Fork seals

Went to the garage this morning to roll out the 500 for an early ride. The bike has been sitting for about 3 weeks as I have been on a road trip on the Nighthawk. Rolled the bike a couple of feet and saw a spot of oil on the floor, took a closer look.....&*$%#@.....it's fork oil. RH fork seal is seeping, so I'll be needing a set of seals and wipers. Does anyone have suggestions as to who has the best seals at the best price? Thanks.

 

OEM. Perfect fit, no issues. If your fork seal is leaking b/c of a blemish on the fork tube, Frank's Eng. makes replacement tubes. Frank's Maintenance and Engineering, Inc.

Might also be a good time, since you're removing the tube anyway, to replace the bushings.

 

+1 on OEM for the fork seals.

Thanks for the intel on the replacement fork tubes jeffrozar. If I could ask, have you purchased a set from Frank's?

One thought I have had is to switch out to CBR600F forks which allow for larger rotors and more modern calipers. I wonder if Frank's could make a CBR600F set in the longer VF500F length.

 

I've bought tubes from franks. They were for my RZ, this was many moons ago. They were dimensionally identical. They had a lot smoother finish however.

 

Thanks for the replies.I was thinking OEM as I have always had problem free results with them on my dirt bikes, so OEM it is. The FSM specifies ATF for the forks and the oil that has leaked out looks to be ATF. Is any other fluid preferred over ATF for the VF forks?

 

+1 for OEM, that's the only way to go. Honda seals are the only thing I install during fork rebuilds.

 

I got some Frank's for one of my '86 700s and think the chroming is not as good as OEM and rust pimples are more common. Not impressed.

 

I got a fork for my '84 VF1k. Excellent quality, looks exactly as a new one, packaged perfect, the one I got was a little longer, but no worries as the fork cap just went on top. They've been doing forks since the 60s I think the woman on the phone said. They made mine from new metal, same as the OEs use they said.

And I put ATF back in and they work great. Since I had the forks off I put in AllBalls steering stem tapered bearings. With the changes and new bushings, the bike rides much more stable and smooth.