Leaking fork seal-grit removal

[FALQN]

I noticed about a month ago that my right fork tube had more than a normal amount of residue on it from riding. The extra oil was catching additional road grime and building up on the lower tube. I have a 2012 and the problem got worse during this time. Eventually, there was oil dripping onto the brake pads and front wheel. This is my first bike, but I find it unlikely that the seals would begin to fail after three years and only 18,000 miles. I did some searching and found products like Sealmate and Seal Doctor, that will clean the seal...most likely, this was my problem. I made my own tool from a plastic screw container...removed the dust cover...inserted the tool in between the seal and tube and ran it around the tude a few times. I cleaned up everything (dirt and remaining oil) and then compressed the suspension a few times with my weight on the bars, to re-seat the seal. The leak is gone...now I get to replace my pads!

Below are pictures of my homemade tool and my pads. The bottom pads are from the oil soaked right side.

 

[piratediverjefff]

Have to do that to mine also,bought 2 of those little Seal Mate gizmos a few months ago but haven't gotten around to trying it yet.

 

[MoNoXiDe]

I have the sealmates and really didnt work for mine. It got some but they still leak. I bought my bike new and they started leaking around 2500 miles. So getting 3 years and 18k miles is good in my opinion.

 

[nosbig]

The best thing I have ever used was old film negatives to clean under the seals.

Make sure that you don't get water spots after washing. The calcium deposits will eat your seals up. I also spray a rag with silicone spray and wipe it down after .