BMW F650GS fork seals

Roughly two weeks ago my BMW F650GS' fork seals broke while on the the Arizona trip. At that time the right side fork tube didn't look like it was leaking dampening fluid too badly but I was a bit concerned nevertheless since I have not experienced anything similar before and didn't know if broken fork seals could be a major problem or not. When I discovered the leak we had covered about 150 miles out and I was worried that we may have to turn back. Good thing I was riding with an experienced group of people (my brother included), and they reassured me that it wasn't that major and I could probably make the last 850 miles (the rest of the trip).

I was a bit leary still but figured it was only the right fork tube, "If anything I still have the left side intact." Plus the fluid that was leaking out was on the right side and not directly over the left side where my front disc brake was. Sure enough after a bit of fluid loss and 1000 miles later, my F650GS got me home just fine. Lesson learned.

Now it's time to fix it. I had pondered about doing the work myself so I looked up the procedure in the manual on the CD ROM that my brother had bought when he owned this motorcycle. BMW has a very good maintenance and repair manual that shows the process in great detail and description.









It looked like there were a couple of special tools that I might need to get to perform this fix in addition to getting the new seals. I was also thinking about replacing both fork seals since one failed the other was bound to follow.

I talked it over with my brother but he suggested that I waited while he asked the guys at Brown Motor Works in Pomona, the local BMW motorcycle dealership, regarding repair price. As it turned out, the cost for repair is around $250 for both fork tubes, not too bad. So it now looks like I'll be going to the dealer to have it done.

Oh, well... maybe next time.