Leaky Front Fork Seal

[Red Rojo]

Hi All. I have a '98 GL1500C with a leaky right front fork seal. Is this something I should be able to repair myself? I've watched videos, I have the service manual, I have tools, including a torque wrench. Also, do I have to also replace the left fork seal if it's not leaking? Thanks ahead of time.

[RonW]

There are many good videos. If the leak isn't pouring, you might try ®Seal Mate or ®Seal Doctor.
If you get Seal Doctor get the larger size 45mm-55mm. I used the 35mm-45mm size and it tore up my seals. Valk forks are 45mm.

[edit] Might have been my fault with the Seal Doctor. Might be that you're suppose to rotate the Seal Doctor backways first to loosen up things, then in the direction of the hook.

(Seal Doctor)





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(Seal Mate)

[Red Rojo]

Hmm. I guess that's one way to get back to my local dealer. Thanks.

[RonW]

Well, you would have to have a seal driver to install new oil seals. Or, make a diy version and know how to use it.

[98valk]

Hi All. I have a '98 GL1500C with a leaky right front fork seal. Is this something I should be able to repair myself? I've watched videos, I have the service manual, I have tools, including a torque wrench. Also, do I have to also replace the left fork seal if it's not leaking? Thanks ahead of time.

I had slight leak off/on for yrs, recently followed the correct procedure to install the front wheel which correctly aligns the forks, plus I added some AT-205 reseal (endorsed by Scotty kilmer  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYuF02wTx8w) to the fork fluid.
now 200 miles later zero leaks, forks are dry as new. 77k on original seals.

this is what I did.  https://www.valkyrieforum.com/bbs/index.php/topic,116905.0.html

Torqued down the axle without pinch bolts and fender bolts tighten. Then tighten caliper and right side pinch bolts. This put the guide line on the axle just touching the speedo housing, this is a std/tourer and not at the fork as the VTX sites show.
The wheel spins freely for many turns. will do the brake fork bounce and tighten the pinch and fender bolts after finishing up the brakes.

[garyheskett All 49 x 3 st.louis]

I've used a piece of 35mm film several times over the years. Worked every time. It's easier if you remove the chrome fork cover, jam the piece of film up in there, just move it up and down as you go around the fork. Do it numerous times, take out the film, get on the bike, grab the handlebars and  bounce the forks up and down a few times. Worked every time for me.  Same principle as the fork sealmate, but now where do you find 35mm film? I've had a few pieces in the tool kit for years.

[Heathen]

I just recently re-did both front fork seals.  My right-hand side fork was leaking, but I decided to go ahead and do the left one at the same time.

https://youtu.be/7ZTrwY8cAyM   if you wanna laugh at me...

Here's what I learned.  The right hand fork was straightforward and easy to do.  the left was a pure evil sumabeech until I got smart and decided NOT to take the spring cover off and release the spring.  You can do it all without taking the whole thing all the way apart.     I ordered some seals and dust covers called Outlaw racing (something like that)  the seals did not fit at all.  I ended up going to my local honda store and getting oem seals, which worked like a charm. 

I'm glad I did it, because the fork oil I poured out was black and smelled like death!

Cheers!

[RonW]

it took me 2 hours installing a non-oem oil seal on a fork. The non-oem brand was a recommended brand too.

[RonW]

Hmm. I guess that's one way to get back to my local dealer. Thanks.

did the Seal Mate work?

[f-Stop]

I replaced the right fork seal on the Valk years ago, but have never touched the left fork.  OEM parts.  No issues so far, but I do still have one seal kit on hand just in case.

I have one of those Seal Doctors that I got for the dirt bikes.  I recently used it on my wife's VT1100 Spirit to stop a leak on the left fork and it worked!  (I replaced the right seal on that bike some time ago.)



Seeing how well the Seal Doctor worked on the Spirit's recent leaky seal, it makes me wonder if I really needed to replace the other leaky seals at all!

FYI, I made a seal driver out of PVC pipe.

 

[h13man]

Seal Mate works but remember these are inverted forks thus you might lose some fork oil. I suggest after installing new seals, keep an eye on dried bug debri as its about the only destroyer of fork seals. Any bike w/o some kind shielding is susceptible to this though Honda thought of this on the Valks but Shadows, not so much.

[RonW]

FYI, I made a seal driver out of PVC pipe.

Make sure to chamfer the inside of the PVC pipe to avoid damaging the oil seal's garter springs and ID.

[Jess from VA]

Seeing how well the Seal Doctor worked on the Spirit's recent leaky seal, it makes me wonder if I really needed to replace the other leaky seals at all!

I had a leaky on one side and not the other for years.  I used 35mm film (poor) and a Sealmate (better), and had decent results for several years.  Over that time, my clean outs got better too, with better (longer lasting) results.

But eventually, it wasn't going to stop leaking after time passed, so I had big BF do both forks with new parts and oil (both forks clear off the bike), and nary a drop since.  Interestingly, when Bill got in there, my total loss of oil on the bad side was not that bad (and less than expected).  And I was never able to discern a loss of fork function all during this period.  I did have Bill put in one ounce less than the recommended amount on both sides, and happy with that too.

I had a Dealer stick in Progressive springs and new oil in my other bike years ago, and they turned out hard as a rock (and teeth jarring) for a year or more afterwards.  They eventually got better with no fluid leak or removal (never could figure that one out) (thus the one ounce less replaced on the other bike).

[h13man]

I ran Progressive springs on the VT1100C Spirit with excellent result riding two up 50% of the time. After 5 yrs./30,000 mi. they started to get soft. So when I purchased the Valk I installed Racetech #80 from another member here as he thought they were too harsh. They were a tad stiff at 1st. but broke in within 300 mi. or so. At 33,000 mi. still very smooth. Been using Bel Ray 10w exclusively for 15 yrs./3 bikes.