Fork seal replacement

queen of spodes
Edited Date/Time 1/27/2012 4:52pm
I changed fork seals on one of my old XRs years ago and it was pretty easy to do.

My 02 RM125 needs its seals changed now -- other than an air wrench are there other special tools I would need to do this myself?
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lumpy790
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lumpy790 10/20/2009 7:27am
10/20/2009 7:27am
RTFM?
JG2
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JG2 10/20/2009 2:24pm
10/20/2009 2:24pm Edited Date/Time 4/17/2016 2:51am
A Fork Cap wrench, seal driver & seal bullet are nice to have but you can use a plastic baggie instead of the seal bullet & you can find out how to make a seal driver out of PVC pipe if you Google it (but I didn't want to screw around and bought the seal driver).

If 02 Suzuki's have Showa forks like my Honda? and you want to change the damper oil you will need a 32mm or 1 1/4" socket to remove the damper (Why Motion Pro didn't punch a cutout of the damper cap AND a square hole to fit a 3/8" drive torque wrench into the fork cap wrench is beyond me - maybe I should be working there). (Ummm, just thinking about it I now know why - you need 2 wrenches to loosen it, I guess.)

You may want to put the same oil back in as fork oil apparently has no standard viscosity ratings & for example 5W Honda is drastically different than 5W Bel-Ray fork oil. I know this firsthand & I couldn't believe the difference. Look up Peter Verdone designs on Google or Wikipedia - he's got an awesome viscosity chart there somewhere.

Hope this helps!

JG.



captmoto
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captmoto 10/21/2009 5:53pm
10/21/2009 5:53pm
queen of spodes wrote:
I changed fork seals on one of my old XRs years ago and it was pretty easy to do. My 02 RM125 needs its seals changed...
I changed fork seals on one of my old XRs years ago and it was pretty easy to do.

My 02 RM125 needs its seals changed now -- other than an air wrench are there other special tools I would need to do this myself?
DON'T, DON'T, DON'T use an air wrench to service your forks. If you spin the dampening rod nut you will have to spend some bucks to replace it. You should be able to find vids on line that will show you what you have to do to replace the seals. Buy the right tools if you want to do it yourself. Don't forget to replace the bushings too.
queen of spodes 10/22/2009 8:08pm
10/22/2009 8:08pm
I've ordered 47mm seal driver, bullet, cap wrench, and a manual. Won't use my air tools (thanks for that tip!)

While I'm waiting on my manual to arrive, does anyone know what weight oil I need to buy? I'd like to order some now so I can have everything fixed in time to ride next weekend.

The Shop

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motofab36
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motofab36 10/23/2009 11:03am
10/23/2009 11:03am
5wt Maxima
JG2
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JG2 10/25/2009 12:02pm
10/25/2009 12:02pm Edited Date/Time 4/17/2016 2:56am
If you want something similar to what was in there before I would look at Honda HP 5W - I tried Bel-Ray 5W fork oil & the forks were very harsh. Further investigation found that there is no real "standard" for suspension fluid like there is for motor oil & the Bel Ray was actually 2x as thick as the stock fluid. I put the 5W Honda stuff in both chambers and am very happy with my forks now. I didn't look to see what the relative viscocity of Maxima 5W fork oil is but you could look it up in the chart. (see link below)

http://www.pvdwiki.com/index.php?title=Suspension_Fluid

Camp332
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Camp332 10/26/2009 5:04pm
10/26/2009 5:04pm
motofab36 wrote:
5wt Maxima
Yup! I used that 2 weeks ago, and it worked perfectly. Granted I called my buddy at RG3 who re-valved my stuff to find out what weight oil he used, and he stressed to me: "5wt Maxima High Performance Fork Fluid"..
queen of spodes 10/31/2009 3:46pm
10/31/2009 3:46pm Edited Date/Time 4/17/2016 6:42pm
The factory manual explains everything very clearly, except for how to get the dust seals out of the legs without scratching the surface.

What tool should I use to pry them out with, and where on the seal do I work from?

here? (1)


or here? (2)
queen of spodes 11/1/2009 12:42pm
11/1/2009 12:42pm Edited Date/Time 4/17/2016 6:43pm
I'm reassembling the fork now - having taken out the damper assembly to drain the oil.


The damper assembly goes back into the inner rod, but only a few mm. I'm guessing the air is preventing it from pushing down further?




I've re-read my manual a few times and it doesn't explain what to do here other than "gently put the damper back into the inner rod".


Help greatly appreciated as always.
Void Main
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Void Main 11/1/2009 3:21pm
11/1/2009 3:21pm
Sounds like you need a BMFH. Those are great tools to have around.
queen of spodes 11/1/2009 3:44pm
11/1/2009 3:44pm
Got it.. the o-ring on the damper catching on the inside of the inner rod.. it finally slid down when more force was applied.

One leg down one to go!
williamsmotowerx 11/1/2009 4:52pm
11/1/2009 4:52pm
If you didn't have to force that down (the ICS spring is going to work against the oil in cartridge) you did it wrong. After that's assembled you stroke dampner rod, but leave about 2", don't bottom it out. That's how you bleed them.

Rest of oil will splash in fork side after assembled.

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