Leaky Fork?

[brandon]

Hey all, I have a 2002 F4i, and though I'm decent with cars, I don't know enough about bikes yet to fix things without double checking with someone else.

I noticed today that the left fork in the front looked to be leaking fluid from the top. I suspsect this is just a leaky fork seal which is common? Seems a little strange that its already leaking though, but I don't know enough mechanically to make an opnion one way or another. Maybe its normal?

Is this something I need to worry about getting fixed immediately, or can I wait until next week to take it in? I should still have around a month until my warranty expires, so I may as well let Sun take care of it.

I tried to take some pictures of the suspect fork, but my garage is dark and all of my work lights are packed away since I just moved into a new house.

Thanks in Advance,

- Brandon

[mikesf4i]

Hey Brandon. I have an 01 f4i and havent had any fork seal problems with it .I dont see why you couldnt take it in next week as long as its not losing alot of fluid.Since your warranty is about up, have you had any cam chain tensioner problems with your bike?It shows up as a rattle @ 5000 rpm. I had to have mine changed under warranty and it took a week to get the part in, since Honda wont overnight warranty parts. Honda has an updated part number for the tensioner but it didnt seem to help.I dont know if they fixed the problem in the 02 model or not, but it might be worth checking on before your warranty runs out.

[brandon]

Yeah, I remember reading about this problem, but I couldn't ever decide if I had it or not. I do remember hearing something funky around that RPM before, but not recently.

What is the issue-- does the tensioner end-up breaking or something, or just an annoying noise? Is it something that's very noticable.

I guess I'll give Sun Honda a call and try to get my bike in sometime next week.

- Brandon

[Anonymous]

Ahh, I see the f#$^@ honda CCT problem has moved on from the VTR...

A couple hundred of us signed a petition a while back, which was forwarded to Honda regarding this; they basically told us to suck it. IF you can get it under warranty, do it now. You'll end up replacing it later but this'll at least postpone it a bit.

Ultimately you will want a manual tensioner from APE. They run about $50, and though they do require an adjustment from time to time it's a lot better than an automatic POS one breaking.

Oh in case you're wondering what happens when they break - the cam chain gets loose and skips teeth on the cam sprocket, and your valves become severely out of time with the piston. They then impact the piston(s), and anything from bent valves to cracked heads results. Sometimes the engine is a write off, and in any event it's expensive. This is the Honda Achille's Heel ... it's hit or miss if you have the problem, in my case I'm going to replace it no matter what. I hear a ticking but I also have a twin so it's hard to say what it is, but I have 2 of them (V-engine) so 2 tensioners to replace. It's worth it though. I may even do this before the 50cc trip in May, lest my tensioner snap while I'm in the middle of pound-me-in-the-rump BFE Louisiana or something. (I've seen Deliverance. My tensioner will NOT fail! )

Honda CCT

[Anonymous]

Getting back to the original question about fork seals...

Unless you've been landing hard from all the wheeliing you've been doing, you fork seals shouldn't be leaking.

Depending on how bad it's leaking, it could get onto your discs and saturate your brake pads (happened to my ZX-11 a couple of years back). I had to replace the fork seals and brake pads. I have seen guys wrap bandannas around their forks to absorb the oil in an attempt to prevent it from getting onto the brakes.

I have an '02 R1 and had to replace the fork seals a couple of months ago (at 8,400 miles), but that is because of too many hard landings (1st gear wheelies are too tempermental!)

I doubt that a blown fork seal will fall under warranty, since this is usually a wearing part, like brakes.

Good luck.

[Dysco]

BMW replaced my fork seals free of charge when they both failed after riding in the snow for a couple of weeks- I installed fork boots to help with that, but it was not normal wear that caused them to fail- it was abuse/ice. It might fall under your warranty- check it out with the dealer. Attitude is everything with these situations.

Brake Kleen sprayed on your discs and pads, wiped off with a rag will clean up the oil pretty well- remember to burn it off your discs before moving too fast (hold your front brake for a block or two).

If your seal is bad, your bike is still very rideable, just don't push (race) it. If it was really bad, you'd have a puddle of oil around your tire. I rode mine with no oil in either side for a hundred miles or so and it sucked but I don't think it was too risky.

[MattTLS]

Brandon,

If the fork seal is leaking, carefully inspect the slider for nicks. Anything other than a smooth surface can/will be harmful to the seal. If nick(s) are found, you can usually use emery cloth to smooth it out (carefully). Otherwise, it's just going to cut the next oil seal too.

Matthew

BTW, if it's not covered under warranty and you want to replace the seal yourself, I may be able to help you out.

[brandon]

Thanks for all of the responses guys. I hate asking newbie questions like this, but I couldn't really find any useful information about it on Google, etc., and my factory service manual is still in a box somewhere since I just moved a couple of weeks ago. I can usually do most things with import cars on my own, but bikes are still uncharted territory for me (other than the mods I've done).

I talked to someone in the Service Department @Sun who said "it depends" about the warranty thing. I don't stunt, bike is always super clean and garage kept (so I doubt the boots are dusty), and I didn't find any knicks in the slider, so they had better cover it! Its not leaking bad so far.. I'm really surprised I even noticed it to be honest.

If they don't cover it, I'll probably get my MRA friend to help me out with it since I don't have enough gold boullion to afford the service prices at Sun. FWIW, they quoted $165 + parts for fork seals. So that would probably be $200ish by the time they added in fork fluid, environmental charge, etc. Call me a cheapskate, but I'm not playing that much to replace a $15 part when I can take a few hours to learn how to do it myself.

- Brandon

[Anonymous]

Jeez that's pricey, for not a lot more dough than that I think you can Racetech your forks!

I'm all about doing it yourself... Consider it a bonding experience with your bike!

[yakuza]

If you've got the service manual, then you should have no problem changing the forkseals yourself. I'd definitely get your MRA friend to help if Sun won't cover it under warranty (which I have to doubt they would cover it under warranty).

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

I just called the shop where I had mine done, and I paid $132 for labor and $50 for seals & oil. The price would have been about $30 cheaper if they weren't inverted forks. These are dealership prices. I'm sure you could get a better price at TFOG if you don't want to do them yourself. Hope this helps.

[Big-J]

I got my seals done for $50+parts(maybe 30 bucks)!!

If you know someone who knows how to do it, ask them to help you out changing them!

[Hoopty]

Big J, you left out the part that you had to bend over in addition to the fifty dolla.

[Big-J]

Big J, you left out the part that you had to bend over in addition to the fifty dolla.