Leaking fork seals.

[sprintster]

This is maybe common knowledge out there but it's new to me and might help save someone else a lot of hassle.
So last night I lifted my bike cover to find I had a leaking fork bad enough to leave a stain on the ground.

IMG_20180526_075053.jpg (93.01 KiB) Viewed 2035 times

Thinking I was going to have to replace the fork seals I had a look on eBay and saw something called a fork buddy for cleaning dirt out from behind the seals for £5. It only had a one star review though when someone said you could make the same from a milk carton. I had a look on YouTube and saw someone doing exactly that. 5 minutes work and this is the crap I pulled out.

IMG_20180526_072424.jpg (42.37 KiB) Viewed 2035 times

After several dozen pumps my forks seem to be as good as new. Happy days!

IMG_20180526_075053.jpg (93.01 KiB) Viewed 2035 times

[V2orV4]

Yep, works well for me too. One of the best tips I’ve picked up, so thanks for reminder. Always a nice feeling when a quick fix saves you a shed load. Made mine from a lemonade bottle as the plastic has less friction. Think a lot of off roaders do it as routine maintenance before they leak. Wonder how many dodgy workshops do this and charge for full strip and parts?

Steve

[daveuprite]

Or in the ancient mists of time, before digital cameras, we used a strip of 35mm film.

Got to go now - got some black market spam to eat and me' schrapnel's playing up...

[Hugh]

Greetings,

Old 35mm film negatives are good to cut up to act as a slide cleaner tool.

I fit gaitors to my exposed forks, they may not look pretty but they keep the dirt out and prevent stone chips to the stanchions.

IMG_20180526_183756505.jpg (183.51 KiB) Viewed 1964 times

Another little tip is after a hard bounce ride to release the air pressure that sometimes builds up inside the leg over time.

TTFN

Hugh.

[FatFreddy]

This is maybe common knowledge out there but it's new to me and might help save someone else a lot of hassle.
So last night I lifted my bike cover to find I had a leaking fork bad enough to leave a stain on the ground. IMG_20180526_075053.jpg
Thinking I was going to have to replace the fork seals I had a look on eBay and saw something called a fork buddy for cleaning dirt out from behind the seals for £5. It only had a one star review though when someone said you could make the same from a milk carton. I had a look on YouTube and saw someone doing exactly that. 5 minutes work and this is the crap I pulled out. IMG_20180526_072424.jpg
After several dozen pumps my forks seem to be as good as new. Happy days! IMG_20180526_075053.jpg

How have I got to this age without hearing about this?
Have bike booked in to get seals done next week. No harm in giving this a go eh?