Forking seals!

[MrBear]

Hi all,

Just 4000 miles and one of my fork seals has gone (on my DL650X). It is 3 years and 4 months old, but only 4000 gentle miles. As far as I'm aware these are the original seals.

Is this just bad luck or am I not looking after them properly?  I did notice some pitting higher up the fork that suggests dirt or something may have hastened the seal failure.

[UK_Vstrom650]

I've done mine twice in 7 years, although the second time was my fault for using Pyramid seals rather than OEM. The Pyramid ones lasted 1 year only, and on both times they failed the week before the MOT. The only good thing about the seals going was they gave me a good excuse to refresh the fork oil.

I keep meaning to fit fork gaiters esp as I ride all year round, but haven't yet...

[Gert]

That pitting needs to be addressed. Gaitors have been suggested, to help protect the fork seals, https://www.v-strom.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=16469.msg146207#msg146207

[Hugo Magnus]

I've heard it said that the dried on bodies of insects that get splattered on your forks can damage the seals. So keep your forks clean.

[Brockett]

I like gaitors. I think they keep the stanchions clean and will prolong the life of the seals. I may be wrong.  Anyhow as they have air bleed vents ( they would otherwise burst on compresion) they will allow damp air in. I pull them down ( and up) to check for corrosion in the spring and the late autumn and give the stanchions a liberal coating of ACF 50. Although you should make sure it is cleaned off before taking it for an MOT in case the tester thinks your fork seals are shot.

[bako]

Do the forks on the 650 have rebound and compression adjusters? One cause of premature seal failure is people winding the adjusters all the way up for a firmer ride, in doing so preventing oil from passing through the valves creating excess air pressure. the wrong type or quantity of oil will also have a negative impact.
My DL1000 is just coming up to its 3rd birthday with 23,000 on the clock, including some hard off-roading and still on the original seals, although I have changed the oil. So I would expect more than 4000 miles out of a set of seals with "normal" riding.

[MrBear]

Yep, the forks have pre-load adjusters, and they're still set at the same factory setting (#3 out of 5) as they were since the start, as far as I'm aware.

Oh well, getting fixed tomorrow anyway.