More than likely, yes

I don't know about pikes, but certainly recons have some lubricating oil held in by that bolt, so yes, probably. But if you haven't seen any actual oil outside the fork just tighten it and it'll probably be fine.

Think of it as a plug in the bottom of a sink. But...how undone is partially undone? If it wasn't tight, but "done up" it will be fine, probably.

I'd hazard a guess at no. You have to **** it with a hammer to free it up when you dismantle them. Then the combined effect of the preload on the spring holding it down and the damper side bolt preventing it from hyper extending, it should be right!

...but its only 15ml so i'd pull it apart and check.

Yeah it was about a cm undone, i couldnt see any fluid coming out and i only rode it for like 5mins. i'l ride it today then put in some new oil. cheers people

I think that leg only holds about 15ml of oil so there's not much to loose so check and replace.

Having said that I agree with Mistere you really have to **** it to remove the spring so if it was going to leak it probably would have done before you rode it.