cmurphy84

A guy I ride with has a buell xb9 Nd his front right fork seal is leaking slightly. After riding for a while we can stop for thirty minutes or so and it will drip a couple drops.

The question is, is it safe to ride a little bit until he can afford to repair it?

mcromo44

Yes.
BUT it's sure not "textbook" as a strategy.
Keep and eye on it, and once the leakage rate starts to increase, do something about it.
Also, a couple of drips every ride will end up in a cumulative loss that will adversely effect damping, which means having to add more oil.
The worst part is though, those that let fork seals leak, often let them leak to the point that oil gets on the brake disc and pads, and THAT is a serious safety issue.

mattf

I'd agree with mcromo, keep an eye on the oil level and fix as soon as possible.

Bigdaa

+1.....but, how long until he can afford to have it fixed? That is what I'd ask the buddy.


My opperandi: Wipe clean often, monitoring rate of loss and consequences of adjacent surface contamination. On the single disc Buell, is it the disc side fork tube or the opposite side? You know if it's the opposite side of the disc there is much less chance of contamination.
I'd pull it asap and get it into the shop for repair, picking a reputable privateer over the Harley shop or any other name brand shop mechanic (that's the way it is with me. tired of shops making all the profit for the week off of ME!)

Bryce919er

You can slip the dust seal down then run a thin piece of plastic like a film negative, goggle tear off, or business card between the leg & the seal to see if you can clean any junk out that is making it leak. Old dirt bike trick but if this does not work time to replace the seal.