Tyres, Brakes and Suspension » Fork service…DIY or dealer?

Bike is equipped with ESA.

Cost would be in the mid $300 USD. Up side is that it would be done quick and correctly by a shop with the right tools. Last time I serviced a front fork was on a Honda, and it was doable, but I needed a second pair of hands.

Anyone done the recommended service (likely nothing more than oil change and inspection) on their own? Advice? Once I take it apart, if it goes sideways, I’d have to reassemble it enough to get it on a trailer to haul it to BMW.

I had mine done in October 2021 with 36,000Ks on the bike. I sort pricing and advise from a BMW service centre and a suspension specialist and chose the later to do the work. Both recommended replacing the dust and oil seals to ensure a complete job (that wouldn't have to be revisited due to a old fork seal seal starting to leak some time later). I agreed and the SKF dust and oil seals were a fair chunk (around $100 I think) of the $339.00 Aus$ that the job cost. If I decided to do it I would have replaced those parts as well, so in the end I was happy to spend the $200 or so to get it done professionally and back the next day.

Since i do all my own maintenance but do not have the special tools I removed the forks and brought them in to my local shop. I at least saved the cost of removal/installation and the tech appreciated that. I have been dealing with him for over 35 years. And I got the satisfaction of doing the remove/install myself.

Frank

Zitat von Joff im Beitrag #3

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I had mine done in October 2021 with 36,000Ks on the bike. I sort pricing and advise from a BMW service centre and a suspension specialist and chose the later to do the work. Both recommended replacing the dust and oil seals to ensure a complete job (that wouldn't have to be revisited due to a old fork seal seal starting to leak some time later). I agreed and the SKF dust and oil seals were a fair chunk (around $100 I think) of the $339.00 Aus$ that the job cost. If I decided to do it I would have replaced those parts as well, so in the end I was happy to spend the $200 or so to get it done professionally and back the next day.

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Zitat von Mr. 36654 im Beitrag #5

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Zitat von Joff im Beitrag #3

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I had mine done in October 2021 with 36,000Ks on the bike. I sort pricing and advise from a BMW service centre and a suspension specialist and chose the later to do the work. Both recommended replacing the dust and oil seals to ensure a complete job (that wouldn't have to be revisited due to a old fork seal seal starting to leak some time later). I agreed and the SKF dust and oil seals were a fair chunk (around $100 I think) of the $339.00 Aus$ that the job cost. If I decided to do it I would have replaced those parts as well, so in the end I was happy to spend the $200 or so to get it done professionally and back the next day.

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My shop recommends doing the job when the seals fail

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If you do the job yourself you need to buy or make a tool to compress the springs.
I took ours to the shop and was charged 1.7 hours for labor. Total cost was approx $200.
The Master Tech told me it would not be a problem to stretch the service intervals.
On our new bikes I'll probably change the fork oil every 25,000 to 30,000 miles.

20171102_123105.jpg - Bild entfernt (keine Rechte)

Post #20 and 21 in this thread a guy described how he changed the fork oil on his R1200R LC.

https://www.r1200rforum.com/threads/fork-oil-change.41257/

In this day and age of synthetic lubricants, I'm challenged by the need to perform fork oil changes if the seals are functioning. To clarify, that's the direction from my shop.........change the oil when the seals are leaking

Zitat von Mr. 36654 im Beitrag #5

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Zitat von Joff im Beitrag #3

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I had mine done in October 2021 with 36,000Ks on the bike. I sort pricing and advise from a BMW service centre and a suspension specialist and chose the later to do the work. Both recommended replacing the dust and oil seals to ensure a complete job (that wouldn't have to be revisited due to a old fork seal seal starting to leak some time later). I agreed and the SKF dust and oil seals were a fair chunk (around $100 I think) of the $339.00 Aus$ that the job cost. If I decided to do it I would have replaced those parts as well, so in the end I was happy to spend the $200 or so to get it done professionally and back the next day.

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My shop recommends doing the job when the seals fail

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Zitat von Mr. 36654 im Beitrag #5

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Zitat von Joff im Beitrag #3

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I had mine done in October 2021 with 36,000Ks on the bike. I sort pricing and advise from a BMW service centre and a suspension specialist and chose the later to do the work. Both recommended replacing the dust and oil seals to ensure a complete job (that wouldn't have to be revisited due to a old fork seal seal starting to leak some time later). I agreed and the SKF dust and oil seals were a fair chunk (around $100 I think) of the $339.00 Aus$ that the job cost. If I decided to do it I would have replaced those parts as well, so in the end I was happy to spend the $200 or so to get it done professionally and back the next day.

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My shop recommends doing the job when the seals fail

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Zitat von Grumpy Goat im Beitrag #14

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Zitat von azqkr im Beitrag #7

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When I had my fork oil changed at 33,035 miles, I asked my mechanic to change the seals as I thought both were leaving a film on the forks. Got the bike back, no fork seal replacement. Hmm, asked him why the seals weren't changed. He looked squarely at me and said they didn't need changing, they weren't leaking and to leave them alone until they do.

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Smart mechanic and likely the correct advice. At about 12k miles I saw a film on my left side and while at the dealership I had the mechanic take a look. He did and took it in and returned the bike back to me a while later - said it was sorted and if it persisted bring it back and he'd change the seals. It had not come back up to when I had the fork oil changed, and beyond. I suspect he may have just cleaned around the seals using a tool something like a piece of 35 mm camera filmstrip ...

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