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1. RDL-82 - Member

   Ok so a few weeks ago i had a silly little moment and dropped the bike unfortunatly on a nice rock and have damaged the stanchion on the fork as seen here
   
   on inspection today the seal is now starting to get damaged, no sign of oil but cant garuantee that. The damage is obvious however the red circled area is slightly raised and that is what has started to eat the seal.
   The fork is a 454 pike coil so cant really afford to replace, indeed cant afford anything at the minute due to other commitments, so does anyone have experience with something similar, and is there any easy(ish) fixes bar replacement.

   Cheers Rob

   Posted 2 years ago #
2. rabyoung - Member

   Use some 1600 grade wet 'n dry sparingly on it to smooth off any rough edges. be very careful how you go at it.

   Posted 2 years ago #
3. TandemJeremy - Member

   filling chips with nail polish or araldite and polishing it smooth again are often recommended. I have not tried it myself.

   Posted 2 years ago #
4. RDL-82 - Member

   well have just got off the phone to tft and they quoted the wrong side of £200 to replace or file them down which could easily go wrong i'm sure, maybe some super fine wet n dry as 'rabyoung' says. So pi**ed off.

   Posted 2 years ago #
5. stuartanicholson - Member

   a combination of rabyoung and TJ will see you right. I did it to an old boxxer i had and it worked a treat.
   Is the seal visible damaged? IF they are i would be worried about the top bush.

   Posted 2 years ago #
6. foxyrider - Member

   It may not cause much of a problem though - i.e. looks worse than it is - I have a few marks over my old Fox RLC's and no oil leaks

   Posted 2 years ago #
7. uplink - Member

   Very fine wet & dry to take any edges off & then clean thoroughly with alcohol
   Araldite to fill the craters
   finish with more wet & dry

   Use the wet and dry wet [with oil]

   Posted 2 years ago #
8. RDL-82 - Member

   the damage to the seal is at present barely noticable, but i was looking for it, no oil escaping when i work the fork through its travel in the garden which is probably not the most conclusive of tests i know.

   Araldite > any particular one.
   Oil > any thing in particular, fork/chain/baby?

   Concerned with removing the finish tbh

   Posted 2 years ago #
9. uplink - Member

   Araldite > any particular one.
   Oil > any thing in particular, fork/chain/baby?

   Just the normal epoxy resin stuff
   Take your pick, something thin

   Posted 2 years ago #
10. RDL-82 - Member

    well i have some of this stuff in the house already,
    araldite
    this ok,

    cheers

    Posted 2 years ago #
11. cynic-al - Member

    wire wool is your friend!

    Posted 2 years ago #
12. uplink - Member

    yeah, should be fine

    be careful not to over do it or you'll still be sanding this time next week

    Posted 2 years ago #
13. muddydwarf - Member

    I did this to my reba's last year.

    I sanded the gouge down then filled with liquid metal stuff from work, then sanded again. I have a slight flat spot as i think i was a little over zealous, but the seals seem undamaged.
    That may have been because i did the damage when i knocked the bike against a wall when cleaning it & sorted the damage before riding again.

    No oil leaks so far, & i regularly inspect/clean the foam wipers for evidence of dirt ingress.

    Posted 2 years ago #
14. coffeeking - Member

    Personally the key with this sort of thing is to be VERY slow and VERY careful. Fill any voids with tiny drops (having de-greased) and then use a very very flat file (the tiniest one you can get with flat sides) and take the burrs down to the same level as the material around them without over-doing it or sanding areas next to the hole by accident.

    Posted 2 years ago #
15. Yokel Lad - Inactive

    Out of interest, is the damage to the seal externally visible or did you discover it after stripping down the fork?

    Posted 2 years ago #
16. RDL-82 - Member

    fork has not been stripped, you can just about - and you would have to be looking tbh - notice a slight impression in the seal where the area circled is passing on compression, so i can only see external damage tbh but suspect there is every possibilty of more

    Posted 2 years ago #

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