Am I being ripped off?

[Ice Burger]

I've taken my bike to a mechanic for some engine work.

At the shop he said I also need new for seals, my bike already has new fork seals from about 4 months ago and should still be good.

He rubbed his finger along the stanchion and showed me there was some residue of oil. Is he telling the truth do I need new seals?

[BusterGonads]

If you didn't apply oil to the stanchions to keep off rust it must have come out of the fork so I deduce that the seal that was fitted is leaking.

A neigbour of mine offered to sell me his Kawasaki Vulcan 500 twin last week. I took it for a spin (didn't like the foot forward position or the ape hangers), but noticed one of the fork seals was oily. We wiped it down until clean and he took it out again for spin and it was covered in leaked oil after ten miles.

Give it a good clean up until it is dry and then ride it for a bit and see if the oil returns. If it does, the seal isn't working. It's usually not a major chore to replace them I don't think.

[kgm]

If the recently fitted seals were fitted improperly damaged on fitment, defective, you've hit a huge pot hole or they were simply cheap aftermarket seals then it's feasible one of them could have failed again. Clean the stanchions up and give the forks a few bounces and see if the oil reappears.

The current seals might also just have a bit of dirt trapped in the lip that could be cleaned out. You can run a thin bit of plastic around the lip to clean them.

If you've not ridden the bike much since the seals were changed then it could be some residual oil from fitting. I always sit the new seals in oil briefly before pushing them over the stanchions so inevitably there is always a little.residue left even after cleaning up but it goes away after a few rides.

[Ice Burger]

Okay thanks for your help

[P.]

When the seals were done, were the bushes also done.

[blurredman]

Or is it just condensation?
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CBT: 12/06/10, Theory: 22/09/10, Module 1: 09/11/10, Module 2: 19/01/11
Past: 1991 Honda CG125BR-J, 1992 (1980) Honda XL125S, 1996 Kawasaki GPZ500S, 1979 MZ TS150.
Current: 1973 MZ ES250/2 - 18k, 1979 Suzuki TS185ER - 10k, 1981 Honda CX500B - 91k, 1987 MZ ETZ250 (295cc) - 40k, 1989 MZ ETZ251 - 51k.

[Bhud]

It's happened to me before. Weeping seals less than a week after I fitted cheap, hard fork seals. That's why I will only fit OEM seals from a reputable supplier, and change the bushes at the same time. If oil is seeping, they need changing (again).

[R1stu]

I had my seals fail on the way home from just been fitted. Turns out stanchions were pitted and bushes needed to be swapped.
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Carbon closet tart! https://www.bikepics.com/members/r6stuk/02r6/
Stolen bike. 2000 R1: https://www.bikepics.com/members/r6stuk/00r1/
Current bike 1991 Honda ST1100 Pan European, 1986 Honda cb350sg (Finished)

[Ice Burger]

I'll make sure to find out thanks. As far as I know it was the seals changed by themselves.

[MCN]

Is 'all' of the chrome in perfect condition?
A tiny nick or a rough surface will cause oil to pass by the seal.

Or the seals were damaged during installation. Or shite quality seals.
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Disclaimer: The comments above may be predicted text and not necessarily the opinion of MCN.

[sickpup]

[A100man]

buy some gaiters..
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Now: A100, GT250A, XJ598, FZ750

Then: Fizz, RS200, KL250, XJ550, Laverda Alpina, XJ600, FZS600

[kgm]