[GenovaDenim]

Hello people of the forum,



My gl500 forks seem to be blue-- they weep oil. The bike had a tune up by my mechanic 2 years ago which included new fork seals (bought them on ebay)

The bike, when brought home began to leak oil from the seals (or the part where the smaller tube goes into the bigger tube, Those are the seals right?...)

It has not been riden since then. Each time I fill with air more oil gently oozes out, and the fork only holds air pressure for a few moments...airless within 20 secs...

what could this be...bad seals, wrong installment, something worse...?

 

[timothy_d]

Could be a lot of things.

Improperly mounted seals, out of spec seals, scratched or pitted fork tubes scoring the seals.

 

[DaveF]

Welcome to the forum. Please take a few minutes to edit your profile to show your location and to edit your signature to show your bike's year and model.



This has also happened to me with fork seals purchased on ebay. I've never experienced the problem with Honda seals. They cost a little more but I think they are worth it.

 

[Blindstitch]

How do you add air? anything more than a small air pump will blow them out.



Best Idea is to pull the forks and rebuild them again with honda seals.

 

[lucky]

i agree also with stitch and any thing more than 8-10 psi max anything over and your seals are gone

 

[bandit]

Best Idea is to pull the forks and rebuild them again with honda seals.

 

[DaveF]

This tip is from a thread on the old forum. Some of the newcomers may not be aware of it, so here it is again:

I like to use a portable air tank, sometimes called a "pig", when pressurizing the forks and rear shock. With the pressure in the tank set to the desired pressure, it's quick and easy to get the proper value with no risk of getting too much.



It's a very poor idea to use air directly from a gas station air hose because it's too easy to get entirely too much pressure and have something fail, such as a seal.

 

[DaveF]

...The bike, when brought home began to leak oil from the seals...

Just an afterthought-



As Timothy_d stated, it could be improper installation. One common error that will cause this is installing the seals upside down. It has happened on more than one occasion.