2002 BETA Rev3

Fork seals were leaking before and after seal replacement so I started looking into other options.

It was suggested to me that fork bushing wear could cause this and upon checking, I've got what appears to be a fair amount of play between the stanchion and tube at the top bushing. I can see the stanchion moving inside the tube bushing when rocking the tube back and forth (wheel and brace off obviously).

Upon removal of the bushings, I notice that they don't look worn at all, in fact the teflon shows no visible wear inside the upper bushings.

How do I tell how much wear is on the bushings? Are there specs somewhere for diameter or thickness?

How will I know if new bushings will fix this prior to purchase and install?

Any suggestions appreciated.

Edited September 27, 200520 yr by BCBeta

Where are you located? - With a name like BCBETA I'm guessing that you are in BC Canada - If you are you can email me direct at - daverhodes@shaw.ca. & I will try to help.

Upon removal of the bushings, I notice that they don't look worn at all, in fact the teflon shows no visible wear inside the upper bushings.

How do I tell how much wear is on the bushings?  Are there specs somewhere for diameter or thickness? 

How will I know if new bushings will fix this prior to purchase and install?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Bump.

Anyone know what the thickness of new bushings is?

Did you check your tubes for nicks or other damage? That is the most common cause of seal leakage.

Did you check your tubes for nicks or other damage? That is the most common cause of seal leakage.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes, I had a good look and don't see any damage of any kind (surprisingly).

With the motion that I could see due to bushing clearance, I'm pretty sure that's the cause of the leakage, especially since one seal started leaking within hours (riding) of replacement. I just wanted specs for the bushing thickness so I could see how much they're worn, but like I said, the dogleg motion of the assembly is considerable.

I've decided to replace the bushings regardless so I'll post the thicknesses of new and old when I receive the new ones in case anyone else is interested.

An update for those interested.

I wasn't able to obtain new bushings quickly and wanted to ride so I used a chisel point punch and "peened" or maybe more correctly, "splined" the outside of the upper bushings and filed the end gap, then shimmed the inside of the lower bushings, thereby removing a large amount of clearance.

Five rides later, the forks don't make a smack sound when coming out of a wheelie now, they don't leak any more, and best of all, didn't cost a cent.

Ian