Fork seal's, etc...

[Tiger]

 :) For those who may need to do fork seal's, etc...They are still available from Yamaha dealer's. Here are the correct Yamaha part number's...

:) Oil Seal...Part #4G0-23145-00-00.

:) Oil seal CLIP...Part #4A1-23156-00-00.

:) Dust seal...Part #4G0-23144-01-00.

:) Price's ::), as usual...stupid :o ;D :D :D :D :D...Two of each...$80.00 (Canadian) + tax ::)

                 8).......TIGER....... 8)

[Night Vision]

I put some of those parts numbers in the PartsResource catalog we all forget about. the fork seals were already there..

[67GTO]

Sorry to bring up an old post but...

Is factory parts the best way to go, or is there aftermaket ones that work just as well. I would rather not do the job twice just to save a little money.

Also are air valves available like the 83's?

[h2olawyer]

I used seals from a local bearing supply outfit.  They began leaking a few weeks after installation.  I'm going with OEM when I redo them this Winter.  Cost of OEM is more than double, but still not what I'd call expensive - somewhere around $15 per seal.  The OEM might last the longest - but I have no way of knowing for sure.  Hope they last longer than my last ones.  The current leak isn't bad - just a light film on the forks after a long ride. - so they got used in the 83 lowers.

The 83 air caps are no longer available from Yamaha.  Wrecking yards, eBay or here are your only sources & they're pretty much unobtanium.  You can drill & tap your 82 caps & install schrader valves in them.  I did it to my old caps.  Worked well - no leaks until I disassembled them when I did the 83 fork swap.  My 82 tubes were much nicer than the 83s, which were heavily pitted.

H₂O

[Rick G]

I made up my own air caps . i scrounged up  a couple of  valve stems from bad inner tubes and drilled the appropreate size hole in the fork cap . I installed them and put a fawcett  washer  on the outside befor installing  the dished washer and secured the whole thing with the valve stem nut.  Blow them uo to 10 psi using a small bicycle pump and your set to go.

[kiwibum]

I used seals from a local bearing supply outfit.  They began leaking a few weeks after installation.

H₂O
I have the same thing with the seals I fitted, was in the seal shop today getting bits for carb rebuild and asked about it. According to the guy I deal with there the leak will be due to too much oil or air pressure. I don't put air in my forks (on his recommendation) so we assumed it's too much oil. I just went by the quantity in the manual, measured it into a container then poured it in as I didn't have a means for measuring and sucking out correct amount. I'll do this in the next week or so to check them as I'm going to be selling that bike. I have no reason to disbelieve the guy, he knows his stuff, worked as a bike mechanic for many years before his current job and used to service one of the XZ400's I have now. It's always great to go see him, he is a wealth of knowledge on the XZ and bikes in general, makes my garage of 7 bikes look small, has a bunch of bikes he is fixing up at the back of the seal shop. Like most full time bike mechanics hates the XZ and keeps telling me to get something better. Anyway you might want to check the oil levels in your forks and see if that makes a difference.

[h2olawyer]

Thanks for the info on overfilled oil.  Hadn't thought of that.  However on mine, the oil level should be fine.  When I rebuilt them the last time, I cleaned the old ones out thoroughly & used my syringe to measure & inject the correct amount of oil.  Probably the air pressure.  That's why I figured I'd try the Yamaha seals this time.  They were hopefully tested by the factory to work for a little while under some air pressure.  I'm currently running no air in the forks & they're still laying a fine film on the tubes.

H₂O

[kwells]

h20...ur leak is VERY slight...could ur oil just need to be changed?

[Rick G]

I have been told by other old times that air forks cause seals to seap, how ever I have  had no trouble with this. My fork seals  have been from Gopher bearing in MPLS.  and  K&L  .

[jasonm.]

I don't recommend using the '83 air caps. Reason---the fork tubes are different at the top. Meaning the threads start at a different depth. I always say ...try a bit more oil in the forks. This decreases the air space and actually increases the progressive nature of how the fork reacts.

[Lucky]

83 caps fit 82 tubes just fine, i had 'em on mine befor i got my 83 ft end.  82 caps however will not fit on 83 tubes.

i only have one air valve in mine, i have a guage in the other & a 1/8" copper balance tube plumbed between the two tubes just under the upper tripple.  i run 6 psi all the time, & yes i do get a thin ring, but that's to be expected.  it holds air, i've never had to 'top up' the air, & i expect to check the fork oil once a season....