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'Faulty' Fork Seal Job on 1992 K75S from Dealer

... he mentions some parts (spacers? and springs?, sorry i don't know) he said the parts wear out and eventually the clearances no longer seal. ( i asked why they wouldn't have noticed that the 1st 2 times they did it but felt rude to push for answer, i'm sure they were trying to save me money and acting in good faith. )

I think it's ridiculous that you're asking for diagnostic advice on the internet when you should be asking the mechanic who is working on your bike.

Find out what parts the mechanic thinks you need. Tell them to fix the problem and stop wasting your time. They took your money, didn't they?
 
i'm not really asking for diagnostic advice actually, more asking.. is it 'normal' to have to rebuild forks after 28K miles.

also asking for advice perspective on how i should be dealing with the mis-diagnosis and now additional parts and labor.

yeah exactly, i paid them. now i feel like i'm gonna be paying them again for more or less the exact same work.

the bike is right now at the dealer, i'm waiting for them to call me and tell me whats wrong, i just want to be as informed as possible to deal with it.

thanks for reading the post and your input just the same.
 
I think it's ridiculous that you're asking for diagnostic advice on the internet when you should be asking the mechanic who is working on your bike.

I don't wish to be argumentative here, but this forum is exactly the right place to ask questions about specific items on a bike, before going to the mechanic to have it worked on. An informed consumer is the best type of consumer to deal with, (from my many years of experience in the retail business) and if the mechanic is worth his/her salt, will welcome the information the consumer can provide for trouble shooting.
 
Normally a bike with 28k shouldn't have an issue with workout fork components, though age may cause rubber components(seals), to fail. You did say that it had been sitting in the rain and rusting prior to your owning it. Could your fork tubes be pitted from rust?
 
Normally a bike with 28k shouldn't have an issue with workout fork components, though age may cause rubber components(seals), to fail. You did say that it had been sitting in the rain and rusting prior to your owning it. Could your fork tubes be pitted from rust?

i don't think so. technically the bike was next to a shed under a roof. but it has some rusty nuts on it.

the tubes aren't pitted and don't seem to have any trace of rust, plus the mechanic would have seen that 1st time around i hope.

hence the mystery. and thanks i agree that 28K miles seems not enough for forks. thanks for the input.
 
I have no idea how springs in good or bad condition would affect the fork seals one way ot the other. Bushings - yes. While I wouldn't expect bushing to be worn at 28K miles, I haven't seen the bike so can only guess.
 
Maybe the best reason for gaiters...

Once you get fork seals that work, the biggest threat to them is...bugs. They crash into the fork tubes and become very hard little protrusions which are forced past the seals every time you hit a bump or brake.

I have a pair on my K100RS that I think were originally intended for dirt bikes. They Velcro on with an ease that even I can handle, and were cheap. Just make sure those forks are pristine before you install the gaiters.

Yes, some folks think they are ugly. I believe anything which eliminates a regular maintenance item and expense (see Paul Glaves comment on his 370,000 mile K75) is just beautiful!
 
I have no idea how springs in good or bad condition would affect the fork seals one way ot the other. Bushings - yes. While I wouldn't expect bushing to be worn at 28K miles, I haven't seen the bike so can only guess.

great man thank you, i appreciate the info on springs because it also seemed odd to me and i know he mentioned springs... but maybe he was just in general mentioning parts in the forks? or being sarcastic.

i feel bad the guy has done it 2X already. mine is the least valuable bike in that shop i'm sure.

i mentioned about the front end bouncing/wobbling which instinctively feels to me like unbalanced tire, but also kinda lasted longer/was harder to get smooth than i have experience with unbalanced tires in the past.

the other thing i remember now is that when i got the bike back the 2nd time, and i really hit it as close to WOT as i go, i felt the forks expand kind of 'chunky' or in stages rather than totally smooth. like perhaps there was some friction which prevent it being totally smooth so it popped out in 3 or 4 stages. i dunno if thats normal.

my sum total of experience is the 1K miles i've put on this bike since i bought it in november.

my hunch, which is just a random guess really, is that someone in the past did a ****ty job of rebuilding the forks and either left out a piece or used the wrong part but it's not obvious enough to notice unless you are really looking for it vs. just trying to jam the freaking fork seals on and get the ugly old k bike out of the shop.

anyway, hope to hear from them tomorrow. they have had the bike a week already and no news.

thanks for reading the thread and your comments.
 
the other thing i remember now is that when i got the bike back the 2nd time, and i really hit it as close to WOT as i go, i felt the forks expand kind of 'chunky' or in stages rather than totally smooth. like perhaps there was some friction which prevent it being totally smooth so it popped out in 3 or 4 stages. i dunno if thats normal.

my sum total of experience is the 1K miles i've put on this bike since i bought it in november.

With respect, I might suggest a friend, or someone you trust, with more experience ride the bike to see what his/her evaluation might be on the fork's performance.

No evaluation needed on the seals, though. They either leak or they don't. Best o' luck getting this all put to bed.
 
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