Is this a fork seal leak?

[derherr65]

Is this a fork seal leak? Bottom half is just uneven dust, but the top half is slightly damp, and comes off when touched. No recent rides, sitting in garage being healed.

[bobcat]

I can't see anything in that picture that you describe.
Is there any oil on the rear axle clamp nut ?

[derherr65]

Yesterday no, today yes. It's drooled down the fork, rotor, and tire today on the right side. Left side is still just damp up top.

[bobcat]

You might as well make plans to replace the seals.

[CBX-tras]

ProLink? Might as well do the upper and lower bushings too.
I always do.

[derherr65]

ProLink? Might as well do the upper and lower bushings too.

Which bushings are those? (Found it I think, #9 BUSH, FORK PIPE 51414-463-003?)

[CBX-tras]

#'s 9 and 10 on the fiche

[daves79x]

And new brake pads. Fork oil contaminates them, impossible to clean.

Dave

[derherr65]

FYI - a lack of recent rotational movement MAY result in fork oil not being wiped onto the brake pads by the rotor. In other words, I lucked out, they are still perfectly dry. I pulled the calipers and hung them to ensure that one piece of luck holds.

[NobleHops]

Dan, lift the dust seals with a teeny screwdriver and you will have the answer to your question immediately. If they are leaking it will be a minor mess under there. But either way, a fork refresh is great maintenance to do. The bushings referenced are an alloy with a grey Teflon coating on the bearing surface that contacts the fork tube. If the coating is scuffy or worn off on that side it will be pretty obvious and they should be replaced. However I will say in my own experience on a bike with 20K miles or less, most of the time they are fine and I reinstall them.

Once the front end is unweighted it’s very easy to judge if the steering head bearings are notchy, by passing the bars to and fro across center. That’s a small addition to a fork seal project, and super worthwhile too.