contact get your claim resolved. These people are there just to handle the claims end...I suggest it's not a good idea to trust THE DEALER TO CALL YES!!!! YOU NEED TO CALL YES YOURSELF!!!! After all, how do you know if the dealer called? If it's gonna come out of his pocket, he could very well be lying his arse off, figuring if you're too dumb to go thru proper channels, you need a lighter wallet to offset all that air in your head anyway...Which is just how they think....I know!!!

 
My last bike before the FJR was a Triumph Sprint ST. fork seals were not covered on them and mine ate them on a regular bases. bete.

 
Thanks for all the feedback! I talked to the local dealer and they said it should be covered. However, as mentioned, there is a 3 week awaiting period. Luckily, they happen to have a seal in stock, so I purchased it and did the install myself. Good thing I had just enough Silkolene left over from the Wilber spring swap a few months ago.
-Ken

Did the install yourself? Good on ya, mate. Did you have to buy/ fabricate/ improvise any special tools for this job?

 
My right fork seal started weeping over the weekend. Would the fork seal replacement be covered by Y.E.S.?
Thanks,

-Ken

'05, ~24K miles
Ken,

Since you haven't filled out anything in your profile about where you live, would you happen to be in Westminster Colorado? I promise not to tell anyone :rolleyes: If you are, what dealer gave you the green light on the YES fix? I'm in no hurry to get it fixed since I have another to ride.

I noticed my right fork tube was wet a couple of weeks ago and didn't really relish the idea of going back into the front suspension, so I stopped by the dealer (Twin Peaks - Longmont CO) and asked if it would be covered by the YES extended warranty. He didn't know for sure, so he called Cypress and was put on hold for 15 minutes. They then recorded the nature of the problem and other info and said they would get back to him. Of course they didn't and he told me today that he would call back on Tuesday.

 
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