Front Fork Seal Maintenance

[MTBeemer]

I recently had some oil misting on one of the fork seals on my 2008 R. I used a Seal Mate (http://sealmate.net/) to clean out the seal and the misting ceased. I've had great luck using the Seal Mate on leaking fork seals over the past four years. On the six bikes my wife and I have owned over that period, I believe I've used the tool 6-8 times and have not had to replace a seal. On Annie's F650 single we replaced the seals twice in two years before I started using the Seal Mate. The seals began leaking a third time and the Seal Mate corrected the problem. I also run fork protectors such as Shock Sox (http://www.shocksox.com/) or a similar product on all our bikes. Even on my R with a Parabelleum Scout fairing the shocks get dirty. In my experience, leaking fork seals are generally caused by one of two problems. Most often it is dirt build-up between the seal and the fork which is correctable, or the fork is damaged by a hit from a rock and the resulting irregularity in the fork surface damages the seal. The latter case may require both seal replacement and smoothing of the fork surface. There is another seal cleaning tool called Seal Doctor (http://www.riskracing.com/pages/Seal_Do ... fJqX-CcPTQ). I have not used this device. Additionally, I have seen a homemade version of the Seal Mate made from 35mm film; seemed to work well. Film, remember that stuff?