Can someone recommend a fork seal kit for 5th Gen?

[jroberts427]

Hi all,

Looks like my right fork is leaking slightly. Can someone recommend a kit that includes all the parts needed for the job?  OEM or at least high quality from a trusted brand. 

 

Thanks,

Justin

[adkfinn]

OEM - https://www.partzilla.com/catalog/honda/motorcycle/1998/vfr800fi-a-interceptor/front-fork

 

EDIT - Are you just planning on seals or are you going to replace the bushings also?

 

Seals: #20 (seal set) - qty defaults to two, one for each fork leg, get 2 #17 also, yours is likely to be rusty/manky

 

Bushings: 2 x #10, 2 x #11

[jroberts427]

I'll replace seals, bushings and any other small wear items while I'm in there. Thanks. 

[JZH]

OEM fork seals seem to work the best.

 

Ciao,

 

JZH

[Terry]

I would also replace the small copper washers that seal the damper bolt under the forklegs.

[JoelF]

I used the all balls seals but I think any quality seal is OK.  The upgraded ones however might be better long-term, I think they have an extra lip.  Make sure you put them in the right way around, it's not as obvious on these seals.

 

I also am a fan of neoprene fork boots provided you clean them from time to time.

[VFRMAN]

On 5/19/2021 at 2:33 PM, JoelF said:

I used the all balls seals but I think any quality seal is OK.  The upgraded ones however might be better long-term, I think they have an extra lip.  Make sure you put them in the right way around, it's not as obvious on these seals.

 

I also am a fan of neoprene fork boots provided you clean them from time to time.

Do you use the neoprene fork boots that velcro on?

[Fritzer]

My left front fork sprung a leak about  a month ago.  I caught it pretty early so it didn't make a big mess.  While I had the bike apart, figured that rebuilding both would be the wise course to take. 

 

I am very luck to have friend that was a dealer mechanic for many years and his knowledge is amazing.  I took my forks out and he did the rebuild on them.  One of the things he pointed out to me was the micro pits in the fork tube from encounters from rocks.  The tube guard blocked most of the impacts, but not all.  

 

One of the things Jim recommended was to install some fork boots.  His arguments were very compelling, so I ordered up some Polisport fork bellows to fit a 40mm fork tube to a 60mm housing diameter.  They were only $20 and good quality rubber material.  However, they were too long so I just cut them to length.  Zip tied to the fork tube at the top, and covered the entire top of the lower housing, including the existing fork tube guard.  Zip ties bellows to the lower housing (with the vent holes rear facing).  

 

This effort does a couple of things.  

Stops contact between seals & dried bug remains

Stops rock pitting

Dramatic reduction in dirt making it past the seals into the fork oil.  Way less wear on bushings.

 

There is a caveat here however.  The bellows are wider than the fork tubes and enter into the airflow pathway to the radiators a little bit.  I have noticed that moving thru un-turbulated air, my cruise temperature is about 4 f degrees higher.  Turbulated air makes a +7 degree over normal condition. I live in Portland Oregon area, so it is usually not super hot here.  Mostly dealing with slow or stopped traffic around town so when it gets to fan on temp, there is no difference in cooling ability.  

 

So if you are needing to rebuild front forks in the future, this might be something of interest.

 

This was my solution for fork boots a couple years back

[VFR750F3]

I used All balls racing on three of my bikes VFR800, 750 and RC51.  No problems.  I also replaced the bushings.

[squirrelman]

oem or skf are the only quality bits, others may not last long.

[jroberts427]

I used all OEM parts. It went together great.