Kawasaki Sportsbike Riders Club - Australia - Online Forum

So the scoot was pulled apart for a considerable period, and at least for some of the time there was no front wheel on it and the forks were dangling in the breeze at full extension/drop/droop/whatever you call it. The front wheel got painted and put back on and it sat there for quite some time with it back on the ground. No leaks. Put it back together two weeks ago, no leaks. Get out to the shed Saturday morning (two weeks after the reconstruction and there's green goop all over the front wheel on the right hand side. Nothing on the left. I assumed it was fork oil, as the brakes still worked, and was thinking about pulling the pin on the ride. Made the decision to continue when it behaved OK all the way to Weston. Why would it only decide to leak after that time? Was the bike still handling OK because the left fork would have still been functioning normally? How much oil does a fork hold, I'm not sure whether there would be any left in it. Should I just top it up (how do I do this?) and see if it leaks again? Should I get some fork seals? Should I look for some replacements or some rechroming?

Here's a picutre of the forks at full droop showing the damage to the chrome at the top:



None of this is visible when the weight is on the forks, does this mean during normal operation this damage is up inside the fork and not affecting the seal? If I put seals in it and top up/change the oil will this get me out of trouble and I should still look for some others or a getting a rechroming done?

Advice?

when there not used the seals dry up and wear easily, with the pitting in the crome that wont be helping, rechroming is expensive, and trying to find a straight set may be tricky, first i would try and change the seals- costs about $40-$50 in seals n oil, and ant the hard to do,,,, and while you have the fork tubes out i would give the pitted part a little polish till its a bit smoother
all the information and fork oil level and approx amount will be in the workshop manual
cheers Tim

That's a common problem with the J & L model forks, there is a band aid fix to make the seals last a bit longer but at the end of the day they will keep blowing fork seals until you get them rechromed.
I looked into getting the hardchrome re done & was quoted $250 - $400 each leg (apparently it's a very specialised process ) I spoke to a few platers & on their advice I got them Duplex Nickel plated for $120 the pair, it's not as hard as proper hardchroming but they've done 12,000 road Kms since & if you look closely you can see the plating is definately thinning & discolouring slightly but is still intact & the seals have never leaked since.
If you get them re plated, make sure you replace the inner & outer slider bushes at the same time - worn bushes was what fucked the hardchrome in the first place.
Top quality Silkolene RSF (Racing Suspension Fluid) is cheap insurance too, my suspension guru says it's the lowest friction & best barrier lubricant available & he works with forks & shocks every day.
Hope some of that helps.