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DB6 leaking fork oil.
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quikduk



Joined: 13 Aug 2016
Posts: 287
Location: Southern California, USA

PostPosted: Tue Jan 15, 2019 10:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Once the dust seal and spring clip are loose and pulled away from the seal AND the damper rod bolt has been removed, gently but firmly use a slide-hammer method to pull the tubes apart freeing the oil seal.

Take care to not scratch the coating on the coated spacers or fork tubes.

OAN, I also had the following tool handy JIC.

- Oil seal and wiper cleaner



I tried this first in case some small particle of junk had gotten between the seal and the tube causing the leaks. Alas it was due to age and hardening of the rubber.

In the future, I will buy this kit of oil seal slide covers (bullets) for the fork tube to make assembly easier with less risk of damage.



The PP parts came with one tube per pair of seals (dust and oil) of assembly grease.





I coated the seals and tube liberally with this prior to reassembly. I also used a Zip-Lock plastic bag as a fork bullet and greased it liberally. It worked, however the other tool would make the job easier and less messy IMHO.
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quikduk



Joined: 13 Aug 2016
Posts: 287
Location: Southern California, USA

PostPosted: Tue Jan 15, 2019 10:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I did find some nasty nicks in my TiN fork tubes that may have and may still contribute to seal failure. The only recourse is to either have them re-coated…if possible or replaced. We shall see how the seals hold up as these were likely from road thrown rocks.





Needless to say I was a bit miffed but for now, I may invest in some sort-of cool carbon fiber fork gaiters I saw online recently that are designed to prevent this from happening. I’ll post the pic when I can find it again.

Re: replacing the fluid, I neglected to mention that before I pulled out the damper rod bolt, I drained the fork fluid (oil) from the tubes by extending the assembled parts. I emptied each leg into a Ratio Rite container so I could measure what came out. At first glimpse, it appeared to be only 300cc’s.



However after the bolt removal, I got a total of approximately 525cc’s out of each leg. I replaced this oil with new Maxima 10wt as I couldn’t find 7.5wt oil locally. I will see how it performs as soon as the rain stops.
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quikduk



Joined: 13 Aug 2016
Posts: 287
Location: Southern California, USA

PostPosted: Tue Jan 15, 2019 10:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I will say that the PP parts also came with decals/stickers as well as a thin type of “seal pick” to clean dust and debris from the dust seal and oil seal should this become necessary.



There was about a 5mm height difference between the old (taller) fork wiper dust seal and the PP item.



I am not sure if this matters but I will check their site to see if a taller item is available. If I remember correctly, each pair was around $24 which isn’t too bad and their customer service, via email as they are either in the UK or Oz was exemplary.
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quikduk



Joined: 13 Aug 2016
Posts: 287
Location: Southern California, USA

PostPosted: Tue Jan 15, 2019 10:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I am buying this dust seal removal tool to help make the removal safer in the future as it won’t scratch the tube and it helps carefully lever out the dust seal without damaging the surface of the rubber.

https://www.amazon.com/Unit-Motorcycle-Fork-Remover-P2310/dp/B075X3B6CD/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1547587104&sr=8-2&keywords=motorcycle+fork+dust+seal+tool

BTW, these are two of the seal driver kits I was looking at getting and is only double what I paid for the MP unit and it works for a variety of seal/tube sizes.

https://www.amazon.com/AlphaMoto-MOTORCYCLE-ADJUSTABLE-Davidson-Kawasaki/dp/B00V1X5WVC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1547587177&sr=8-1&keywords=motorcycle+fork+seal+driver+set

https://www.amazon.com/Universal-Fork-Seal-Driver-Tool/dp/B07695V4LT/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1547587177&sr=8-3&keywords=motorcycle+fork+seal+driver+set

Here are the part numbers for the seals and wipers. “FOS” is the oil seal, “FDS” is the dust seal.



And here is another tool that could be useful. It is the oil seal pic made out of anti-scratch plastic.

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quikduk



Joined: 13 Aug 2016
Posts: 287
Location: Southern California, USA

PostPosted: Tue Jan 15, 2019 10:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

So it is back together and waiting on better weather to ride and test. It may require lighter oil or less oil, however I haven't found definitive specs.

I did set the rebound and compression to middle numbers/baseline from the manual. Perhaps the trick will be lighter and/or less oil, lighter progressive springs, shorter preload spacer or some combination of all of the above.

If anyone feels like playing around with these items, I would love to know the results as the Matris "cartridges" are almost $900/pair. Springs are typically $150/pair, I can make any length of replacement spacer and the oil can be changed.

I may ask Race Tech in Corona, CA, USA what they do when rebuilding these. Maybe they will enlighten me with some specs. We will see.

Oh, and in cleaning the fork leg bottoms (cast aluminum pieces), I managed to destroy the tiny Bimota stickers/decals so I'll have to make some up in the near future.
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2bims



Joined: 03 Apr 2010
Posts: 7289

PostPosted: Wed Jan 16, 2019 9:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Oh Dear on the stickers front...I'd send you a couple over but I think I only have one left...as I used one up on my "bimota bin"...I used to have a 100 or so of those stickers and over the years they've just gone...…...
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quikduk



Joined: 13 Aug 2016
Posts: 287
Location: Southern California, USA

PostPosted: Sat Feb 09, 2019 8:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

2bims,

Thanks anyway. When I get them made up, I'll send a bunch your way.

Right now it is snowing in sunny Southern California. It is still sunny though...lol. It reminds me of when I was selling my '93 750SS to a friend...but I'll describe that incident in another post.
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2bims



Joined: 03 Apr 2010
Posts: 7289

PostPosted: Sat Feb 09, 2019 8:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Snow???...Is old Hamster haired Trump still convinced theres no such thing as global warming and climate change?,,,Great write up on the fork seal change..cant recall...did you use a pin wrench to remove the tops?
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quikduk



Joined: 13 Aug 2016
Posts: 287
Location: Southern California, USA

PostPosted: Sat Feb 09, 2019 9:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I am certain he is. I have seen very cold years and very hot years. Maybe the Earth just needs a new thermostat...but what do I know as that is scientist stuff and I am an architect.

I found a pin spanner online for around $20 and it came with two sizes of hardened pins. It worked great while the forks were still tight in the triple clamps.

This is the Motion Pro Spanner I bought.



BTW, I related my snow riding story in the general chat area should you need a chuckle.
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quikduk



Joined: 13 Aug 2016
Posts: 287
Location: Southern California, USA

PostPosted: Wed Jun 05, 2019 9:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

To resurrect this thread a bit, if you look through my photos you will see the assembly of the fork internals as they came from Bimota. My questions after reading the recent DB9 thread from Raidermoto are as follows:

- Since purchasing and installing a full Matris suspension is out of the question, what brand/rate/length/diameter of springs should I change in my forks and shock to make these components work better?

- What quantity and rate of fork oil is best?

- How do I go about either making or purchasing the spacers that Raidermoto fabricated if I don't have access to a lathe (maybe)?

- Are the DB9 and DB6 forks similar enough to use the same setup re: the internals?

- what are the optimum settings for both the shock and fork re: compression and rebound?

I guess I could take my forks and shock into a suspension shop but they charge a lot of money for something that I should be able to do myself...maybe.

Ideally, I am looking for a list of specific parts that I can buy and then perhaps make or have some made (spacers etc.) and then assemble and setup myself. I just don't have the magic "numbers" or "info".

Any thoughts or advice?
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