Seal Mate fork seal tool

[Rikugun]

When I first saw this tool I was very skeptical. The more people reviewed it favorably I started to wonder if perhaps there was something to this thing. Recently my friends 2013 Triumph Explorer developed a leak in the right fork. It only has 9k on it and there were no obvious signs of stanchion damage. He wanted to have me put a fork seal in it but I convinced him to let me try the seal mate route first. I've seen where folks have cut one from plastic jugs or used thickness gages to do the same thing but since it was his money I bought one. I did scan it though so I can make one for myself.  ;)

The forks in question are KYB upside down units and when the tool is inserted there is a bit of oil leakage during the process. It ran down over the thin plastic tool making it difficult to grasp but we ran it around a few times per the instructions. The next step is to jounce the forks and wipe away the oil. After several of these "jounce and wipe" cycles the oil residue diminished but never stopped completely. We gave up, removed that fork and I took it with me to R&R the seal.

Later I was watching another YouTube vid where the tool was being reviewed and it took quite a few more fork compressions to re-seat the seal than the instructions call for but he was successful. I tried again this time with the now removed fork inverted so the stanchion was up. The tool didn't get oil coated and was easier to manipulate. I then started doing sets of 10 compressions with wiping it down between to check progress. After 5 sets or so there was diminished oil ring but still not sealed. I went over the stanchion with 600 grit paper, cleaned it thoroughly and did another 5-6 sets and was finally getting somewhere. I'll bet it took 200 or more compressions in total but finally the stanchion was bone dry. I don't know if this is typical but the point is don't give up too soon.

Of course the proof is in the riding and he's had the bike out twice now with no evidence of leaking. In the interim I ordered and received fork seals for him to have on hand just in case. Next season he'll be at the recommended time interval for fork oil change which I'll do and expect the seals to have a long life as they should.