Life expectancy for fork seals?

[Trout]

A question for those that have owned their Busa for multiple years and/or many thousand miles.

How often have you needed to change the fork seals?

I bought my 2007 in 2012 with about 4600 miles on the odo and the seals were leaky. I replaced them with OEM parts right after I bought it. They started leaking again last year (2013) after an additional 10000 or so miles.

I'm not hard on the bike... no wheel stands, etc. I use the bike exclusively for touring.

I just completed a 2300 or so mile loop to the Black Hills. I didn't change them before I left. They were weeping slightly when I left and they are a big mess now that I'm home... which I expected.

I've got nearly 12000 miles on this set of PR2 tires. Who would have though that tires would far outlast fork seals?

I'm just curious if this is a normal life expectancy for these seals. This is the first bike that I've owned long-term with modern forks, not including the funky front-ends on a few BMW's I had.

Do you buy OEM seals or some funky fancy seal off the web? Thanks.

 

[Salty]

I have a 2011 I bought new in the crate in April of 2012 it has just shy of 12k miles on it and I currently have the forks off the bike and at the shop getting new springs put in and new fork seals as one was leaking...I have up until recently ridden the bike mainly for touring purposes and don't do any wheelies etc...

My 2004 busa I bought used with 4800 miles on it and it had been previously wrecked when purchased I upgraded the springs and put on new seals. When I sold that bike it had a little over 15k miles on the clock and the seals were still fine...

Not really sure on expected life span but 10-12k miles on two separate Hayabusa's between seals is what I have gotten.

 

[Westbusa]

2004...replaced mine once about 25,000 miles...i have 54,000 now and they are still good

 

[ky busa]

05 busa replaced at 24000 miles sold at 56200 miles no leaks 2011 busa currently at 23000 miles still good

 

[BusaWhipped]

05 Busa with 100,000 miles. On my 2nd set of seals.

 

[pashnit]

My '00 is still on the original fork seals. Pushing 15 yrs !

Lots of smiles & miles!

 

[chrisjp]

i have replaced mine couple of times...biggest reason...dirt driveway. and too tight when strapped on truck

 

[busa-saga]

my 07 had over 40miles before seals got replaced.

 

[ATC'er]

Replaced mine at 32,000 miles. Currently at 46,000 miles and no leaks.

 

[fallenarch]

I was told the fork seals always leak, it's just a matter of how much. Apparently most seals last 25K or so and depending on things like riding style, rider weight, riding 2-up, wheelies, etc. all effect the seal life. I have after market forks and I was frankly not prepared for the maintenance. Apparently you have to do a complete rebuild of them at 1 year. The service guy told me that the new forks have stuff in them like metal shavings that are a normal part of break in. So I get it done at a cool $450 including new seals (at 2k miles) and the difference is crazy - like riding on a magic carpet. So I guess the answer is seals last between 2K and forever! Personally, I think 20 to 30K is long enough and you need to service the fork anyway, change the oil, clean it up internally and may as well do the seals to.

 

[Deviousbusa]

The seals should last a while, changing the fluid out at least once very 2 years is a good idea. However, for your seals to keep leaking so quickly is not good. You might want to take your forks to a suspension specialist and have them make sure that you do not have an imperfection of some sort.

As far as the seals, I normally stay with the OEM or let whoever is working the suspension put their seals in. When I raced, I was sponsored by RaceTech so, they took care of my suspension and I never had any issues with leaking seals and you could say I was hard on the bike. Even through a few lowsides at high speed and one high side the forks never leaked.

 

[jch364]

i have had 2 sets replaced by 45k. the first was when it was new still under warranty.

 

[FlatlandBusa]

I replaced fork seals on my '08 at 20,000 miles. They were not "blown out" just had dirt under the seal lip causing it to seep. If I didn't have a set of racetech springs waiting to be put in I think I would have tried running a piece of thin stiff plastic under the seals to clean the dirt out. Cleaning the seal lip worked great to extend seal life when I had dirt bikes.

 

[BUBBA]

I have never Forked Seals but I am sure they would last longer then me! Oh wait, sorry, I got the question kinda wrong, but still...

 

[E Zurcher]

Every time I wipe down my bike, which is very often, I clean the sliders and seal area. Have 34K with out any leaks. I wonder if the DLC coating on the sliders makes a difference or it's just that gen 1s are older but I don't hear of many problems with gen 2s.

I have to put a plug in for the Seal Saver tool. Worked like a champ on my dirt bike and worth the 6 bucks or so to try for a fix. A leak can be caused by a tiny piece of grit on the seal and one swipe with this tool will fix it in many cases.