Front forks oil leak x2 bikes
 

Strange bike day today - This morning I noticed a very slight leak from the front forks, oil had made the dry mud a little moist around the base of both the forks. Mates bike had no sign of this. We rode 40 miles (on sealed road) to where we filled up and during this time the seals on my bike gave out and I had oil all over my riding boots from the leak, mates bike developed the same thing but only on the left fork, but 2 hours later his right one let go as well. So summary, after 20K through mexico, central and south america (currently ecuador), riding on rough stuff but not for the last last 400 miles (mainly tar recently), and on one day 4 fork seals go within 2 hours of each other. Any experiance from anyone, any service advice - I've never seen this happen before and dont know realy what to do?

A quick bodge for the fork seals which may last days or months;
Remove the seals carefully so as not to damage them. Behind the seal is a small diameter spring running around the circumferance. Remove this without stretching or damaging. Cut or find the join and undo. Cut about 5 to 10mm from the spring and then intertwine the spring on itself again so as to form a circle again and refit the whole lot again. This wont help at all if the forks are damaged and causing the leak but if the seals are worn/ tyred it should solve the problem untill you can get new ones.
At least this works on 99% of bikes but I have never done a fork repair on a KTM so its a bit of guess work for me.
The bodger Andy
Hope it works
ps There is a good chance of damaging the seals on removal and fitting so perhaps its better to try this quick fix only if its an urgent repair needed or you could end up with a worse situation.

[This message has been edited by andygray (edited 01 April 2002).]

It's important to remember to bleed the WP forks regularly, especially if you've been riding on a rough surface. I had a leak from one fork on my Adventure but after bleeding them it stopped. It tells you how to do it in the service manual, a two minute job. Remember if ever you have the forks off, you should replace them such that the bleed screws are accessible with a screwdriver.

[This message has been edited by Ian (edited 23 September 2002).]

If the seals are old they scar easier. Sometimes some old mud (or similar) dries hard on the extreamities of the chrome fork legs and when you put the forks under compression this gunk is hard enough to get past the dust cover and slightly scrape the fork seal. It is possible to try and clean out any of this gunk that may have gotten caught under the seal lip using a tapered match by lifting the dust seal and pushing the match end (use a knife to taper the end first) between the seal and the fork leg and then pulling it around the full circumfrence. This is only sometimes going to stop the leak and then only for a while.

But first try releasing any excess pressure in the forks (as Ian said) before trying any of this!

It's fairly easy to change the seals (assuming you can get them) yourself if the leak persists. You can find a copy of the WP Extreme Workshop Manual on the net using www.google.com for a step by step guide. If in need ATF (automatic transmission fluid) can be used temporarily in the absence of proper fork oil.