Can fork oil be topped up ??
 

The left fork seal has gone and is now leaking oil. I am having the bike serviced in 3 weeks time and was wondering if the bike would stand the abuse for that time by topping oil up in forks once a week. I am having the bike serviced and though i may as well have both seals replaced and new fork oil put in at the same time so theres less reciepts to lose :roll: Is it possible to top the oil up and if so how ???

Luke you'll have to jack the bike so that theres no load on the forks and the wheel is pulling the fork legs to full extension,dont take the fork caps off with any load on the forks, messy messy :twisted:

just take off the fork caps the bolt at the top ( i dont think youve got preload caps have you?) and top up with fluid to about 100mm below the top, put cap back on and tighten.

you might be surprised how little fluid has been lost though, it usually looks like a lot more than has actually been lost.

higher pressure in the forks logs through more fluid will mean that the seals will leak even more though.

is this something sudden, you didnt mention anything on Sat?

No, it's been like it for 2-3 weeks now. doesn't look to be losing too much at the moment but i don't want it to get wobbles going into corners :shock: . I've Just been qouted £80 at my nearest shop for new seals and oil for both legs, does this sound about right ???

probably sounds about right, the seals arent expensive so i suppose thats mostly labour,

have you thought about having your springs done a tthe same time?,

it would be a good time to do it as the forks will be off anyway to do the seals, i did mine myself, but uk suspension at keighley could do the lot for about £140 (i think) including new springs, seals, oil and so such.

How difficult is it to do them :-k ?? i can get dad to give me a hand getting forks off/on. I'm planning on doing most of the servicing myself anyway to save some cash. i can knock the labour costs down as i know the shop owner, if it's not an amateur job :roll: .
Like the new avatar BTW, Looks jus like ya ( although he's a bit larger) :lol:

the fork spring and fluid swap is a piece of cake, the hardest part is getting the bike supported really, im not sure about swapping teh seals though, i expect thats a good bit more akward, to do the springs and fluid you dont have to take the forks apart, you just take off the front wheel, calipers and such and drop them through the yokes, the top comes off, tip upsided down and pump em to get the old fluid out, tek out t'spring , one top up with new oil get bubbles out put spring back in, put fork caps back on and put em back in t'bike.

it takes a bit longer than that , but thats generally all there is to it, the seals mind are probably a different matter, but in the end how hard can it be :?

if you wanted to have a go, you could bring the bike up to mine and we'd do em in my man garage.....i'll have a loko in the service manual to see how hard it is to do the seals.

Cheers bud, it'll not be till i get back from mehico mind. So theres a good 3 weeks :D If it's not going to damage it then i'll leave it as it is till i do job lot :roll: .