Hope this saves a few people a bit of work.
A couple of weeks ago I had replaced the front wheel after removing the fairing.
When I took the bike out for a run I noticed an oil mist on the right fork leg. Fork seal gone, I thought. But it had been fine before, no leak gradually getting worse.
Happened the next run out too.
Then I remembered.
When putting the front axle through the forks and wheel, I used the cap and Allen key to draw the axle through.
I forgot and just tightened it up while I was there. Then I tightened the clamp bolts on the forks.
Loosened all off and re tightened the fork legs clamps first this time.
Fork seal leak cured!

Same mistake here, had just put new discs and pads, nice and close fitting, so the brakes were binding, couldn't figure it out until I loosened everything off again to start a fresh, then notice the front wheel free up.
Lesson learnt...

Folks,

Wasn't there at one time discussion of a sticky for newbies?
Thought that I had read posts about that here, but maybe it was somewhere else....

About how to watch that darned side stand like a hawk when being deployed, and rock the bike back a little and parking uphill and ...thing falling over...
About how and where to thump the relay box to get the starter to quit being on and also where that earth ground is...that is easily accessed so one doesn't have to actually get to the battery to make it stop. ...when it decides to run away.

?
Jim...wishing that I had known more when I first got my bike.

What motorbike

Rick,
Don't understand the question...

Eh, a K100.

(Don't make me stop this car)...

Somewhere on the web there was a really good and helpful list of things for folks new to K100s to know and I can't find it.

Think that that would be good to have on the portal page in the middle and might save some new owners grief and prevent others from having to answer many of the same questions that come up every other month or so.

Jim

Gonna say a thing as a newbie.

Whoever in our crowd said that one should buy/include long nosed needle nosed pliers in the bike tool kit was spot on.

Developed fuel line leak yesterday. Knew that that needed to be looked at and bought FI clamps for that and in anticipation of replacing the current fuel lines.

Made way home and could not have done it without those pliers reaching in there whilst I tightened the clamps on the same.

jim ....you dont mean the "so you just bought a used k100 so now what " on the portal page, in the middle

Charlie,
What?!
Pretty sneaky you guys putting that up that fast.
Went , looked, saw.
Nice that that is there.
Oh s**t, I'm not really crazy.

I'm not really nuts either but at my age I can get away with it and folks are happy to help some poor old codger, makes em feel good.

Comberjohn wrote:I forgot and just tightened it up while I was there. Then I tightened the clamp bolts on the forks.
Loosened all off and re tightened the fork legs clamps first this time.
Fork seal leak cured!

I have been wondering this cause my forks are leaking a bit and I did change the front tyre last winter. I just cant understand how these two things are linked. I tightened the front axle & clamps just like Haynes book tells and it is the way that first tighten the axle, then move forks up and down several times and after that tighten the spindle clamp bolts.

So which is right? Comberjohn or Haynes? And how is the procedure linked to the fork seals??

If you tighten the 4 spindle bolts before you tighten the axle bolt then the forks can be pulled so they are not parallel and this puts a big strain on the fork legs causing the seals to leak because they have not got even tension all around the sealing lip. It also can make the suspension very harsh and wear the fork bushes very quickly.

My method is to tighten the axle bolt and the pinch bolts on the opposite side, take it off the stand, compress the suspension a couple of times and then tighten the pinch bolts on the other leg.

It is just me not understanding what I am reading I guess. I thought Comberjohn said in his first post that 4 bolts first, then axle?

Axle first, then up&down the front and then 4 spindle bolts tight. That's what I did. I guess my leak is for real then - and I now understand the connection - thanks.

(Allthough it may not harm to redo this procedure once more.) When you guys do this, does the front wheel have to be off the ground? I mean while tightening the axle.

I normally lift the front wheel off using the trolly jack... I then lower it down untill the holes are all lined up. This then allows the Big Spindle to go back into position without and assistance! that way everything is in a neutral position before tightening up the bolts.
As per the book Axle first then the 4 spindle bolts

Tenox wrote:It is just me not understanding what I am reading I guess. I thought Comberjohn said in his first post that 4 bolts first, then axle?

