Fork seal question(s).

I bought a 1983 Seca XJ900 last summer, it runs strong, but has minor head leak. I had some minor electrical issues, which have mostly been resolved due to the help I received here. So thanks everyone.

It has sat for a few months and now I'm ready to get it back out. Before I garaged it I notice that the right side fork seal is/was leaking fluid. I have talked to several people about the issue and the advice seems to be that I should just take it somewhere and have a proper MC repair shop fix it.

I have moderate ability when it comes to repair, but limited tools. So... should I take it in or is the repair easy enough that I can take care of it myself?

Any help is appreciated.

 

A) where are you located?

B) get a manual for the bike so you dont do what my P.O. did with my900R. he tried to do the seals himself (it would appear) and he damaged some internal parts made of Unobtanium. im trying to get the parts made now but i dont know that ill be successful...

C) make sure the MC shop is a WELL REPUTED shop and will work on older bikes if you decide to take it in...

if youre anywhere near S.E. michigan i would recommend MiCarl at thundervalley powersports...

 

There are plenty of advice on this as most owners have to tackle this problem.
In my experience, it is a fairly straightforward task with only the holding of the internal shaft a small problem.

http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=15793.html

read up about it, get the right components, and away you go...should be a morning's job.

Enjoy the satisfaction of " doing it right yourself "

 

:lol: Spoken like a true 650 owner. You and I have the anti-dive forks. I recently browsed the archives looking for people who've done the job on our bikes. Information was sorely lacking in my opinion. I'm not saying it can't be done, but I don't think it'll be as easy as redcorfe makes it sound.

Frankly, I'm dreading the task.

 

I'm not looking forward to that job either, I do like the inverted spark plug socket. Sounds like a real time saver. I'm tempted to avoid the anti-dive part, but every time I try to cut a corner like that it comes back to bite me. I'll try to post the results, maybe it'll help someone out.

 

The "anti-dive part" is really the simplest part of the fork job, because it simply unbolts from the lower tube as one complete unit, and then there are a couple of o-rings between it and the fork tube that you replace, and then spray some carb cleaner all throughout it, and that's pretty much it....there are no real "user-servaicable parts" inside of it! (you can remove the upper "housing" and pry out the plunger and make sure it's nice and clean, too, but don't remove the o-ring that's on it, there is no replacement available for it!!).

Just make sure you note in which order the various pieces of the "oil lock assembly" come out, so you can put them back in, in the same order......

 

When I did my fork seals, I took off the anti-dive unit, and it never got put back on! I just found a couple bolts to plug the holes with a little GOOP on them and their now sealed. I never liked the anti-dive units on there anyways. It don't seem to ride much different now anyways. There's maybe a little more dive in the front end, but hardly noticeable.
The seals are easy to replace if you take your time and go by the rules. Keep things clean and you'll do just fine.

 

You'd help me out!! (No pressure, of course ) I'm having the issue of my 900 shocks not holding air. A rebuild is in order. I'm not sure what to do about the anti-dive. It doesn't work(I don't think) anyway. Hit the brakes and the thing still dives like a damn submarine on high alert...oh well. Keep us posted!

 

Thanks for all of the suggestions and Info. After looking at a repair/service manual I see that they want the forks completely disassembled. I think that I may just contact the local yamaha dealer and get an idea of what they will charge me. I have the worst luck and don't want to find out the hard way that I didn't do something right.

 

Forks looks very comlicated in an exploded diagram.

They magically become much simpler when you take them apart.......

 

Glad to hear that Len. They seem to be very linear. I guess as long as you line up the parts in the right order and in the right orientation, they should go back together.

I'll be dropping another couple of parts orders soon.

 

LOL That is true of many things. The corollary is (many things) magically become more complicated when you try and reassemble them.


However forks are not in that category. :lol:

 

I would weigh in that they are not hard...take some time to diagram as they come apart. Two bits of advice.

To hold the oil lock: I took a 5/8 x 24" all thread, used a grinder on one end to make it 4 sided, squared and fairly sharp. Tighten two nuts on the other end, wrap the threads with masking tape...presto, a 2 foot easy out to hold the lock assy. Put the easy out into the fork tube, invert, put the two nuts in a vise, then slide the lower tube on and torque the bolt.

2nd
To seat the oil seals etc. I took a 1" schedule 80 PVC coupling, used a hole saw to drill out the ID slightly to fit over the 36 mm fork tube. Then bought some ABS bushings up to 2", hooked to a 2"x24" PVC pipe, put a cap on the top and then I could use a hammer to tap on the length of pipe & seat seals etc. Hint: glue the 1" couple into a 2" ABS bushing. the ABS glue will harden overnight and provides stability when tapping on it. Don't glue the pipe/cap to bushing...you want to take these apart when working on other bikes, stuff. I used the 2" to tap in an axle seal on the truck. (Use a chop saw to cut all pieces square.)

Lastly,
Don't buy after market seals from Dennis Kirk etc. Get them from Chacal. There are differrences in the seal and washer thickness.

 

Leoks, the task may appear daunting to you now but I can attest that the money you spend having someone else do it will be much more than the cost of purchasing a few tools for yourself and striking out to do it yourself.
I was intimidated by the first set I tackled however, I found them to be very straight forward once I had a clear place to disassemble the forks and took my time. Preparation is important as is cleanliness and order. Read through the process a few times and ask any questions you might have here. There are a few threads on this issue available so look them up.
Steer clear of aftermarket seals, they are short lived compared to the the factory seals.

 

After reading over these posts and looking at the manual again I have decided to make this repair myself. It really does feel good to make a repair like this on your own and do it right.

It actually does appear to be a pretty straight forward repair. My initial question would be about constructing "special" tools to take things apart or to reassemble the forks. I remember when I was younger my step-dad did things like that all of the time.

I don't have any scrap lying around and my tool supply is limited. Where can I buy these "special" tools, such as the handheld press and this longer tool to hold the oil lock? That really seems to be my only issue, at this point. That and any suggestions where to order the proper seal kit I will need. I assume I can get it from Chacal?

I am in Salem, OR.

Thanks again everyone.

 

TAKE PICTURES.

 

Chacal should be able to provide all you need. You shouldn't need a press we used a PVC pipe on Arties X like described above.

 

I used a large metric socket I had laying around if you dont have anything else around to use.

 

I'm doing mine today. Got one fork completely disassembled at this point. Any suggestions on cleaning while I'm in there? Any other points, not covered in the Haynes manual, I should hit?

Thanks,
Paul

 

Hi Paul - we found corrosion where the seals sit and at the top of the forks where on the x the top plug screws in. I didn't see anything else that would really require attention.