fork seals

Yamaha FJR Motorcycle Forum

Help Support Yamaha FJR Motorcycle Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Omeara

Member
Joined
Sep 7, 2006
Messages
14
Reaction score
0
I had a new rim installed last August. After a 2500 mile trip, I stored my '06. Went for a ride 4 weeks ago, and again, left the bike in the garage. A few days ago, I discovered the front rim was pooled with oil. Puzzled, I started to clean it off, then noticed the two bolts holding the right side axle in place had backed off. One was completely unthreaded, just resting in the flange hole. The other was still threaded, but finger tight. I traced the oil leak to the fork seal, and believe the leak and loose axle are related, possibly caused by a mis-alignment of the fork's inner and outer sleeves. The shop that installed the rim says its a coincidence, and the fix will cost me money. Seems an unlikley coincidence. Any comments?

 
I assume by rim you mean wheel. I see no reason for having a wheel replaced to cause damage to the forks. I see no reason for loose axle pinch bolts to cause damage to the forks. You didn't mention if your axle was loose or not.

You also didn't mention what cause you to need to replace the wheel. This event, I think, it more likely to have caused damage to the fork seals, and you are just now seeing evidence of a pre-existing problem.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
I had a new rim installed last August. After a 2500 mile trip, I stored my '06. Went for a ride 4 weeks ago, and again, left the bike in the garage. A few days ago, I discovered the front rim was pooled with oil. Puzzled, I started to clean it off, then noticed the two bolts holding the right side axle in place had backed off. One was completely unthreaded, just resting in the flange hole. The other was still threaded, but finger tight. I traced the oil leak to the fork seal, and believe the leak and loose axle are related, possibly caused by a mis-alignment of the fork's inner and outer sleeves. The shop that installed the rim says its a coincidence, and the fix will cost me money. Seems an unlikley coincidence. Any comments?
.........not what I wanted to hear so I'm going to pretend you're a dealer.

 
I had a new rim installed last August. After a 2500 mile trip, I stored my '06. Went for a ride 4 weeks ago, and again, left the bike in the garage. A few days ago, I discovered the front rim was pooled with oil. Puzzled, I started to clean it off, then noticed the two bolts holding the right side axle in place had backed off. One was completely unthreaded, just resting in the flange hole. The other was still threaded, but finger tight. I traced the oil leak to the fork seal, and believe the leak and loose axle are related, possibly caused by a mis-alignment of the fork's inner and outer sleeves. The shop that installed the rim says its a coincidence, and the fix will cost me money. Seems an unlikley coincidence. Any comments?
.........not what I wanted to hear so I'm going to pretend you're a dealer.
Hope I'm not being too subtle.....

702cleopatra.jpg


 
Well, at least you're honest...

Back to SlapnPop's question though ~ What happened that caused you to replace the front wheel? :eek:

 
Well, at least you're honest...
Back to SlapnPop's question though ~ What happened that caused you to replace the front wheel? :eek:

........while making a lane change at speed, hit a grapefruit size rock. Didn't realize anything was wrong until I heard a thumping noise while riding at slow speed. The rim took a major hit and the tire sidewall was damaged, but there was no air leakage (until I tried to eliminate the dent with a ballpeen hammer.)

 
.........not what I wanted to hear so I'm going to pretend you're a dealer.
That's the funniest thing I've read all month.....snerk!

Having fork seals replaced under warranty has been a mixed bag...with more than less probably getting it covered.

I would agree that there would more likely be a connection to popping the seals at the same time the rim got dented than because of a loose axle....and I'm not a dealer for what it's worth. ;)

I think though that having forged positive relationship with the dealer would help in this case.

 
<SNORT>

Thinking that Slappy, Howie and Iggy covered it already, but who wants to give me 1 against my 2 that says the OP isn't a mechanic? Hitting a rock big enough to bend the wheel isn't going to cause any fork damage, but a pair of loose pinch bolts that are really only a redundant system to keep the axle from loosening is??? :rolleyes:

Man, I didn't want to hear that I owed any money for taxes this year either, but since my CPA told me I did, I'm going to pretend he's an IRS agent . . . and tell him to go pound his bill.

