So the other day after my bird strike LOL, when I got home and was over looking the bike for any damage I noticed my fork has like a flim on it that looks wet but its not?? nothing is leaking around the seals i wiped it off and then compressed the front end and it comes back I touched it and its not wet and you cant feel anything on your fingers if ya rub it .. is this anything ?? the left one does it more so than the right one but in older pics I see the right side looks like the left just wanted some input on it?? its not the best pic girlfriend has the good camera so I had to use the cell phone.. thanks
Perfectly normal. The seal and wiper don't take off 100% of the fluid and the film tends to be visible (rainbow) on the coating. It also lets contaminants in, so remember to change your fluid once in a while.
Its a leak. A small leak. Mine started out the same way. When the leak got bad I went to the dealership( paid for a warranty) they said fork seals are not covered. So out of pocket the seals were like$27 and the labor $350. Now there is no leak or the rainbow look on the forks and the frontend on the bike feels great!!!
My 08 is doing the same thing. Good to know it's NOT covered by the warranty cause I really don't want the dealership f__ing with my bike. Not to bad right now, but i'm sure it will need seals in the future. :thumbsup:
I've got the same thing going on on my 04. Mine doesn't seem as bad as yours but everynow and then I see a light film/rainbow looking coating. I wipe it off and it doesn't feel greasy or anything so idk.
Anyone know for sure if it's normal or early stages of the forks leaking
thats great Just what I dont need to hear.. the start of a problem... I know the left side has more of the film on it than the right side..l I know I dont have the money to fix that now... well Im gonna see if i can get it covered under warranty even though most say no LOL I will call them in the morning and see what they tell me..
Ok well I went back and looked at my pics of my bike and found 2 pics when i still had the stock pipe on it and it was well under 1000 miles in the pic, and the front left fork looks the same as it does now... with the film on it... so if it is a leak it has not gotten to much worse ?? IDK :dontknow: all i know is I hope I dont have to shell out money for this crap now cause i really cant afford it.. I left the pic big so you can see the fork better ??
My right fork looks exactly like your, and it has been that way for awhile. I have to say it hasn't become any worse. Still the same rainbow color film.
If the only problem is the light rainbow film, I would leave it alone (unless you get it fixed under warranty). Don't try the seal saver, it made my leak worse.
yeah I called this AM and its covered under warranty thank god, they have to order the parts and it will be in next week sometime so looks like I will have it in the shop next week for a new seal ....
now I suppose my right seal will start to leak after Sept 18 2009 when my factory warranty is expired LOL... well I just hope I will only have to redo my left front suspension back to my settings I had it at ???
just called and told them its starting to leak and I wanted it done under my warranty, he said ok and he should have the part early this comming week, I was so glad he said its covered ...
I just hope nothing else gets messed up in the process ...
Well I have 11,000 and just did the seals yesterday. The main thing is after every ride is to take a old shirt and cut it up a bit and clean the forks. Small bugs and dirt will get cought and cause this to happen. Then it will turn into a leak for sure. I paid $177 total to have my seals replaced and new Motul oil put in.
Well I have 11,000 and just did the seals yesterday. The main thing is after every ride is to take a old shirt and cut it up a bit and clean the forks. Small bugs and dirt will get cought and cause this to happen. Then it will turn into a leak for sure. I paid $177 total to have my seals replaced and new Motul oil put in.
Well today I went down to the bike shop to get my fork seal replaced bout a 100 mile round trip ride for me... so i get down there and wait around for it to get done bout hour or so later they wheel it out and its done so I say ok look it over all looks good... get on the highway comming home and behind a big rig and i start to see little bits of things getting flung up at me so I thought he must have run over somethign ?? well more and more starts to come at me I look at the tyres and I say out loud fuck that things blown and getting ready to fling off... so i have a truck behind me and i see the right lane open and fling in there and slow way down.. behind another truck. well more and more rubber is going all over the road and im trying to avoid it LOL ended up getting hit with a fairly large piece in the hand that i kept from hitting my bike ... so I lay back there for a bit just waiting for him to get off the road and nothing happens so I get going again and hes now dragging the rest of the tyre thats caught in the back of the trailer by this time its smoking really good and I get up next to him and motion him about it and he just waves at me LOL I say oh well and get the hell away from him LOL.. so get home and was making sure my rebound was set where I had it set and guess what I have no rebound setting will not turn at all, so call them up and they say bring it back... I was pissed but not to pissed cause its free and under warranty thank god. so take it back down again and a nut inside the fork needed to be down another 2mm at 12mm and not the 10mm that the manual states??? have not looked at the manual about it but yeah I had a fairly intresting day LOL despite the damage that damn truck tyre could have done to me... and my bike..
:thumbsup:ive been riding 10 years and of those 10 i raced at my local club for 3. It is not normal to have a light film on your tubes. it means your seals are on the way out and that enough junk has made it past the seals to contaminate them. Ive changed several sets of seals in the past very easy job to do even for the begginer. should only cost you about 50 bucks to do the job yourself:thumbsup:
A tip somebody posted earlier that I have picked up after changing my seals,
I take a micro-fiber cloth and wipe my fork tubes down after each ride.
Hopefully it will help keep any excess debris off the tube and help it to last
longer.
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