Hello, i got a slight leak in the fork seals on my 2001 f4i. I know the parts are pretty cheap, but i probably dont have enough money to send it into the shop. The leak is very light, i can see the oil on my forks whenever i take a ride. Is it extremely important to change it up now, or can i ride another 2000 miles or so?

 

I have personally ridden till the forks were dry, however I won't suggest that to anyone. It is extremely unsafe. As the fork oil leaks it gets on the breaks and soaks into the pads ruining them and decreasing stopping power exponentially. It can also make the tire slick. Also if its only one side or more to one side your handeling will dwindle and the frontend may start feeling squirrely. Also damage will occur to internal fork parts if ridden that way too long causing more expense in the long run. Changing your seals and oil really isnt a difficult process and following a few tutorials that can be found by searching, you can most likely do it yourself.

 

I had a slight leak last year and I too let it go for a while and my slight leak ended up leaking all over my front rotors and ended up completly toasting the other side pads. When I finally took the forks to the shop, because I didn't have a seal driver , my springs were almost at the point of replacing. We just added more oil and an extra spacer. But my anti- dive is still not working right !! It's quite anoying at times. I wish I would of fixed the problem when it first started . Now I'm seriously thinkin Bout new forks$$ . You'll be ok for a bit but if you start to feel the clank or see oil on ur pads. I would get er done.
Good luck

 

Oh i see, well it doesnt seem extremely urgent at the time. Even though the parts are pretty cheap i just dont have enough funds right now to send it to the shop and i dont have the proper tools. However i will look into the tuts on how to change them out. Today i replaced both headlight bulbs, changed oil and oil filter, and ordered some missing bolts. I can see the fork oil on the top part of my forks, but nothing drips down yet. It doesnt seem urgent at the time and i assume i can still drive for untill the next oil change? Nothing leaks on the floor just a little residue at the top, the color is teal so its fork oil. Anyways i gotta get some pictures up for you guys to see my new bike! gonna get it registered tomorrow so i can go for my first ride!

 

I got the motion pro lvl tool which I think was around $30, the seals are $20 - $30 and the driver i used a piece of pvc.

 

thank you but i looked at the tut and it seems to hard for my level. I think ill just make it worst!! my confidence level and experience level wont allow me to do this job lol

 

Well, how do i know its from my forks? i can see it bleed a little bit of oil on the top part of my forks, where the seals are. If its leaving a thin film of oil does that mean its my seals? and also on the left side i can see a bit of oil on my breaks, i wipe it off everytime i ride now, and it doesnt seem like it leaks down that far over night. I better go change it as soon as possible. its 200$ at my local shop

 

wipe your forks, pump them while holding the front brake, look at them, they will either be clean and shiny=good seals, or oily=bad seals