Maxim Fork leaking

Here is the history of this problem with my 82 maxim 650:
This summer i noticed my fork seals were shot, and decided to replace them. The forks each had rings of oil near the top of the fork, and were starting to bottom out over bumps. They were not, however, leaking from anywhere else. I ordered factory seals, and ripped the forks off the bike. after a lot of gruntwork trying to break the forks apart, i decided that it would simply be easier to bring the forks to a shop (and even the shop had a fun time breaking them apart). The hex head bolt at the bottom of the left fork had been badly stripped (assumably by the previous owner), but the shop was able to get it off. However, when putting the fork back together after replacing the seals, while tighting the hex head bolt back on, the mechanic over-tightened the bolt, and broke off the head. He ran the fork through a compression test, and it did not leak. As a replacement bolt was 12 bucks, and the mechanic had stated that it didn't leak, i decided not to have him replace the bolt, figuring that it could be done the next time i replaced the seals. The mechanic also stated that the rest of the innards of the fork all looked good, and didn't need replacement. After putting the bike back together, and taking it for a ride, i parked it, and did not come back to it until the next day. i noticed a puddle of oil directly under the left fork, and after feeling the bottom of the fork, determined the oil to be coming from the broken hex bolt on the bottom. i brought the fork back to the shop, spent the 12 dollars to get a new hex bolt. the shop was nice enough to not charge me for labor or fork oil, and after putting the fork back together, put it through another compression test, and again found no leaks.
Overjoyed to finally have the problem fixed, i took the fork home and put it back on the bike. once again, i took it for a ride, and once again, parked it afterwards, and came back to it to find a puddle under the fork, leaking from the bolt.

I was getting rather annoyed by this point, and not wanting to go to the shop and have them tell me that i needed a whole new fork tube, as i just blew a bunch of money on new seals, i decided that i would just fix the problem myself.

I first sealed the bottom of the fork with a nice coating of silicone. This appeared to work for a day, but once again i noticed oil under the fork, and found that the oil was leaking right through the silicone.

Secondly, i took the hex bolt off the fork and applied a nice layer of teflon tape to it. This also did not stop the leak, as i again found a puddle of oil under the fork, and found it to be leaking from the hex bolt (suprise!).

I am reaching the end of my patience with this fork, and am strongly considering simply upgrading to 750 forks (and upgrading the brakes as an added bonus). However considered i just replaced the fork seals, which wasn't cheap, i would really like to get at least a year out of the forks before i upgrade.

My final attempt at fixing the leak is to have one of my friends, who is a machinist, fashion me a bolt identical to the hex bolt, except add a groove with an o-ring to seal the leak. I don't know if it will work, but he is willing to do it for free, so i figure i might as well try it. He is doing this today, so i will know whether it worked by wednesday when i put it back together.

I'm pretty much running out of ideas, and i really don't want to try something like JB Weld, except maybe as a last resort, because it would make ever removing the bolt again a real treat.

Anyone have any ideas for me?

 

i you know the source of the leak [it looks like it] i think you have it just about covered...

what a pain that leak is.....

 

yeah, and as an added bonus i've become so proficient at taking the front end apart that i can do it just about 1-handed in my sleep.

 

Hey Murphyreedus, in addition to the bolt, did by chance the shop replace the SEALING copper washer under the bolt??? These will wallow out if they are over tightened (sounding familiar?) and reused. They are essential to a good seal on the fork. Hope this helps.

 

How are we "Tightening" this bolt ... without extending the tool down to hold the damper while the torque is being supplied to the bolt?

You won't need to have an O-ring bolt fabricated if you add a flat washer and a tight-fitting layer (or two) of sturdy gasket making material.