sparky25

Thanks a lot for the suggestions , The fork seals are definitely in the right way, we have checked that. Also the fork legs never used to leak so I am happy that they are the correct size. We have tried several different types of seal as well, pukka Beta seals and also cheapies but that hasn't made any difference, My options are getting narrower... Mark

I bought my Beta in March last year. At this time there was no leaking from the fork seals. Then about 3 months ago the seals went. I changed them and by the end of the following trial they were leaking again. I changed thems 5 or 6 times since, the last set were put in last week and lo and behold they started leaking on Sunday (When the new seals were replaced the oil was surprising dirty for being only a week old). We have been through the usual symptoms, checking the volume of oil in the fork's, we were advised by a reliable source to put 180ml in each leg which is a lot less than recommended but enough to cover the mechanical parts, so its ruled out overfilling them. We checked the staunchons for marks and have stoned out the tiniest marks so we are confident there's nothing tearing them. When replacing the seals we covered the tops with cling film so the seals didnt tear on the staunchon etc. So I think it could be 1 of 2 things or both: 1. We clocked the straightness on a lathe, 1 being 5 thou out after the bottom clamp and the other 13 thou. The forks seem to be straight from after the bottom clamp. There is no dinks or kinks in either staunchon either which perhaps leads me away from this. Also when I replaced the front wheel there was no misalignment problems with the spindle. 2. Could it be the bushes need replacing? The bike is little over a year old... Please could someone advise me how to check for this, I know I have to check for play but should this be with the fork completely out or still clamped in place, filling cap in place etc etc? If this does sound like the only solution, does anyone have any tricks to get around this problem other than buying new bushes, Ive heard they are very expensive for what they are, (having said that, the fork seals themselves are costing me a fair wack at the moment!) I would be very grateful for any advice or other suggestions, Mark