Fork Seals

4429 Views 15 Replies 7 Participants Last post by trogdor1138, 3 d ago

Steve S

Discussion Starter · May 3, 2018

Just replaced the leaking fork seals on my RS and this info may be of some help, first I went to my local BMW dealer and they quoted me £320 to do the job and £110 just for the seals, so its a job I can do myself and I tried to get some better aftermarket seals with no luck, after a bit of research I found that the seals are the same as the S1000RR and other models with USD forks, seals for the S1000RR are available for £9 a pair from eBay and they claim to be better having a triple lip design, the job is quite easy on these Sachs forks by removing the leg and inverting it the bottom bolt can be undone and then the slider just slides out without loosing any oil, replace the seal slide it back in and tighten the bolt, refit the leg job done

Reactions: 5

1 - 16 of 16 Posts

Panzermann

· #2 · May 3, 2018

Brilliant! Thanks Steve - good advice very much appreciated.

Panzermann

· #3 · May 3, 2018

BTW, is that with Dynamic and/or regular suspension, and is there a particular S1000RR variant that is compatible?

Steve S

Discussion Starter · #4 · May 3, 2018

They are listed for an S1000RR 08-16, and my bike has ESA, the right hand fork was leaking worse than the left and there's no damper in it just a spring

Reactions: 2

Panzermann

· #5 · May 3, 2018

Thanks Steve.

BTW, the RH fork leg does have a damper - just that it's not electronically controlled.

arfingdog

· #6 · May 3, 2018

Thanks Steve! I'll be going over all the posts on forks about 1,700 miles from now when I have to replace my fork oil.

Panzermann

· #7 · May 4, 2018

All Balls Racing catalogue shows a kit for the LC.

Reactions: 1

Jakob

· #8 · 17 d ago

Steve S said:
Just replaced the leaking fork seals on my RS and this info may be of some help, first I went to my local BMW dealer and they quoted me £320 to do the job and £110 just for the seals, so its a job I can do myself and I tried to get some better aftermarket seals with no luck, after a bit of research I found that the seals are the same as the S100RR and other models with USD forks, seals for the S100RR are available for £9 a pair from Ebay and they claim to be better having a triple lip design, the job is quite easy on these Sachs forks by removing the leg and inverting it the bottom bolt can be undone and then the slider just slides out without loosing any oil, replace the seal slide it back in and tighten the bolt, refit the leg job done

Hi! Might read this thread a couple of years later but I’m looking into replacing my seals. If I understand your description correctly, you should be able to take apart the golden outer fork tube from the inner silver one , just by loosening the bottom center bolt on each fork and then removing the dust seal undoing the retaining clip and with light force get the old seal out? // Jakob

Reactions: 1

Panzermann

· #9 · 14 d ago

Jakob said:
Hi! Might read this thread a couple of years later but I’m looking into replacing my seals. If I understand your description correctly, you should be able to take apart the golden outer fork tube from the inner silver one , just by loosening the bottom center bolt on each fork and then removing the dust seal undoing the retaining clip and with light force get the old seal out? // Jakob

Hi Jakob
We haven't seen Steve S for a couple of years, so he is unlikely to respond.
His means of changing the seals is not something I have tried - I'll be changing mine in conjunction with a fork bearing and oil change soon, which will require full disassembly, so I figured I may as well take the opportunity. Thinking about it, though, the method makes sense, but I can't guarantee it myself. Some cautions, though:

Take care not to lose any oil in the process as the forks need to be disassembled to correctly set the levels. If you have already lost a significant amount, then you're up for disassembly anyway if you wish to reset the level (and change the oil if you're going to that amount of work).
Other members have had difficulty inserting the fork tube without damaging the seal if they have already fitted the seal to the fork outer (gold tube). The BMW manual specifies placing a protective plastic bag over the fork tube, sliding all relevant parts over it, removing the bag, inserting the fork tube, then using a fork seal slide driver to work the seal and slip washer into place. I picked up a 45mm slide driver for my job, cheap one from Ali Express; I figure the dust wiper will tap/press into place.

Finally, are you sure the seals are actually worn out rather than simply dirty? Mine have done 120,000 km and I don't consider them worn out even though they have suffered episodes of minor leakage. Fork seals generall respond well to cleaning with something like a Seal Mate or Rhino tool. Simply prise the dust wiper down, clean around the seal and dust wiper (spray with WD40 or similar) then wipe between the sel and fork tube with the tool of your choice.

See less See more

Reactions: 1

Panzermann

· #10 · 14 d ago

Steve S said:
They are listed for an S1000RR 08-16, and my bike has ESA, the right hand fork was leaking worse than the left and there's no damper in it just a spring

Real OEM lists the following commonality for R1200R-LC ESA fork seals, if you're looking for aftermarket sets (the Roadster often doesn't get a mention):

See less See more

Reactions: 1

Jakob

· #11 · 12 d ago

Panzermann said:
Hi Jakob We haven't seen Steve S for a couple of years, so he is unlikely to respond. His means of changing the seals is not something I have tried - I'll be changing mine in conjunction with a fork bearing and oil change soon, which will require full disassembly, so I figured I may as well take the opportunity. Thinking about it, though, the method makes sense, but I can't guarantee it myself. Some cautions, though:

Take care not to lose any oil in the process as the forks need to be disassembled to correctly set the levels. If you have already lost a significant amount, then you're up for disassembly anyway if you wish to reset the level (and change the oil if you're going to that amount of work).

Other members have had difficulty inserting the fork tube without damaging the seal if they have already fitted the seal to the fork outer (gold tube). The BMW manual specifies placing a protective plastic bag over the fork tube, sliding all relevant parts over it, removing the bag, inserting the fork tube, then using a fork seal slide driver to work the seal and slip washer into place. I picked up a 45mm slide driver for my job, cheap one from Ali Express; I figure the dust wiper will tap/press into place.

View attachment 119985 Finally, are you sure the seals are actually worn out rather than simply dirty? Mine have done 120,000 km and I don't consider them worn out even though they have suffered episodes of minor leakage. Fork seals generall respond well to cleaning with something like a Seal Mate or Rhino tool. Simply prise the dust wiper down, clean around the seal and dust wiper (spray with WD40 or similar) then wipe between the sel and fork tube with the tool of your choice.

Hi! thanks for the reply! Yeah I have gone through the workshop manual andcertainly you should disassemble it the right Way as you suggest! I will try and clean my seals to start of with and we will see!

Reactions: 1

r0ckrat

· #12 · 10 d ago

I had absolutely no luck sliding the leg tube back in after putting the seal in the upper tube, and destroyed a seal trying to do so. If there's some secret to getting the inner leg tube into the outer leg tube with the seal in place, I'd love to hear it...

trogdor1138

· #13 · 6 d ago

I also think it's worth getting an inverted fork compressor. I know people manage to do the job without them, but the right tool makes it a lot easier. I don't specifically remember getting the slider back in, but I know with a compressor I didn't find the job any more difficult than the seals on my standard fork F650GS.

home4sale2

· #14 · 5 d ago

Are you referring to the BMW fork compressor, home built or a third party?

trogdor1138

· #15 · 3 d ago

I used a third party tool. I’m sure there’s a BMW tool, for $$$. I purchased RaceTech’s portable tool, TFSC 01: Tools

It’s a little awkward and unwieldy to use, but it did the job.

Reactions: 1

trogdor1138

· #16 · 3 d ago

Checked my old photos and still have a few; here it is in action:

See less See more

5

Reactions: 1

1 - 16 of 16 Posts