Axle first, then up&down the front and then 4 spindle bolts tight. That's what I did. I guess my leak is for real then - and I now understand the connection - thanks.

(Allthough it may not harm to redo this procedure once more.) When you guys do this, does the front wheel have to be off the ground? I mean while tightening the axle.

Yes he did say that but he loosend them all off then retightened them so it would not have mattered.

OK. Thanks again. I will now go to my garage (once again) and do this tightening procedure once more, but now starting with the front wheel off the ground or atleast bit lifted. Going to check the throttle cable too. Lucky me it is a rainy day.

Done, and stiffened steering a bit while at it. We will se what happens.

Once more for this subject. As I have mentioned in other topics, I had my forkseals renewed by professional motorcycle repair shop (also new oil inside). Mechanic thought that forks are OK. I installed them as said in Haynes manual with every bolt in right order and set in the spesified torque. They still leak. Now maybe even more than before.

I have never (had removed front wheel twice now in total) get that front axle on it's place without a help of a rubber hammer. So this makes me think if there will still be left some tension even though I have done the aligment with front brakes before tightening the 4 spindle bolts. I was wondering if I should once more try to open up bolts and try to get the bike lined up so that the axle would move easily (if it is even possible - it seems not!) and then tighten it and after that those spindles.

That is the last thing I can think of to do. There is always the possibility that my 27 year old forks are just so weary that they leak no matter what. New fork pipes may be too expensive investment for old bike like this.

Any new ideas are welcome.

Put a screwdriver through the hole in the right end of the axle and turn the axle and it may move a bit.
Have you checked them for being bent by turnibg the tube in the tripple clamp and watch the end at the axle to see if it wobbles.
Even try turning the tubes about 60deg at a time to see if the leak stops.

also undo the fork clamps on one side of the triple tree
I had to do the bounce thing to get it all lined up properly ....that's left leg lined up with right leg ...as in spring tension and offset up and down

I can't seem to get the idea (because of english not being my native language) of these procedures. Haynes says (as said many times) that alignment is done with all 4 bolts loose. So do you mean that I should only open 2? Or what is triple tree? I have done that bounce aligment with front brakes on and pushing the pumps up & down several times - I actually have done it twice now. I have turned those tubes a bit once but only very little. Is it so that there is no difference in which postion the upper end is? I placed them like they used to be.

Like in this photo: http://kotisivu.dnainternet.net/ajk73/V-Max.jpg

I really don't know what Rick means by that tripple clamp procedure either. I'm sorry for my lack of understanding. I do know that bike is very stable and good to drive in any speeds it is capable of doing.

Sorry Tenox I tend to think everybody speaks english well.
What I mean is possibly one of the tubes is bent slightly, maybe only .25mm but that could be enough to make it pull to one side or the other. If you turn the leg then you will see a slight movement at the bottom of the leg, and depending on where the bend is the slider will move in or out slightly on the axle.
The proceedure I use to reassemble is to first clean all the surfaces that the axle bears against and that includes the inside of the bearing races in the wheel. The put a slight coating of antisieze (loctite never seeze or permatex antisieze) just a light smear but cover it and the same for the inner surfaces of the fork legs and bearings.
Lift the wheel into position and slide the axle through then put the end cap and bolt in and tighten it then undo it just till the axle turns freely. Do the bounce routine a few times then turn the axle each way about 90° a few times and even put a lever between the fork leg and hub and give a gentle pull to see if the leg is sitting correctly. I have found that even bouncing it a few times doesnt always work and that if you use the lever the fork can spring out about 6 - 8mm and it only needs a gentle push on the lever. bounce it a few more times and then tighten the end cap bolt then bounce again then tighten the 4 socket head bolts at the bottom of the slider tubes. Then put the brake calipers on and assemble the rest of the forks.
When you push the axle through it is very easy to get the legs out of parallel and narrower at the bottom so that they distort when you compress them.
I also would check the wear myself by holding the fork leg firmly in the tripple clamp or a vice and try to move the slider in each of four directions right/left and up/down but no need to slide it up and down the leg.
If you get any movement more than .5mm then wear in the slider is the problem.

