fork seal blowout

[beemerboy]

Greetings,

I decided to drag my 907 out of its winter sleep and fire it up for a ride but then discovered some fluid on the left side of the front wheel. Further inspection indicated a blown left side fork seal, the right side tube had a film of fork oil on it that was much heavier than it should be considering that I replaced both seals a little over two years ago. I also had the tubes stripped and a new hard chrome finish applied at that time to clean up some pitting.

A couple of months ago I rode the 907 a couple of miles to the nearest gas station to fill up the tank. It was a sunny but VERY cold day, during this brief ride I encountered a few bumps in the road that were a bit harsh on the suspension. I recall thinking that I hoped it didn't harm the seals but now I'm wondering if the seals just couldn't take that kind of abuse in such low temps.

Anway, I'm now looking at a sizeable (to me) job to do that I feel shouldn't be necessary given the relative newness of the new fork seals and sliders in installed.

Your thoughts?

[gail]

Hi there ,did it actually pop the seal out of the housing or lip/seal failure?.... .Marty

[beemerboy]

Hi there ,did it actually pop the seal out of the housing or lip/seal failure?.... .Marty

Hi Marty,

I believe it is a seal failure due to extremely cold weather. I've yet to tear it down but will report my findings.

[Stingray230SX]

i have the p/n's from marzochi if you dont have them


doug

[beemerboy]

i have the p/n's from marzochi if you dont have them


doug

Thanks, Doug. I bought the original replacement seals off of eBay back in '05. I recall that they DID NOT come in Ducati packaging so who knows what grade of quality they were. All I know is that the new seals WILL be Ducati brand and I will never ride the &^!@&#$%^ bike in cold weather again.

[Stingray230SX]

i hope you can find those from ducati......



doug

[ducbertus]

Hi Randy,

normally you won't blow out the seals. But!!
there a obviously two kinds of seals.
the originally are about 7 or 8 mm thick and fit including the steel ring to lock the upper sleeve.
If you mount new Ariette seals they are 10 mm thick and the snap will not get in to the groove. these seals is what i got from my Ducati dealer.
I overcame this problem by leaving out the steel plates whitch locks the sleeves.
It still very hard to get the snapring in place.
leaving the snapring out seemed a bad idea to me.

I'll have to find new sleeves, because their condition is pretty worn out.


Ducbertus

[Stingray230SX]

if i get a chance this evening, i will try to post a pic of the new seals and wipers i got from marzochi........



doug

[Tamburinifan]

Just bought seals here in Sweden.
If you can`t find any , PM me.

[beemerboy]

Hey Guys!

Thanks for the feedback! I was able to source some new seals from my local dealer and will be installing them very soon. I hope this is the last time I have to replace the seals!

[du907]

Just some info for you to digest.
I was doing some winter work on my 907 and decided to replace my forks seals. I ordered the OEM seals from the local dealer and then they were back ordered. I started looking at the part numbers, so while I was waiting for the "correct ones" to come in I installed seals from a 900SS. They were the same outside diameter and the same inside diameter, plus they were in stock. When I got them and started to install them I noticed they were just a bit taller. With the "correct" seals, they press in and then there is small washer then the retaining ring, then the dust boot. Well I figured the 900ss would fit if I left off the washer/spacer and just use the retaining ring, where could they go, right? Anyway, they worked fine, no leaks, no runs, no errors. I received the "correct" ones in about 3 months so I decide to install them. Put them in and within two weeks they leaked. One side just a little, but the other side quite a bit. I have since replaced the "correct" ones with a new set of the 900ss spec seals and no leaks in 4 years! Go figure.

[beemerboy]

Just some info for you to digest.
I was doing some winter work on my 907 and decided to replace my forks seals. I ordered the OEM seals from the local dealer and then they were back ordered. I started looking at the part numbers, so while I was waiting for the "correct ones" to come in I installed seals from a 900SS. They were the same outside diameter and the same inside diameter, plus they were in stock. When I got them and started to install them I noticed they were just a bit taller. With the "correct" seals, they press in and then there is small washer then the retaining ring, then the dust boot. Well I figured the 900ss would fit if I left off the washer/spacer and just use the retaining ring, where could they go, right? Anyway, they worked fine, no leaks, no runs, no errors. I received the "correct" ones in about 3 months so I decide to install them. Put them in and within two weeks they leaked. One side just a little, but the other side quite a bit. I have since replaced the "correct" ones with a new set of the 900ss spec seals and no leaks in 4 years! Go figure.

Interesting. I suspect the original replacement seals I bought may have been the culprit as there wasn't a thing wrong with the fork tube itself after I had both of them hard chromed. I may have had the same experience as you did with the possible exception that my seal production run may have been a tad better or at least good enough to last two years and 2K miles. We'll see, I may be pinging you for the 900SS p/n in the near future!