K11 Owners Group

kltk1 · Posted: Fri Feb 29, 2008 3:54 pm Post subject: Fork Tube Replacement

I just had my fork seals replaced for the second time in 5000 miles. the originals were great for 40,000 miles then went south. I had them replaced and sure enough, almost to the mile at 4500 miles they were leaking. I've read several posts about this and I realize I'm not the first person this has happened to. When they pulled everything apart they showed me a few wear spots and suggested we clean them up as best we can and replace the seals now, if they leak again soon the tubes will have to be replaced. What they couldn't tell me is whether there are other, less expensive yet just as effective, options for fork tubes. At $320 each from BMW, they aren't cheap. Does anyone know if the ones I have can be rechromed or if there's an aftermarket company that makes them?
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Thomas Adamo

mnb · Posted: Fri Feb 29, 2008 4:12 pm Post subject:

Get some gaitors installed and your fork seal leak problems will be over. This is assuming any pitting that already has occurred isn't too severe.

The gaitors (or boots) will protect the forks from rocks and bugs hitting them and causing the damage which wears the edges of the seals.
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M N B
1997 BMW K1100LT ABS Special Edition
2003 Husqvarna TE610e
2007 Harley Davidson Road King
2009 BMW F800GS
2011 Husqvarna TE310
2014 Ducati Multistrada Pikes Peak MNB Edition

Adrian · Posted: Fri Feb 29, 2008 4:12 pm Post subject:

Motorworks in the UK do, but not sure if the ship to USA

www.motorworks.co.uk or try www.motobins.co.uk

Mind you, with the exchange rate as it is it's probably as expensive as getting BMW tubes.

Adrian
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Adrian in Somerset, UK
K1100LT SE
145,000 miles and counting Smile

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BMGraeme · Posted: Fri Feb 29, 2008 4:17 pm Post subject:

It depends how bad the forks are. When my seals went I cleaned the tubes up with very fine wire wool and when they felt really smooth I reinstalled with gaitors. No problems so far.

If they are badly pitted you may have to renew and if it was me I would cry and then hand over the money for known good tubes. Those seals are a pain to replace!
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1980 CB900FA
1994 K1100RS
2008 R1200GSA

kltk1 · Posted: Fri Feb 29, 2008 5:39 pm Post subject:

Not sure if I got beat, or not, I brought the Rancho Gaitors to them and they suggested not putting them on in the event they start to leak again so it could be caught right away. Now that I think of it, I probably should have had them put them on anyway. I'll have to make sure I keep them clean. From what the service manager told me, the mechanic did say they cleaned up better than he thought they would. Of course that was after the fact when everything was put back together. I'll have to watch them to see what happens. It would still be nice to know of an aftermarket tube if there's one available.
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Thomas Adamo

chopper_harris · Posted: Fri Feb 29, 2008 6:11 pm Post subject:

I don't know if it is simply a 'Brit' thing, but 90% of airheads were sold out of the showroom with gaiters. The vast majority still have them (though unlikely to be the same pair Laughing

From the pictures I've seen, most K's did not have them when new ?

They DO look pretty ugly, so I've stripped them off my R100 RS, but left them on the old plodder R65.

Most sport tourers with RWU forks have those clip-on shrouds, intended to deflect the worst of the crud from the sliding area of the forks.

Alas, due to the 'lazy' nature of BMW forks, the sliding area is 50% larger than say a VFR800, or Blackbird.

Still worth a look, £15 and no need to slip the forks down the yokes to fit.
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C1 200 (2001)
R100 RS (1990)
NSU Quickly N (1964)
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Suzuki TL 1000 R (1999)
Kawasaki KLV1000 (2005)
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BobZ(IL) · Posted: Fri Feb 29, 2008 9:40 pm Post subject:

A light burnishing around the fork tubes (not up and down) with 1000 grit paper seemed to add a little "tooth" to the surfaces and I haven't had a fork seal failure since. Of course I frequently spray the tubes with WD40 so that bugs and crap can't stick and dry up on them too quickly.
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'93 K1100LT
'78 R100S
'05 R1200GS
BMWMOA, CRBMWOA, ABC, K11OG #997

Live well, do good work, enjoy the ride.

kltk1 · Posted: Sat Mar 01, 2008 6:56 am Post subject:

Never heard of the WD-40 thing. I'll have to try that.
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Thomas Adamo

bmwmick · Posted: Sun Mar 02, 2008 5:27 pm Post subject: Re: Fork Tube Replacement

Jim · Posted: Sun Mar 02, 2008 5:51 pm Post subject: fort gaiters

Thomas - do a search for "gaiters" - although you might also have to search for gaitors, or even gators...

You should find enough information to get your fork seal situation sorted out. I don't know the part number, but there is a fork gaiter made for one of the R bikes that also fits our K's.
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Jim
1997 K1100LTSE 94,000 - still has gremlins!
1995 R100RT Classic 16,650 crashed - repaired!
1992 K75RTP 46,000

"We shall not all die, but we shall all be changed."

bmwmick · Posted: Sun Mar 02, 2008 9:18 pm Post subject:

kltk1 · Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 5:58 am Post subject:

Thanks Mick. The site you supplied was what I was looking for. For now, I ordered a set of the NOJ covers to get the forks covered until the next time the forks get broken down. At that point I'll install the Rancho gaitors I bought.
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Thomas Adamo