Front end woes
 

hey guys, just had new tyres put on and told I have a fork seal leak brake line leak and need a steering head bearing joys! Add the new brake lines and pads sprocket and chain im looking at £800 what I paid for the bike incidentally, question is would I be better replacing the front end or carry on with the repair like for like?

Re: Front end woes
 

Were you aware of any of these faults before taking it for tyres? A leaking brake line is quite rare and would be very serious. Any evidence such as low level in the reservoir and/or lever creeping back when you hold it on for a long time? Make sure you clean up any oil or fluid they say they have found and check again for yourself because there are very few people you can trust completely. I've had a major franchised car dealership try to rip me off for repairs on non existent faults! I note you are a junior member; have you got older more experienced friends you can ask?

Re: Front end woes
 

£800 GTF is what i would be saying.


take it elsewhere and get it checked over by someone else. DONT tell them that you have had someone else say that this is wrong etc.etc.


seriously if you cant tell yourself that these things are wrong then its about time you learnt. this is basic bike maintenance.

Re: Front end woes
 

nothing I had noticed, previous owner left a lot rough tbh didn't expect all this though. have couple of mates who are more mechanical minded and experienced with bikes than me, one especially could rebuild a bike no problem. I'm hoping some of the 'leak' is acf50 from cleaning a day ago

Re: Front end woes
 

This is my first big bike, going from a 125 to this i expected handling differences and have been learning the bike for the past few months been told forks are slightly offset and can only be seen when up on a ramp, lines are original and braided have been recommended, chain and sprocket, I can do myself

Re: Front end woes
 

Braided lines is a good idea / upgrade anyway. If you can do chain and sprockets you could probably do the lines yourself. But if you have any doubt of your ability then get them done properly by someone who knows as brakes are very important! To state the obvious.


You should be able to do the pads yourself.


Check the fork seals with something like a Sealmate to check it's not just dirt in the seals that is allowing a bit of leakage.

Re: Front end woes
 

Cheers Adam, lines was something I was looking at and expected to do myself, with a bit of supervision! Forks and bearing way beyond my experience, came to bikes late (35) and spark to trade, so electrics im happy to play with but important stuff Im not so great with

Re: Front end woes
 

Fork seal are not actually that difficult, but it does help if you have all the right bits and pieces to do them. Head bearings are easy. Brake lines are a doddle, especially as you can buy lines really cheaply now on Ebay. Just measure the length you need (left will be longer than right) and convert to a twin line set-up (you will need to buy a longer banjo bolt as well). There is no way that's £800 worth, someone's taking the mick..... Whereabouts are you?

Re: Front end woes
 

Boy was talking about 7 hours labour supply and fit all parts, guessing that's the cost, im just outside paisley. Appreciate all the replies so far, good to get second opinions from people who know these bike's

Re: Front end woes
 

I could not get a sealmate clone to push through the seal. When I stripped it down it was easy to see why the seals had gone real hard. Do the dust covers at the same time if the sealmate fails. Stripping forks is not a difficult job just time consuming and removing the damper rods can be a problem. I used one of the old seals to push the new ones in place with a piece of pipe . Cost about £13 for seals and £12 for oil. Other info on this site plus y tube vids. I am no spanner monkey but coped ok.

Re: Front end woes
 

You can do it all yourself pretty easily. There is a YouTube video for all that stuff. Fork seals might be tough with out the right tools.

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk

Re: Front end woes
 

I doubt the parts would come to £100 even if you used genuine Suzuki bits.....so at £100 an hour I'd say he's a bit steep and if I was paying that kind of money I'd expect the expertise to come with it, so a couple of hours work! Real shame you're the opposite end of the country (some might argue you're in another country :) ) we could have done the whole lot together in an afternoon!

Re: Front end woes
 

at £100hr in Scotland i would want a BJ thrown in every hour. they are asking that money as a LOT of nightmares can happen especially if the bike has been neglected.


if the lockdown was not in place i might have helped.

Re: Front end woes
 

I've been looking at the bike yesterday and today, can't see any leaks tbh, feels ok running about (although I'm a bit paranoid) talking to a mate this week about having a look. ordered brake lines from wezmoto, see how I get on with them when they arrive. Thanks again for replies, I'll update with any findings/ parts I fit

Re: Front end woes
 

I had an MOT garage tell me that my head bearings were worn and quoted nearly £200 for the job.


Went to my trusted garage and he checked the side to side movement of the steering stem and tightened up the nuts and pronounced it good. Cost? Zero, because he's a decent fella.

Re: Front end woes
 

Spoke to a mate tonight, head bearings fine no leak to be seen on forks or brakes, forks are slightly offset so oil and seal replacement next week, bit nothing dangerous or enough to fail mot, I'll mabe not go back to that garage

Re: Front end woes
 

What Garage? I use ride n fit for tyres and MOT. Not had any issues.

Re: Front end woes
 

Haldanes in greenock, hoping it was just a bad day as I've used them for a couple of years never really had an issue before. I've used ride and fit as well they were hit and miss for me, couldn't find an oil leak in 3 visits, turned out to be driveshaft seal, replaced myself problem solved.
Tbh some of the stuff was on my to do list, like brake lines, but the cost did surprise me.
Incidentally fitted wezmoto race lines this week, and will be doing front shocks this weekend hopefully

Re: Front end woes
 

I suppose everywhere has their faults. I tend to try and do work myself on the bike. Had it at Haldane's before and wasn't a fan of the way i was treated.

Re: Front end woes
 

Yeah, guess it can be luck at times, I probably won't go back to Haldanes, annoying as they were handy for work. Ride and fit or john Clark in Hillington from now on

Re: Front end woes
 

Passed another SV in Gorouck yesterday, wasn't you was it ��

Re: Front end woes
 

Was in port Glasgow around 10-11 never made it as far as Gourock

Re: Front end woes
 

Forks taken off yesterday, oil looked original so new oil and seals replaced, definitely noticed a difference riding now, checked head bearing again and its fine, happy to do this with a mate rather than forking out an unnecessary £800 cheers for the advice here guys