Front fork leak-1984 Venture Royale

[Guest mtnpastor]

I have a friend who has a 1984 Venture Royale. He has developed an oil leak at the bottom of his front forks. He says there is a seal there where the axle goes through the forks. He has had it into the dealership several times for repair. Each time, after a few days, the seals start leaking again.

 

Does anyone have any idea why these seals would leak so easily? Is there something that the dealership may be overlooking in replacing these o-ring seals? Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!!

[GeorgeS]

Are you talking about the Small #2 Screw, on back of each fork leg ??

about 6 inches up from the bottom ???( Its about 1/4 inch long )

 

If so, this is the Oil Drain Port. Remove the Screw, and all the Old Oil will drain out. The Screw Has a Rubber Seal on it.

 

Maby the last person to drain and refill the forks damaged, or lost the O-Ring.

 

OR ---------

 

Remove the Wheel, Remove the Axe, And up thru the bottom End is an Allen Head Bolt. ( I think 14 MM )

 

This Bolt has a Copper Washer under it, that acts as An Oil Seal.

The bolt might be loose.

 

In order to Re Torque this, you have to Pull out the Fork Springs from the top of tube, and useing Special Tool called out in the manual Retorque the Bold from th e Bottom. The special tool goes in from the top, to hold the parts while you retorque them from the bottom.

 

GO TO THIS ADDRESS ON THIS WEB SITE: FOR PHOTOS. AND SERVICE MANUAL FOR THIS JOB.

 

----- http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=496

 

This is part of the 1st Gen Maintenance library.

[Rocket]

I have a friend who has a 1984 Venture Royale. He has developed an oil leak at the bottom of his front forks. He says there is a seal there where the axle goes through the forks. He has had it into the dealership several times for repair. Each time, after a few days, the seals start leaking again.

 

Does anyone have any idea why these seals would leak so easily? Is there something that the dealership may be overlooking in replacing these o-ring seals? Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!!

 

Probably they are not even getting the correct one. There is a copper gasket (or should be) at the allen head bolt, threading up into the damper rod, from the lower tube (just above axle shaft). 2 O-rings, for the anti dive unit, another gasket for the drain screw. This is per each fork leg, on the bottom end.

 

Are they are doing more than just cleaning it up? Sounds like that is all they are doing. Any signs of leakage from the upper seal, it may be hard to spot if the oil is clean & a slower leak.

 

Refer to this thread for more info, to go over it yourselves

http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=496

[Rocket]

Remove the Wheel, Remove the Axe, And up thru the bottom End is an Allen Head Bolt. ( I think 14 MM )

 

This Bolt has a Copper Washer under it, that acts as An Oil Seal.

The bolt might be loose.

 

10 MM allen key socket on my 83, George.

[Condor]

Could also be one of the 'o' rings from the anti-dive unit???? Just a thought...

[Guest mtnpastor]

I have inspected my friend's machine and the leak is coming from the anti-dive units on each fork. He says that the dealership has replaced those o-rings twice and they continue to leak. Do any of you have any idea why new o-rings would leak in that area? Beats me! Thanks again.

[GeorgeS]

Well if the leak is deffinatly comeing from under the Anti Dive Unit.

 

Possibily the Mateing Surface's are Damaged, and the new seals are not makeing a good seal.

 

Also, Its possible the dealer has been replaceing them with the Wrong size O-Rings. There are Two Dimensions to any O-Ring. The diameter of the Circle rubber ring itself, and also the Diameter of the rubber material. It might be possible to find an O-ring of the same diameter, but one size " thicker " material. However Metric O-rings are not going to be easy to find at the local hardware store !!

 

I would suggest ordering the Correct Part Number, from some other dealer. Go to the Yamaha ON LINE IPC, ( Google " Yamaha Motor Company " ) and the master site will come up. Click on Motorcycles, and then " Parts" on the left side, You can find the correct part numbers here.

 

I would suggest Examining the mateing surface's with a Strong magnifiying glass, to look for Scratches or imperfections on either surface.

 

I have not worked on the Early Models, my 89 has 2 O-Rings on each side. I Installed New Rings when I rebuilt mine last winter, did not have any problem with leaks.

 

Maby sombody on line has a Set of Forks , Removed, and could post some close photo's of the assembly !!!!

[Condor]

[Squeeze]

I second GeorgeS's Posting.

 

I bet that they replaced the Rings, but only with similar sized Ones.

 

Get the original Rings, clean everthing around and mount the new Rings properly. I recommend to use a Sealant, not only to seal, but also to hold the O-Rings in Place while mounting.

[Rocket]

 

I would suggest ordering the Correct Part Number, from some other dealer.

 

Agreed, the dealer used up to now, has already proved its value. It is of no value, to this bikes owner.

[Gearhead]

"However Metric O-rings are not going to be easy to find at the local hardware store !! "

 

 

 

True, although many times American size o-rings will be close enough to work. Another concern with hardware-store o-rings is material. They are made for plumbing - faucets and stuff. They are usually oil-resistant and should be OK in the forks, but I've found they don't do well in heat and should be avoided for engine stuff.

 

There is no seal where the axle goes thru. The axle hole does not open up to the inside of the fork. Others have told you the possibilities. I read a great suggestion on finding an oil leak source. Clean it all up, then ride it a little, but stop before it gets messy. Sometimes the oil is too clean to follow the trail, so sprinkle talcom powder around and it will stick to the oil.

 

Jeremy

[DonB]

Harbor Freight has a good deal on a box of Metric and/or regular O-rings with many sizes for around $10 and sometimes goes on special for around $6.

 

[Rocket]

There is no seal where the axle goes thru. The axle hole does not open up to the inside of the fork. Others have told you the possibilities.

Jeremy

 

Actually there is an allen head bolt with copper seal that passes thru the axle hole when being installed or removed from the lower fork legs. It connects the damper rod to the fork legs, holding everything together. There is no oil seals on the axle itself.