Tyres, Brakes and Suspension » New gaskets i front fork? OR?

Hey. I want to hear if anyone in this group has had leaky gaskets in the forks and had the gaskets replaced ?? I need to replace oil in the front fork and consider whether I should at the same time get gaskets replaced.

7100 miles on mine. Seals seem fine. We'll see in another 10,900 miles. I have read the procedure for a fork oil change. I think it may be beyond my ability to do that piece of maintenance. I have read on this forum where some have removed the fork legs and taken them into the shop for them to do the rest. Given the amount of labor required to change the fork oil I would probably just have the shop replace the fork seals at that time. If I read the micro fiche right a set of seals is about $95 US. I didn't think about the inverted forks when I bought the bike. Probably wouldn't have changed my mind but you have to wonder if the added complexity for simple maintenance justifies the design.

Mine were done at the due service (18,000?). I was talking to a BMW technician who runs his own independent business and is tremendously well regarded. His opinion, don't bother changing the oil until the seals fail.

So the other way around

Peter

If the parts are relatively inexpensive and easy to change out with a fluid change, cheap peace of mind. If not, judge by whether there's evidence of leakage. A motorcycle can go over 100,000 miles and not need new fork seals. It can also have a seal fail after 10,000 miles.

I have 25K miles on my RS and the fork seals are still keeping the slider tubes dry. My fork oil was changed at 18K miles, but not the seals or gaskets. My bike was built in May 2015.

I've juts turned 24k miles on my '16RS. Since new, (actually 7k miles when purchased) there has always been slight residue noticeable on the fork legs after a ride. By slight, I mean not enough to drip or even attract dust, for that matter. Just visible and easily wiped clean. When I had the bike in for the final "in warranty" check, I specifically asked them to evaluate the fork seals. Report: no problem found. The only reason I even paid attention to it was the fact that the fork legs on my '92 900SS Ducati, with over 50k miles have always been dry.

I had my fork oil changed last november at 43,000 kms and they changed the seals at the same time. Never had a seal problem during these 43,000 kms. Actually, never had one single problem with the bike and I am going to reach 50,000 kms tomorrow. Love the bike.

Zitat von zer0netgain im Beitrag #4

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If the parts are relatively inexpensive and easy to change out with a fluid change, cheap peace of mind. .

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Mine leaked and we’re replaced under warranty ( after a bit of argument) about 20,000 km. They are nw getting a bit dirty after a ride ( but not leaking) after 60,000 km. It’s a brilliant bike: way the best bike I ever owned,and in 57 years riding that’s a lot of bikes!

I've hadn't planned on replacing seals at the 18K service, but now I've got a leak on the right side tube. I'm going to pull the wiper and see if I can clean things up a bit with my seal doctor. I've had great luck in the past and hopefully I'll be successful this go round. I checked into replacement seals and was shocked but not surprised at the cost from BMW. I decided to get in touch with Ted Porter at the Beemershop and see if there are alternatives. Initially he said there were no listings from SKF for our bikes , but upon further investigation he emailed me this -

"I just checked with the other guys in the shop and they tell me they have used the SKF Kit 46Z for your bike. I will add these to our shopping cart under your model.

It would be KITB-46Z for black, or KITG-46Z for the classic SKF green color. They both perform equally.

https://www.beemershop.com/product/skf-f...nd-s1000xr.html

or

https://www.beemershop.com/product/skf-f...000xr-3091.html

The SKF listings don’t show this as fitting but Jeff here at the shop has installed them in your bike model.

Sorry for the confusion. Remember to order two sets for one bike.

Best regards,

Ted Porter
Ph: 831-438-1100 X 113
Fax: 831-438-1104

BeemerShop, Inc.
5100 Scotts Valley Drive, Unit #100
Scotts Valley, CA 95066
www.beemershop.com
www.gs911usa.com
www.wilbersamerica.com

Perhaps this is a known alternative to many of you, but was news (good) to me. I went ahead and ordered two sets (36.99 a set) and will have them installed when I have the forks serviced in the future.

Interesting question.

I was having mine looked at by a suspension set up guy yesterday.

In ROAD he was shocked how badly the front forks travel and pogo up and down, also how much travel they had under light braking. He even said to me don´t use road at all, it´s dangerous.

Dynamic was better but under heavy braking (using a cable tie to measure travel) he got it down to about a cm from the bottom.

He wonders whether the oil needs changing and use a better quality oil also.

Furthermore he was shocked at how basic the suspension is for what is in reality and expensive bike!

Any thoughts on this and are yours the same?

Zitat von spainy im Beitrag #11

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Interesting question.

I was having mine looked at by a suspension set up guy yesterday.

In ROAD he was shocked how badly the front forks travel and pogo up and down, also how much travel they had under light braking. He even said to me don´t use road at all, it´s dangerous.

Dynamic was better but under heavy braking (using a cable tie to measure travel) he got it down to about a cm from the bottom.

He wonders whether the oil needs changing and use a better quality oil also.

Furthermore he was shocked at how basic the suspension is for what is in reality and expensive bike!

Any thoughts on this and are yours the same?

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Zitat von spainy im Beitrag #11

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Interesting question.

I was having mine looked at by a suspension set up guy yesterday.

In ROAD he was shocked how badly the front forks travel and pogo up and down, also how much travel they had under light braking. He even said to me don´t use road at all, it´s dangerous.

Dynamic was better but under heavy braking (using a cable tie to measure travel) he got it down to about a cm from the bottom.

He wonders whether the oil needs changing and use a better quality oil also.

Furthermore he was shocked at how basic the suspension is for what is in reality and expensive bike!

Any thoughts on this and are yours the same?

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That I cannot tell you.

He is a suspension set up guy but wasn´t trying to sell me anything.

If you guys can do me a favour . Put yours in road and bounce the bars down and see how it reacts. Instead of just going down and back up, it was down up down up settle.

In dynamic it just did the down up settle.

That way I will know if mine is representative or not or maybe just needs the fork oil changing.

The list of defects.....makes it sound terrible.

I´ve been getting some second opinions on the "suspension" issue. That was why the guy was checking the bike.

He still thinks ( as I have the whole time) that it is steering stalk looseness. I´m going back to BMW today as now I know how to show them the looseness (the guy showed me) and will be asking them how they can tell me that there is no more adjustment to be made when it is definitely loose.