Blown fork seal

4 months / 4,000 miles and my right fork seal is blown. I mean BLOWN. Not just leaving little streaks of oil, it's leaving globs of oil all over the tire and ground.

Yamaha rejected the warranty claim, stating that "seals are wear items".

Anyone else have a fork seal fail, and was it replaced under warranty?

MeefZah wrote:

4 months / 4,000 miles and my right fork seal is blown. I mean BLOWN. Not just leaving little streaks of oil, it's leaving globs of oil all over the tire and ground.

Yamaha rejected the warranty claim, stating that "seals are wear items".

Seals are a wear item.

However... 4000. I'd expect to have them at least look at the bike before pronouncing "wear". If the bike looked like it had been just ambling along back roads, I'd kind of expect them to fix it, even as goodwill. If the bike looks like it's been pounding through the whoops and generally giving 'er... then I'd kind of expect them to say "tough luck"...

Jäger wrote:

However... 4000. I'd expect to have them at least look at the bike before pronouncing "wear". If the bike looked like it had been just ambling along back roads, I'd kind of expect them to fix it, even as goodwill. If the bike looks like it's been pounding through the whoops and generally giving 'er... then I'd kind of expect them to say "tough luck"...

Well... every piece of plastic is scratched, the bars are tweaked 8 different ways, and the sales guy I bought the thing from rides with me and has witnessed the river submersions and wadded up hill climbs and has photos to prove it.

Damn, guess I'm replacing the seal myself.

They replaced mine, but it was with in the first month of ownership...I got lucky.

Using closed neopren fork protectors will definitely increase fork seal durability when riding at dirty conditions.

flatboarder wrote:

Using closed neopren fork protectors will definitely increase fork seal durability when riding at dirty conditions.

Thanks.

There's another thread on here about that. About 50 / 50 in favor of / against. "Against" is due to possibly trapping more dirt up in there.

A local shop is gonna change out both fork seals for $100, and I am having them put a set of seal savers on at the same time.

MeefZah wrote:

flatboarder wrote:

Using closed neopren fork protectors will definitely increase fork seal durability when riding at dirty conditions.

Thanks.

There's another thread on here about that. About 50 / 50 in favor of / against. "Against" is due to possibly trapping more dirt up in there.

Definitely an urban legend. Can be observed when riding at muddy conditions regularly as I did. BTW there is not much of dirt gathering under neopren or whatever covers if they are good quality. Pushing up and down the mud at unprotected fork tubes is by far worse. WIth some minimum amount of care, those covers save a lot of work and money.

MeefZah wrote:

Jäger wrote:

However... 4000. I'd expect to have them at least look at the bike before pronouncing "wear". If the bike looked like it had been just ambling along back roads, I'd kind of expect them to fix it, even as goodwill. If the bike looks like it's been pounding through the whoops and generally giving 'er... then I'd kind of expect them to say "tough luck"...

Well... every piece of plastic is scratched, the bars are tweaked 8 different ways, and the sales guy I bought the thing from rides with me and has witnessed the river submersions and wadded up hill climbs and has photos to prove it.

Damn, guess I'm replacing the seal myself.

Ha ha, & you thought they would even look at you? ha ha

Best video I have seen to see how i is done is this two part one from Rocky Mountain MC:

I used everything shown in the video and had a very easy time doing this myself. Bought the seal driver and fork bullet and level tool, easy to do with the right tools.

See here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y43k1qFVGW4

Bummer about the seal. To me they seem like tubes. You can go for a long time without trouble, then one day you go out to the bike and find two of them have been conspiring whilst sitting there and they've both blown seals.

I think warranty on a fork seal is situation dependant.

I got three seals replaced on warranty on my Ducati in the first 12 months and 16,000km. Then I got the forks replaced because when the third one went I told them to figure out what the actual problem was. It turned out to be a defect in the Titanium-Nitride coating of the fork slider that they use for decreased friction and increased longevity. Silly thing to happen, but by 20,000km I had an entirely new front end.

On the KLR I had a fork seal go fairly early on, but didn't even try for warranty. I wouldn't on my WRX either. The usage of both goes well beyond the warranty of any seal I've seen.

Crap, 6,000 miles on it now and the left one is blown again.

I had added Seal Savers after the first repair but they wore through in a day of trail riding.

So I cut off the seal savers and I took the fork guards off and heated them with a heat gun and bent them forward (away from the fork seals) a bit. I added a large heavy duty wire tie around each fork so the square "ratchet" lock of the wire tie was under the edge of the fork protector to catch the brunt of any rubbing against the fork. I keep the forks as clean as possible. And still the seal has failed.

This is pretty annoying.

Are you changing them yourself? I broke down and bought all the stuff from Rocky Mountain (the Tusk brand stuff) and after doing it once, it is very easy. There is a good youtube post from them on doing it, and I am glad I did it vs the dealer. From what I have heard, inverted dirt bike forks this is a pretty common thing, I too destroyed my seal savers by using the white Wr250R fork protectors, I have since gotten some X fork protectors and some new Tusk brand seal savers and have had zero problems so far. FWIW...

vwsandman wrote:

Are you changing them yourself?

No, I'm lazy and inefficient, and not mechanically inclined. Any more failures and I guess I will have to learn. I saw the video you posted, looks good.

Fork seal life can be increased by a few of the following service tips;

After a day of play in the mud, wash the bike. Pull down the dust seal and blow it out clean with brake clean. Apply a bit of "light" Grease between the oil seal and the dust seal.
If you have a leakier, grab a "Seal Mate" tool to swipe out the oil seal. Then clean out as above with a bit of grease.

I have a mixed opinion about "seal savers" If they are not serviced after every mud ride, Do Not use them... They trap dirt and will wear out the tube. I have seen "Rocks" and dirt trapped inside and basically had destroyed the tube, much less the oil seals.
they also add a bit of friction to the fork.. Friction Bad...


Go Race Suspension
Travis Jones

I found the Tusk brand fork seals @ Rocky Mountain ATV for $15/pair. It's a 2-lip design and I've been more than pleased with their products so far. Thing is, they don't come with the dust seals. Does anyone know where I can get some decent wipers / dust seals / whatever they're called? Would any 46 mm dust seal work on the WRR?

Thanks!

I think I had to buy the dust seals seperate when I got mine from them. No leaks so far.

Do you remember the brand? Did some more digging, the only dust wiper/seal I can find that says it will fit the WRR is the Race Tech, @ $25/pair

Here is the Honda part # for your WR fork seal and dust together in one package.

SEAL SET, FR. FORK

51490-KZ4-J21

Hope this helps.

Mr, Go Race wrote:

Fork seal life can be increased by a few of the following service tips;

After a day of play in the mud, wash the bike. Pull down the dust seal and blow it out clean with brake clean. Apply a bit of "light" Grease between the oil seal and the dust seal.
If you have a leakier, grab a "Seal Mate" tool to swipe out the oil seal. Then clean out as above with a bit of grease.

I have a mixed opinion about "seal savers" If they are not serviced after every mud ride, Do Not use them... They trap dirt and will wear out the tube. I have seen "Rocks" and dirt trapped inside and basically had destroyed the tube, much less the oil seals.
they also add a bit of friction to the fork.. Friction Bad...


Go Race Suspension
Travis Jones

There's a guy who knows a fork seal, that's all good advice for dirt riders those seal mates are a great tool

BPG wrote:

Do you remember the brand? Did some more digging, the only dust wiper/seal I can find that says it will fit the WRR is the Race Tech, @ $25/pair

Pretty sure I bought the Tusk brand with my seals, along with the tools to do the job...