Front end woes

[Stratha]

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?

[NedSVS]

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?

[Bibio]

Originally Posted by Stratha

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?

£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.

[Stratha]

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

[Stratha]

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

[Adam Ef]

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.

[Stratha]

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

[Red Herring]

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?

[Stratha]

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

[redtrummy]

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.