Learned a trick from Traxxion (Lee)

va_rider

va_rider

Wizard
fz1boone.blogspot.com
So.. the other day... I'm out riding.. I stopped for gas and noticed that my fork seal on the right side started leaking...

I've got about 15,000 miles on the forks... and they haven't been serviced in 2 years... so... I wasn't too surprised....

But, first thing I did was contact Lee at Traxxion Dynamics.

Lee told me that he wasn't to surprised it was leaking either... since I'm a big guy.. and 'm not out "Driving Miss Daisy" on it....

He of course told me that it was time to service the forks anyhow... but... I could try to clean out the seal first...

Now, folks sell fancy dancy "Seal-Wipers" made to clean out the fork seal... but Lee recommended something a bit easier... he told me to grab a film negative and clean the seal out with that....

So.. I went out to the bike... popped off the fork guard.. and the dust seal... and got in there with the film negative... I cleaned off all of the leaking oil with a rag... worked the negative into the seal and with an up and down motion, made my way around the seal.... the cut out squares in the film pulled the grit from the seal nicely....

Today was the first ride after running the negative through it...

No more leak... it's amazing... I'll definitely be adding this little trick to my internal memory....
 
Thats awesome Aaron. My seal just started leaking a tiny bit a couple of weeks ago. Tony actually spotted it. I must be hard on my front end because the bike just had the seals done by a shop just before I bought it. I even have the reciept for the work. So you gotta figure 9,000 miles since I've had it. Is that time frame about right for seals to last? I was kind of hard on it in the beginning, meaning entering turns HOT and heavy braking just before. Plus, I weigh 240 and that can't help matters. I'd like to try that negative fix but now have to figure out where to get hold of one. I haven't had a film camera for years.
 
Billy.... go to Walmart's Photo Desk... as them for a scrap.... I haven't had a film camera in...... 9-10 years...

Fork seal life depends on many things...

#1... OEM Seals - never use anything else. I've used bunches of aftermarket seals while still in the bike biz... and they were all crap. Some lasted a week.. some a month... some leaked immediately upon putting them back together...

#2 ... Rider weight - Heavy people go through more seals... just a fact -- Sidenote : Billy, if you haven't bought new springs yet.... do it. I'd recommend 1.05's - 1.10's

#3 ... Riding style - If you're out riding pretty hard... you'll go through more seals.

#4 ... If you normally ride in groups with people in front of you, or in areas with lots of bugs, you're gonna go through more seals... bugs, rocks, etc will get thrown onto the forks and what lands on the bottom bits of the tubes will end up getting rammed through the seals.

#5 ... Road surface - if you live in some perfect world where the pavement is new and fresh daily... you won't go through as many seals.. for the rest of us... bumpy roads cause more wear and tear on the seals... My daily ride consists of 1/2 mile of washboarded dirt road... followed by 1.5 miles of bumpy pavement that's abuot to slide off the mountain... followed by 10 miles of highway...


So... lots of factors in seal wear... but.. this little trick will extend the life just a bit... the quicker you get the crap out of the seal, the less damage it'll do... just because it's not leaking doesn't mean there isn't crap in the seals.... I'm going to add this little trick to my regular maintenance... just like lubing the chain and changing the oil
 
va_rider said:
Billy.... go to Walmart's Photo Desk... as them for a scrap.... I haven't had a film camera in...... 9-10 years...

Fork seal life depends on many things...

#1... OEM Seals - never use anything else. I've used bunches of aftermarket seals while still in the bike biz... and they were all crap. Some lasted a week.. some a month... some leaked immediately upon putting them back together...

#2 ... Rider weight - Heavy people go through more seals... just a fact -- Sidenote : Billy, if you haven't bought new springs yet.... do it. I'd recommend 1.05's - 1.10's

#3 ... Riding style - If you're out riding pretty hard... you'll go through more seals.

#4 ... If you normally ride in groups with people in front of you, or in areas with lots of bugs, you're gonna go through more seals... bugs, rocks, etc will get thrown onto the forks and what lands on the bottom bits of the tubes will end up getting rammed through the seals.

#5 ... Road surface - if you live in some perfect world where the pavement is new and fresh daily... you won't go through as many seals.. for the rest of us... bumpy roads cause more wear and tear on the seals... My daily ride consists of 1/2 mile of washboarded dirt road... followed by 1.5 miles of bumpy pavement that's abuot to slide off the mountain... followed by 10 miles of highway...


So... lots of factors in seal wear... but.. this little trick will extend the life just a bit... the quicker you get the crap out of the seal, the less damage it'll do... just because it's not leaking doesn't mean there isn't crap in the seals.... I'm going to add this little trick to my regular maintenance... just like lubing the chain and changing the oil
Click to expand...


Thats great advice. And remarkably, I'll be heading up to Walmart tomorrow morning on the bike. The car is still crapped out with the tranny and the dog needs food and snacks as well as my normal necessities. I'll definitely get to the photo counter and ask for some. I may need to ask you some questions before removing anything from the forks as I have never done that before myself.

This coming Spring I am probably going with the Racetech package for the front. If I can just extend this right fork seal for a bit more time, I'll be able to do everything at once.
 
I've never dealt with Racetech... but... make sure they'll provide top-notch service... that was the selling point for me with Traxxion... Lee is THE man... I have his e-mail, his work phone number, and his cell number.. if I have any problem... Lee is there...
 
va_rider said:
I've never dealt with Racetech... but... make sure they'll provide top-notch service... that was the selling point for me with Traxxion... Lee is THE man... I have his e-mail, his work phone number, and his cell number.. if I have any problem... Lee is there...
Click to expand...

Well, the Racetech package isn't written in stone. What is Lee's website? I'd like to take a look-see.
 
Thanks Aaron, I'm on the site now. I was wondering that since you and I are about the same weight and height, what do you have installed in your forks. Maybe you could give me a checklist of the items so I can do some figuring. At your convenience of course. Back to the kitchen for a minute.
 
I've got 1.05's in mine.. I should have 1.10's... plus I had mine revalved by Traxxion....

on the rear, I got a Penske 8983... with a 650lb spring... should have a 700lb.... but... I'll change these things out soon enough....

stupidly... I bought the suspension with the intention of losing weight... but... that ain't happening.... maybe I should go back to that plan...
 
how about ......
fat-man.jpg
 
:funpost:

I'm at 220 without gear. I already have the preload nearly maxxed out front and rear. So, I'm trying to stop bending my elbows but... just ain't happenin'!

I said I wanted to lose 42 lbs this year. I lost 12 and have been maintaining that so I'm sort of happy. 30 more!
 
Hello Gentlemens,

Just thought I'd add my two cents regarding seals. While I'm not quite sure as to whether or not FZ-1's have got bushings in the forks as I've only had mine for two years now and haven't really had to do squat on it for servicing, except for having to clean up all the PO's crap fixes and now having to repair the damage from a couple of punks who decided to kick him over for shitsn'giggles.

Anyways, there are metallic, usually brass, bushing within forks that should always be replaced the same time as the seals as they keep the stanchion from overly slapping around in the fork which will lead to premature seal failure.

Sorry if this doesn't apply to our machine's but, I suppose it's useful for others.
 
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