Seal Savers

[derek martin]

Doing a fork seal job on my KLX450 which I last did 3 years ago and fitted a set of Seal Savers at that time. I finally got around to doing this job after noting the left seal was blown back in August. I don't get to ride very often on any of my bikes so I would say the seal life was average at best. In removing the Seal Savers I noted their inner surface which slides along the fork tube was discolored from dirt accumulation. The tubes show no signs of burnishing or any kind of unusual wear from the interaction with the Seal Savers and the fork oil didn't appear to be overly contaminated but as noted it really wasn't ridden that much.
I ran all the 2012 AHRMA ISDT events and one additional AHRMA CC on my 77 IT175 which I fitted with Seal Savers without issue although I did roll them down and washed out accumulated dirt after the last event after becoming suspicious of dirt accumulation based on the blown KLX seal.
Here's where I'm going with this - I rebuilt the forks on my 74.5 Hare Scrambler earlier this year and installed a set of Seal Savers. I haven't ridden the bike since doing this job but am planning on riding AHRMA CC with it 2013. I'm considering pulling the Seal Savers off the Penton based on the above and also the following experience; I got lazy and sent the forks off my CR250 with my nephew to a GNCC to have them serviced by the Factory Connection truck sending a set of Seal Savers with the forks. The Factory Connecton techs explained to my nephew that they advised against installing them due to dirt retention issues.
Anybody out there have any long term experience with the Seal Savers on the 35mm Cerianis? Will they perform differently on conventional forks compared to USD?
I'm just worried about dirt contamination producing wear on these precious old forks.

[JCHubbard]

Great question.

I've used them on vintage bikes only, but won't run them on modern bikes at all for the same reason that was noted in your post.  It's imperative that you clean them after each ride because dirt/silt/mud unchecked will definitely accumulate there.  The other issue to be concerned about is pitting and rusting due to the wet neoprene.

Let's say you remove the zip tie, flip them up, and clean out the accumulated dirt/mud/silt.  Well, after that's done, that neoprene is still wet. After they've been cleaned, I spray WD 40 or Armor all on them, and let them stay flipped for a few days.  After they're "dry" I move them back in to place and wipe the fork tube down with brake fluid clean, and WD 40.

So now I don't run them on vintage Husqvaranas anymore (heavy dirt accumulation and leaking) and just recently removed them from my KTM 250 GS due to heavy dirt/mud accumulation after a recent ride.  I have 10 more bikes, and only two of them have them installed -- but they'll be removed very soon. I've serviced the forks on my 79 Maico 250 GS four times over the past 6 years, and have had the same pair seals savers for those 6 years,  and for whatever reason they've held up well and left no rust or pitting...but it's time for them to go.

Interestingly enough, if you look at photos of the restored bikes in Europe, nobody runs them. Most of them run the rubber fork boots or nothing at all.  Take a look at Speedy's website and look at what he has installed on his forks.

The next time I service the forks on any of my vintage/PV bikes I'm probably going to run the rubber fork boots, or nothing at all.

[derek martin]

Goodbye Seal Savers - thanks for responding.

[joe novak]

I always replaced the worn, stock (two) Cerianni fork seals with one Honda double-lip seal, then inserted one of the old fork seals upside down on top, while using the stcok fork wipers.   This method always worked well for me.  joe