Now, c'mon -- this was a joke, right? Iggy, did you post this as a sockpuppet? If so, nice touch letting the bike sit unridden that long before claiming the dealer botched something 8 months ago (nicely consistent with not noticing that hitting a grapefruit sized rock at speed F'ed anything up, though). :lol:

Hey -- just noticed -- it's Friday in 65 minutes here. For the eastern half of the country, it already is. :D

 
Last edited by a moderator:
<SNORT>
Thinking that Slappy, Howie and Iggy covered it already, but who wants to give me 1 against my 2 that says the OP isn't a mechanic? Hitting a rock big enough to bend the wheel isn't going to cause any fork damage, but a pair of loose pinch bolts that are really only a redundant system to keep the axle from loosening is??? :rolleyes:

Man, I didn't want to hear that I owed any money for taxes this year either, but since my CPA told me I did, I'm going to pretend he's an IRS agent . . . and tell him to go pound his bill.

Now, c'mon -- this was a joke, right? Iggy, did you post this as a sockpuppet? If so, nice touch letting the bike sit unridden that long before claiming the dealer botched something 8 months ago (nicely consistent with not noticing that hitting a grapefruit sized rock at speed F'ed anything up, though). :lol:

Hey -- just noticed -- it's Friday in 65 minutes here. For the eastern half of the country, it already is. :D


Omeara said:
<SNORT>
Thinking that Slappy, Howie and Iggy covered it already, but who wants to give me 1 against my 2 that says the OP isn't a mechanic? Hitting a rock big enough to bend the wheel isn't going to cause any fork damage, but a pair of loose pinch bolts that are really only a redundant system to keep the axle from loosening is??? :rolleyes:

Man, I didn't want to hear that I owed any money for taxes this year either, but since my CPA told me I did, I'm going to pretend he's an IRS agent . . . and tell him to go pound his bill.

Now, c'mon -- this was a joke, right? Iggy, did you post this as a sockpuppet? If so, nice touch letting the bike sit unridden that long before claiming the dealer botched something 8 months ago (nicely consistent with not noticing that hitting a grapefruit sized rock at speed F'ed anything up, though). :lol:

Hey -- just noticed -- it's Friday in 65 minutes here. For the eastern half of the country, it already is. :D
 
<SNORT>
You guys are merciless...... but I trust your judgement. Thx

Thinking that Slappy, Howie and Iggy covered it already, but who wants to give me 1 against my 2 that says the OP isn't a mechanic? Hitting a rock big enough to bend the wheel isn't going to cause any fork damage, but a pair of loose pinch bolts that are really only a redundant system to keep the axle from loosening is??? :rolleyes:

Man, I didn't want to hear that I owed any money for taxes this year either, but since my CPA told me I did, I'm going to pretend he's an IRS agent . . . and tell him to go pound his bill.

Now, c'mon -- this was a joke, right? Iggy, did you post this as a sockpuppet? If so, nice touch letting the bike sit unridden that long before claiming the dealer botched something 8 months ago (nicely consistent with not noticing that hitting a grapefruit sized rock at speed F'ed anything up, though). :lol:

Hey -- just noticed -- it's Friday in 65 minutes here. For the eastern half of the country, it already is. :D
 
You guys are merciless...... but I trust your judgement. Thx
Glad you took it in the proper vein. Taking a clue from Iggy's comment about the value of a relationship with a dealer's service department, I was mostly hoping to give you an idea of where the service tech was probably coming from -- if his reaction needed any explanation.

Just get the seals fixed and ride it. If today is an indication here, it's getting to be THAT time of year again!

 
Hitting a rock big enough to bend the wheel isn't going to cause any fork damage, but blah blah blah
Both my buddy and I nailed a pothole on Matole rd last year that dinged both of our rims, but forks were fine. Heck, I even had stronger springs and custom compression valves and they bottomed out. I was amazed they weren't bent, and seals not blown. Still no fork damage.

On the other hand, one ride down Skyline Dr in Duluth, MN on my VFR blew both my seals. No big bumps, just constant expansion cracks and frost heaves and the typical neglected MN concrete.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Top