21 KX450 Showa Issues

Trailturd
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Trailturd
After finishing a 2.5 hour hare scramble race this weekend, both fork seals were leaking out oil to the point of leaving puddles on the ground, and both fork tubes were hot to the touch. Also the forks were bound up or locked up. If I stood on the bike and pressed down with all my weight they wouldn't budge. I recently (15 hours ago) had them revalved and resprung by a well known suspension shop. Any ideas as to what could've happened? I'm going to tear into them this week, but not sure what I should be looking for.
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Factor E
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Factor E 5/23/2022 9:05am
5/23/2022 9:05am
This sounds like the valving came apart and the piston s jammed in the tube.
mxracer666
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mxracer666 5/23/2022 10:10am
5/23/2022 10:10am
Take it back to the place that valved it for you and insist on watching the disassembly. Don't lay any blame on them to start - just say you want to see what could have happened inside...something major went wrong here.
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Trailturd
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Trailturd 5/23/2022 10:20am
5/23/2022 10:20am
mxracer666 wrote:
Take it back to the place that valved it for you and insist on watching the disassembly. Don't lay any blame on them to start -...
Take it back to the place that valved it for you and insist on watching the disassembly. Don't lay any blame on them to start - just say you want to see what could have happened inside...something major went wrong here.
The shop I used isn't local, and I really don't want to spend $100 shipping them again. Wishing I would've used a different company now.
Rickyisms
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Rickyisms 5/24/2022 4:18pm
5/24/2022 4:18pm
If you have the ability to take it apart and reassemble I would go ahead and start pulling them apart.

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Trailturd
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Trailturd 5/25/2022 9:05am
5/25/2022 9:05am
I pulled everything apart and didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. Both damper rods needed to be bled as they would extend but stop about an inch short of fully extending. Bushings looked new, what oil was left looked clean. Put new seals and oil in. Haven't mounted them back on the bike yet, but everything seems to be working correct at the moment. No idea what happened.
Rickyisms
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Rickyisms 5/26/2022 1:50pm
5/26/2022 1:50pm
I would maybe have a good shop take a further look to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
needforspeed78 5/26/2022 9:00pm
5/26/2022 9:00pm
Trailturd wrote:
After finishing a 2.5 hour hare scramble race this weekend, both fork seals were leaking out oil to the point of leaving puddles on the ground...
After finishing a 2.5 hour hare scramble race this weekend, both fork seals were leaking out oil to the point of leaving puddles on the ground, and both fork tubes were hot to the touch. Also the forks were bound up or locked up. If I stood on the bike and pressed down with all my weight they wouldn't budge. I recently (15 hours ago) had them revalved and resprung by a well known suspension shop. Any ideas as to what could've happened? I'm going to tear into them this week, but not sure what I should be looking for.
You had air inside the forks due leaky seals - lots of air. Add a 2,5 hours race heat into that and you have a jamming fork. Your forks was propably moving again after the heat went away, did you push and feel them prior disassembly?
Trailturd
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Trailturd 5/27/2022 7:29am
5/27/2022 7:29am
Trailturd wrote:
After finishing a 2.5 hour hare scramble race this weekend, both fork seals were leaking out oil to the point of leaving puddles on the ground...
After finishing a 2.5 hour hare scramble race this weekend, both fork seals were leaking out oil to the point of leaving puddles on the ground, and both fork tubes were hot to the touch. Also the forks were bound up or locked up. If I stood on the bike and pressed down with all my weight they wouldn't budge. I recently (15 hours ago) had them revalved and resprung by a well known suspension shop. Any ideas as to what could've happened? I'm going to tear into them this week, but not sure what I should be looking for.
needforspeed78 wrote:
You had air inside the forks due leaky seals - lots of air. Add a 2,5 hours race heat into that and you have a jamming...
You had air inside the forks due leaky seals - lots of air. Add a 2,5 hours race heat into that and you have a jamming fork. Your forks was propably moving again after the heat went away, did you push and feel them prior disassembly?
I opened the bleeders prior to disassembly and no pressure came out. Once I had the forks off the bike I did push down on them and they moved but not smooth and still seemed stiff and sticky. Going to ride them this weekend and see how it is. So far everything seems to be back to normal.
GnccDE
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GnccDE 5/29/2022 4:26am
5/29/2022 4:26am
When you reinstall the forks, make sure u have each fork installed at excact equal heights in clamps, proper torque for the triple cla.p bolts, (don't overtighten), and lastly research front axle and fork lug tightening aligning procedures. All of these are very fickle and alittle off here or there will cause fork binding and leaky seals.
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FGR01
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FGR01 5/29/2022 1:12pm
5/29/2022 1:12pm
The oil in the outer chamber lubes and cools the springs and bushings. Sounds to me like you lost so much oil you were starting to run dry and getting major friction to the point of binding up. I would have replaced the bushings just to be safe.

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