Are the upper fork covers required?

[suds]

I'm in the middle of replacing the seals on my forks and decided I should finally do something about the tattered accordion fork covers. I looked it up and found part number 3JJ-23191-00 which is not available. I then set out to see if I could find a suitable replacement, which I did but they would come from China and would take a few weeks to get here if I ordered them.

 

This leads me to ask... are they really needed?

 

Thank you friends in advance for your opinions/advice!

 

Suds

 

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[SpencerPJ]

My 83 does not have upper fork covers. I wish it did. Bug splats on the forks get into seals and cause them to seep all the time. I clean them out with an old 35mm film, slip between seal and fork and go around.

[suds]

I appreciate your feedback. I can wait if I have to, but I just want to get out riding!

 

As my dad used to tell me "patience is a virtue"... so maybe I order them and wait.

 

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[Marcarl]

Some sort of shield would do the trick, just to keep the bugs and grit off of the inner tube.

[MiCarl]

Lots of dirt bikes have them.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if you could find a universal replacement.

 

I believe the technical term for them is "fork gaiters".

[suds]

Yes, I've been trying to find those... 41mm upper, 60mm lower I believe I'd what I need. It's hard with so many places closed for covid. I'll keep looking.

 

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[Condor]

Most of mine are gone due to age... Here's a trick to use when touring long distance. Spray PAM on the inners. Bugs won't dry and stick to the surface and will slide up out of the way. Take a paper towel and they wipe right off. This also works on the lights and fairing... Not on the windshield.. Save that for Lemon Fresh Pledge...

[Not That Guy]

Rancho shock boots # 1953, black.

Red and blue too.

Worked well after some trimming on my DR650.

[cowpuc]

Wayyy back in the late 60's and thru the 70's,, before fork gaiters were common place on MX bikes and before inverted forks appeared on the horizon,, some us early racers used to cut plastic quart milk bottles and mount them on our lower fork legs to keep dirt from destroying fork seals - worked great, it cut wayyy down on the need for taking 35mm film and cleaning the seals out too !!

 

Now adays, as shown in the pic below below if you look close, Tweeksis, our mk1 83 Venture sports a modern day, chrome set of that early type of upper fork tube protection design.. I know for a fact that aftermarket gaitors are available in a size that would fit on your scoot but, if I were in your shoes and could not find something I would not overlook the possibilty of picking up a set of short, chrome auto exhaust extentions and making a set of fork tube protectors similar to those seen on Tweeks,, IMHO of course..

[suds]

Thanks @cowpuc ! I was waiting to see what words of wisdom you would have. I was thinking on what I might be able to rig up. I saw some neoprene "socks" they make for such a situation and that might be an easy fix with velcro closures and wrap around. They would need to be removed and cleaned I would suspect, depending on the mileage someone puts on their bike. I don't ride offroad so they might be good for most of the season we get here in Ontario.

 

Anywho, I'm waiting for my new springs to come in but I'm not having much luck getting hold of progressive.

 

While I have your attention Cowpuc, any tips or tricks to seating the oil seal? I saw a guy use about 1/8 inch of electrical tape around the fork and slid the lower up to make contact with the tape and he seated it fine.

 

 

 

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Edited May 11, 2020 by suds

[cowpuc]

Thanks cowpuc ! I was waiting to see what words of wisdom you would have. I was thinking on what I might be able to rig up. I saw some neoprene "socks" they make for such a situation and that might be an easy fix with velcro closures and wrap around. They would need to be removed and cleaned I would suspect, depending on the mileage someone puts on their bike. I don't ride offroad so they might be good for most of the season we get here in Ontario.

 

Anywho, I'm waiting for my new springs to come in but I'm not having much luck getting hold of progressive.

 

While I have your attention Cowpuc, any tips or tricks to seating the oil seal? I saw a guy use about 1/8 inch of electrical tape around the fork and slid the lower up to make contact with the tape and he seated it fine.

 

 

 

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Not sure so much about the words of wisdom comment but,, as always Suds,, you are more than welcome for anyway I was able to help.. Sounds like you saw a real "make it run" kinda guy there installing the seals with electrical tape,, a real guru for sure.. I always used a chunk of PVC.. Had a bunch of sizes of the cheap stuff laying around for just such an occasion.. If we are talking forks off,, simply slide the pvc over the tube and bump the seal in.. talking on bike,, I used pvc I had cut in half length wise, slip the halves over the tube to form a complete circle. I could then bump the seal in by using the halves together as a slide hammer up and down the tube.. I liked to use wax paper wrapped around the tube just as an xtra precaution if working in an unclean area (like in the parking lot of a MX Track) but not necessary in the shop setting.. If you do this and find you need to use a hammer to bump the pvc to get the seal started or to seat it so you can get the clip in,, suggest you use lead, plastic or even brass hammer.. You use steel,, be very careful not to ding the tube.. Make sense?

By the way,, and this is just and opinion.. especially on my MK1's,, aint no way,, aint no how I would go to all the work of dropping in new fork seals without replacing the bushings too.. I found,, at least on my bikes, that those bushings wear fairly quickly (depending of course on how much you ride dirt/gravel I suppose) and worn bushings were almost 100 % the cause of leaky/worn seals,, and also some strange front end steering dynamics.

I think Mom Yam kinda sorta underbuilt the original Venture front ends.. Kinda like those OEM fork springs.. You ever hear what call those things?? I compare them to Ink Pen Springs for a reason .. Between them and the fish oil that came OEM in those early forks its a wonder that any of us canyon carvers survived some of the things we put those bikes thru

 

OK,, I'll shut up,, all the best in your project brother!!!

[eagleeye]

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/RAN-RS1952

[CaseyJ955]

I'm going to say YES, unless it's just going to the store and back. If your on the highway, yea, best have em'.

 

I have the hard chrome shields that are fixed on with hose clamps. I really wouldn't go far without them since I'm only to aware of what a PITA seal replacement can be.

[MiCarl]

The earlier versions used a dust seal rather than a boot. The part number for the outer tube changed so it's not easy to tell if you could just put on the earlier dust seal. Maybe someone here knows, or would be willing to pop a dust seal loose and measure the bore diameter to see if you could use one.

 

In any case, I would try to avoid running it with just the oil seal. You need something to keep grime from getting to it and causing it to have a short life.

[suds]

There are dust covers but my bike also came with accordion style gaiters, but mine were falling apart from age.

 

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[Freebird]

We used to have a member here who went by Wild Hair. Sure miss that guy. He found some boots off a rear engine snapper mower that worked great. Never saw a part number but he warned to get the long ones, about 10", and they worked great.