Thanks. I think I will try to get the possible tension out once more with just adjusting the axle and maybe by turning those tubes.

If not possible (or leaking continues) without taking the wheel and fender etc. off I try complete reassembly during winter. K100 goes to hibernation 5th of august anyway.

Tenox wrote:K100 goes to hibernation 5th of august anyway.

You have an exact day when winter starts Tenox?
This is a pretty sad outlook.
I think I have mentioned to you before, but I could not cope with those conditions. I detest winter and it was 23c here today.
Good luck with the forks mate.

Nooo not the winter! I have two bikes now because of the continuos problems with K100 and I will go to a 7 night motorcycle trip starting august 11. I can only afford keeping one bike insured at the time. So BMW goes to sleep and Africa Twin will carry me the rest of the season. Usually season ends late october or early november. Some winters have been so warm that we could have driven still at december but three last winters have been very cold and snowy. Season starts roughly around the end of march.

Have been working with the forks today. Turned both tubes in different position, opened all 4 bolts and axle, twisted the axle around, tightened it and then tried to move fork legs so that they would not be in tension etc. etc. did the alignment tightened 2 bolts did the alignment again and tightened last 2 bolts. Checked and rechecked everything and cleaned every place out of the fork oil (makes my hands itch). Found one scratch (about 1x2mm) on left tube, otherwise they seem to be in good condition.

I still think they will leak. Next I will call for a exorcism, do a voodoo replica of my K100, spike it a little and dance a little leak stop dance around my garage.

 Edit: Still both leaking. I give up.

Where (or is it possible) one can add oil to the front forks? Is it doable without dismantling whole forks system? Mine are still leaking and there is nothing* I can do about it. Just thinking what to do when the oil level gets too low.


* Aligned forks several times, new seals installed etc. New fork pipes cost 400,00e per unit so I just can not afford them.

Tenox wrote:Where (or is it possible) one can add oil to the front forks? Is it doable without dismantling whole forks system? Mine are still leaking and there is nothing* I can do about it. Just thinking what to do when the oil level gets too low.


* Aligned forks several times, new seals installed etc. New fork pipes cost 400,00e per unit so I just can not afford them.

The usual way is to remove the filler in the top cap and dribble the measured amount of oil in there. I use a small funnel with a clear plastic tube to avoid spills. Others use a syringe.



If the filler screws are over-tightened (seems quite common) and the threads have been stripped, the cap often just turns without coming out. In that case you can either replace the top caps or just remove them to fill/top-up.

It is difficult to know just how much oil has leaked out and therefore how much to put in to top it up.
I just did a quick search but could not find a measurement for the oil level which some forks do have.
To put a small amount in you could use a syringe with a small plastic tube attached and squirt it through the small hole on top of the fork.

OK. Thanks very much both!

I'm planning to wait until front end seems to be working not the way it should, and then add oil in small quantaties per time. I believe the total amount of oil is 360ml so I think I will add 50ml first when it seems to need it.

It only drips a drop or two after trips, so I think I don't have to worry quite yet.

http://kotisivu.dnainternet.net/ajk73/K100C_012c.JPG I assume the filler holes are under those bolts just under bar.

Yes, that's them. You need to hold the top cap with an open spanner, then undo the centre screw.

Tenox, 
A little bit of oil goes a long way, a drop or two from a ride would probably need several thousand km's to lose 50ml. I'd just arrange something to collect the drips so it doesn't make a mess and then wait until the fork action gets too 'bouncy' before adding extra oil.

Paul.

sidecar paul wrote:Tenox, 
A little bit of oil goes a long way, a drop or two from a ride would probably need several thousand km's to lose 50ml. I'd just arrange something to collect the drips so it doesn't make a mess and then wait until the fork action gets too 'bouncy' before adding extra oil.

Paul.

That is just what I will do. I wipe forks after every trip and wait when I feel something dramatic change on function and then add oil. Thanks for the feedback!