Damn fork seals !!!!

[BLADE-RUNNER]

Did my fork seals a couple of weeks ago.And one of em has gone again .
I used some cheapo ones off Flea-bay without using new dust covers.When i sounded shocked at the price quoted by my local honda dealer(HUNTS)at £18 per side.He said you can use cheap ones but will need to redo them in 3 weeks.He seemed to be bang on with his prediction.
Has anybody had similar problems?

[MJONESY]

you sure he hasnt snuck round and smeared oil over them lol, done mine with cheapo mandp ones last week done about 300 miles and seem ok. used cheap ones before and had no problems

[BLADE-RUNNER]

To be fair to the bloke i did not fit new dust covers though.Im getting a bit worried time wise cos im off to the I.O.M on the 4th june so i think ill give the gen honda parts a try anyways.Every year some thing crops up just before the TT

[benny hedges]

are your stanchions pitted at all???
is the oil/air gap right?? as in do you have too much oil in the forks?
ive used ebay cheap seals loads of times on loads of different bikes and never really had any issues - and rarely change dust seals unless theyre fkt.
maybe you put them in at a slight angle - this can make the lip seal turn inside out and oil will weep past it.

honda won't make their own seals so chances are when you buy cheap ones you are getting the same thing in a different bag!

[tony.mon]

How did you put the new ones in?

You can use the old ones as a drift if you file off the rubber coating, means you don't accidentally damage the new ones.

[benny hedges]

You can use the old ones as a drift if you file off the rubber coating, means you don't accidentally damage the new ones.

i do that - remove the spring from the inside of the old seal and tap the new one down square with it, then press it all the way in with the washer that goes under the circlip - works fine every time

[BLADE-RUNNER]

Cheers for all the good advice guys.I did use the old ones to drift in the new but i guess i must have damaged it somehow.
OH can anyone tell me what the air gap should be just to double check it this time

[benny hedges]

OH can anyone tell me what the air gap should be just to double check it this time

130mm from top of the fork tube.
or 450ml from dry.
there's a honda shop manual in the workshop knowall base - save a copy or just use it for reference.
section 13 you want

[BLADE-RUNNER]

I did put 450ml in last time but i didnt see the bit about the air gap
CHEERS BH

[tony.mon]

130mm is assuming standard springs are still in it; if the bike's had uprated springs it may well be different.

For example, I'm fitting some Hyperpro progressive springs this afternoon for a forum member and they require that you remove the 100mm spacer and use an air gap of 160mm.

[sirch345]

130mm is assuming standard springs are still in it; if the bike's had uprated springs it may well be different.

For example, I'm fitting some Hyperpro progressive springs this afternoon for a forum member and they require that you remove the 100mm spacer and use an air gap of 160mm.

160mm

Chris.

PS. Stevie (Bikerpiker) had some problems with changing fork seal on his Firestorm. Your problem seems to be slightly different to his, but could still be worth looking at here:-
http://www.vtr1000.org/phpBB3/viewtopic ... als#p85115

[tony.mon]

[quote="sirch345"]
160mm

Yep.
With 7.5 wt oil.
Checked on their website, too, as I didn't trust the instruction manual. (good manual, though, really easy to follow with loads of pics, downloadable on their website).

They recommend closed coils at the top of the leg, might just be that less spring is in the oil that way round.....

Hopefully Giddsy will let us have some feedback on how they perform.

[sirch345]

160mm

Yep.
With 7.5 wt oil.
Checked on their website, too, as I didn't trust the instruction manual. (good manual, though, really easy to follow with loads of pics, downloadable on their website).

They recommend closed coils at the top of the leg, might just be that less spring is in the oil that way round.....

Hopefully Giddsy will let us have some feedback on how they perform.

Tony,
If you've double checked then as you say that must be right. It just sounds a lot to me. How much static sag do they recommend out of interest

If Giddsy has the standard springs atm he's bound to be happier with those I would have thought.

Chris.

[tony.mon]

Here's a link for Hyperpro's site- they have .pdf manuals, the second one has the sag and damping setup info.
http://www.hyperpro.com/index.asp?page=mounting# It's a big download though.

The manual/handbook/installation guide that comes with the springs and oil has a bike-specific sticker on it with all of the recommended settings.
Four to five rings out, damping one turn out from standard, and sag (from memory, as Giddsy now has the manual with the sticker info) was 20 or 30 mm.
But have a look at the .pdf manual, it's quite a good description of how to set it up.

Right, I installed the springs, and have to say I'm quite impressed.
We put them in as per recommended settings, and took the bikes out (in damp conditions) for a test.
I was impressed with the way it handled, certainly on the standard settings it was a big improvement over standard Honda springs and oil.

Which makes me wonder why Honda designed a front end with a 100mm spacer in it, when they could easily have just put in a longer spring?
(could it be a common fork leg with the Varadero, but the Varadero uses longer springs to get more leg movement?)

Either way, from the couple of miles I rode Giddsy's bike it gets a big thumbs up recommend from me, expect he'll put some of his own opinion on here once he's had a chance to put some miles on it.

Only drawback- now the standard rear shock needs doing.......

Oh, and sorry, Bladerunner- this turned into a

[sirch345]

Cheers Tony for the link to the fitting instruction's. I'll download them and have a browse through em

Chris.

PS. Yes my apologies also, to Bladerunner for a