Fork Seal Life Extension?

I haven't tried this myself.....yet....but wiping the fork tubes and dribbling some ATP 205 Re-Seal on the seals my help extend the seal life.

https://www.amazon.com/ATP-AT-205-Re-Seal-Stops-Bottle/dp/B000NVW1LM/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1VEV4CBN5TVHM&keywords=at205+reseal+stop+leak&qid=1555036233&s=gateway&sprefix=at205%2Caps%2C262&sr=8-1


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FGPbSafSpI&t=64s

Has anybody put on fork boots on the Upside forks?

These aren't boots, but same idea: https://www.sealsavers.com/

The name is right! I have used these before, but cannot speak for how well they work in very muddy conditions. Conceptually they would be very helpful. Also known as fork skins.

Most often the leaking is from dirt getting between the fork leg and the seal, this will make oil come out although the seal is just fine.
To rinse I pop the scrape seal and then stick a feeler gauge in (0,15mm or so) and work it around the seal a couple of times.

Washing the forklegs carefully after riding seems to be the most effective preventive work you can do as dried mud can be very hard.

Need to also make sure there are no marks at all on the tubes, when putting new seals in? dosn't take much?

If you use fork skins / seal savers make sure you flip them and wash the inside of them after a few rides. I’ve found dirt that way. But all in all I like them. I have both long and short ones. Long ones work better but still need maintenance

when you wash the legs in gunk, hold them at 45 degrees and let the liquid wash down the leg, as it hits a chip it will spread out and around the chip and make the chip stand out.

Taffy

I've just asked the importer. he says there's no difference in them. Red = OEM KTM and Green = aftermarket.

Taffy

Hi there guys,

Managing fork seals, what I do to get the best out of them for me.

First things first, do a very close inspection of the fork leg, ensuring its not grooved or scratch up, or got a bur on it, as this will potentially damage the new seals you replace and will be leaking again.

When using high pressure washers on fork legs , don't point the end up into the dust covers or seals directly, as the pressured water potentially pushes crap up under the seals and dust covers.
After washing the bike or at end of each day or ride , wipe down the whole leg of the fork with wet rag or with some light lube like silicon spray or crc or something wiped on the leg. Keeps clean and loosens hardens mud/clay. Can do that before a ride to prevent crap from sticking as well. The hardened dried clay film or mud sets and as the seal/dust covers contacts it, cant resist and push it away , the lip folds or opens allowing mud grit under the lip. Especially the last bottoming area of the leg , as this gets overlooked and holds mud and crap there from previous rides. When you finally bottom it in the unused section of the fork ,it hits the sun hardened mud/clay stuff, that maybe contribute as well, so watch that.

I also find if the fork leg is not leaking oil , and you can wipe most of the mess off the outside of the dust seal, I personally try not to pull out the dust seal and clean it to often , as this can potentially disturb everything around the dust cover and seal. May end up causing a leaking seal if you are not careful especially poking around with dirty tool or screwdriver when removing the dust cover.(Some People do remove/clean dust covers frequently)

If you are replacing seals, don't do the tight arse Tuesday as I did recently, only done one seal on one leg that was leaking ,even though I had two new seals there ready to go and know better.(lazy) I thought I would see how long the other old seal would last, before it would go. Well, less than 4 hours of riding that seal went as well. ha ha.


Neoprene fork leg covers, yes some get great results from using them , but again , they also needs cleaning regularly which is the down side, I imagine they can also potentially create a slight bit of friction on the fork in some cases?


Plastic fork leg protectors , hey they are great , stops lots of craps hitting the fork leg. One thing , though , you really need to get in right behind and around them and clean all the fork leg , not just the easy bits. the earlier bergs had a half cover which is easy to remove and great to get in and adround and clean the fork legs. The last couple of models made,

Whoops ,Sorry, hit the wrong button and it posted a half finished reply!!

The last couple of husaberg models made , they must of had a few of the fork leg protectors come off in extreme conditions and people complain I would say, so they redesigned them and partially enclosed the leg in spots , great idea and greatly strengthened the plastic fork leg protector so it will never come off, however , it made it very had to get in and clean the fork leg properly and get to the dust covers. They seem to have gone back to the older style cover again on the newer model ktms again which is better I think.

Leaking fork seals, if they are old seals been there for many years , or of unknown quantity, I always replace them. If I have only short hours on seals and get a leak again, instead of pulling the fork out and doing the seals, inspect the leg, if its not damaged chances are, I get an old piece of camera film as it is soft and hard sharp stuff doesn't like to slide on it and will roll or dislodge easy. I remove the dust cover and slide the camera film between the seal and leg, moving it around and up and down. There is a pretty good chance it will dislodge what ever muck is holding the seal off the leg from sealing. Much easier and cheaper option than pulling and replacing seals. It has worked on quite a few occasions and got long life out of one set of seals.

Be careful , don't go poking around the seal with screwdrivers or other rough edged tools or implements , as that will most certainly damage the seal. Feeler gauges have sharp edges also and can potentially damage the seal. The camera film is soft and wont damage the seal.


If you are in mud, muck and extreme conditions, If you can get 2 seasons without doing seals , based on what I have seen /experienced, I would say you are doing well. Its sometimes an unknown quantity , me 150-200hr there would be a leak somewhere, in good conditions and riding.

These days , I try to wheelie over mud and water where possible,go around it as well, anything practical to avoid getting crap on the legs. Not possible in a lot of racing or wetter climates where people ride. Dirt bikes and mud, is a bit like salt water and boats, they just don't go well together, ha ha.


There are a few good U tube vids on how to get burs and bits removed from your fork legs if damaged from suspension tuners also.


Well , hope that helps a bit.

After I washed my bike and made sure the forks and shock stem is clean I spray WD40 on the chrome. My thought is it will dissolve any gunk I missed so it doesn't dry up and later rip the seals.
I also quickly spray the chrome before I jump on the bike if it had time to dry up between the runs. The dry chrome will rub the seals the first time until the fork oil lubes it up. A quick spray saves the seals from that first compression.

Overkill? Don't know, maybe? It's in my routine and I keep the can next to the bike so it's easy to spray. My thought is that it's more of a hazzle to have bad seals getting **** up the forks and to change seals too often.

Jon, easy cheap steps to overcome this problem are always welcome!
As thats what Im talking about, just be wise and dont spend cash.

My ride bud always makes sure to get the fork legs clean after each ride and its on 160hrs (4cs) with no issues, I do the same but change them preventively at 100 hrs.
We do hit severe mud, so its not like its a sunday stroll.