rikernumber1 Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 Hi All, MoT is due at the end of March. Advice from the last one (before I owned the bike) states that the fork seals were replaced, but won't last long because the forks are pitted. I assume that means the chrome is no longer smooth, allowing the oil to seep out of the seal (there's a slight seep now). What can I do to fix this problem in the long term? I'm guessing: 1. replace the fork(s) or 2. get the forks re-chromed Any advice welcome, particularly on approximate costs for re-chroming (if this is the answer). Bike is a 1986 Radian (US import) and I'm in the UK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pilninggas Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 another method, aside from chroming, which depends on the amount of pitting, is to fill the pitting with araldite and then rub down with increasing finer grades of wet and dry paper, this will get the fork syrface back to a smootheness which will prevent the seal leaking. Best to replace the seals if you do this, as the lips of the seal will be damaged. other common bodges is to put a slither of rag under the dust seals to absorb any fluid that gets past the seal or fit 'bellows-style' gaiters (the off-road peeps will know the proper name) so the tester cannot see the leak, doesnt solve the problem, but will get the bike thru an MOT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pilninggas Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 even better: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Yamaha-Radi...sQ5fAccessories Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rikernumber1 Posted February 25, 2009 Author Share Posted February 25, 2009 even better: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Yamaha-Radi...sQ5fAccessories Seen those - were already in my eBay watch list - cost is a consideration though, so not sure whether it's cheaper to re-chrome? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve m Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 Rechroming will cost from about £90 up to £150 depending on who,, what quality you want and the condition of the pitted forks..... More info HERE and HERE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rikernumber1 Posted February 25, 2009 Author Share Posted February 25, 2009 Hi Guys, Thanks for this - looks like it's even stevens for re-chroming v. replacement (Radian specific). I'm guessing these forks are shared with the XJ-600 and FZ-600 (I'll look in the manual when I get home....) - I guess that widens the possibilities for spares. Anyone know if they are shared across other models? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimR Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 another method, aside from chroming, which depends on the amount of pitting, is to fill the pitting with araldite and then rub down with increasing finer grades of wet and dry paper, this will get the fork syrface back to a smootheness which will prevent the seal leaking. Best to replace the seals if you do this, as the lips of the seal will be damaged. other common bodges is to put a slither of rag under the dust seals to absorb any fluid that gets past the seal or fit 'bellows-style' gaiters (the off-road peeps will know the proper name) so the tester cannot see the leak, doesnt solve the problem, but will get the bike thru an MOT. Hi , I do MOTs and if I see gaitors fitted to a bike the would not have them I would tend to look into the bike 'in depth' as the tester cannot remove them to check the seals and if one bodge is there it's fair that there are others ! and it could fail on the found ones, but filling the infected areas so the seals are not cut is a good plan, and may work fine for some time but perhaps the ends up point is to fit new fork inner tubes & seals but of course some could be found of an XJ rather then just a YX Regards Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rikernumber1 Posted February 25, 2009 Author Share Posted February 25, 2009 Looked at Mr Hayne's manual and the forks look different across the range (manual covers FZ-600, FJ-600, XJ-600, YX-600). Bugger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimR Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 Looked at Mr Hayne's manual and the forks look different across the range (manual covers FZ-600, FJ-600, XJ-600, YX-600). Bugger. From memory the YX & XJ used the same fork inner tubes (but I may be wrong) the outers were different down to the caliper mounting points as the discs were different ... I had an import YX some while ago (the same age as yours) I wonder if it's the same bike !!! Regards Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rf9rider Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 wemoto.com sells fork tubes. Have a look to see if your model is listed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rikernumber1 Posted March 12, 2009 Author Share Posted March 12, 2009 As it happened, it passed the MoT OK, so I will just keep an eye on it. Thanks for all the advice - especially about wemoto - just got a load of oil from them.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-man Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 Seen those - were already in my eBay watch list - cost is a consideration though, so not sure whether it's cheaper to re-chrome? To "re-chrome", you'd still need to spend time on them fork tubes first, buffing out the pits. Else, you'd have freshly-chromed tubes, with pits. But, it may be worth your while if you've got other stuff you wanna chrome. Like anodizing and oxidizing, chrome plating is usually done by the lot, not by the piece. A set of fork tubes, or the fork tubes, exhaust, handlebars, and engine covers together...it's all the same price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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