Hello everyone. I recently had a bad fork leak from the right fork and it will have to be repaired. From what I see, the previous owner of my MTS did rebuild the forks 10k miles ago in 2018. Few questions: Are they supposed to last longer or may be more than just the seal the problem? Do I have to take the forks into a Ducati or öhlins specialist or is this a job that any dealer can do? Thank you in advance for any replies.
you might just have accumulated "dirt" behind the dust seal, and the main seal and it's worth investigating as it's relatively easy to do. I use a plastic milk bottle cut to shape with a pair of scissors but you can just buy one, possibly called a "forkmate" or similar? Several tutorials on Youtube.
Thanks for the input. But I already did that and behind the dust seal looked pretty clean. Also the amount of fluid coming out is quite a lot, so I think it will need to be topped up.
Ohlins fork seals have a tendency to leak. 5 years/10k miles doesn't appear unreasonable. Forks can be sorted by any competent garage. There are a few suspension specialists around - where are you located?
10 K miles over 5 years doesn't seem much and you may have just been unlucky. Its worth checking there are no corrosion spots (caused by stone chips) on the fork stanchions which may have caused damage to the seal, but who ever replaces the seals for you should do this as a matter of course. If they are Ohlins forks, the best place to get them serviced is at a Ohlins accredited specialist, I suspect that's where your local Ducati dealer would probably send them anyway (depending obviously on their own experience and the tools in their workshop).
Hi everyone. Some updates on this and maybe someone could share their opinion with me. I used one of those sealmate, forkmate on the fork and now it's not leaking anymore. Clean. Not a single drop. I went for a ride, pushed the brake hard few times and all good. I can't feel any difference in handling or braking power. Still I'm not sure of... How much oil leaked when it did. Some for sure. So will it be a problem having a fork with less oil than the other? I'm going to Germany, Austria and Italy this summer. I'll be riding around in the next week ends and keep an eye but even if it doesn't leak will it be safe or shall I replace the seals? Bear in mind to do the job is expensive for me, so if I can save the cash and use it for the trip I'll be much happier.
If it's stopped leaking and doesn't start again under all conditions then it should be good to go, unless it stopped leaking because it's now empty/dry! The RH Ohlins leg on my 916 has developed a minor leak over the winter, I tried with a seal-mate which got some crap out and slowed it down a bit but it's still leaking. The MOT tester said it wasn't bad enough to fail as it's just a 'misting' but it'll only get worse with time and, I would think probably when the weather warms up? so I'll be getting them fixed this year. I've always taken mine to Ktech as I trust their work and they're fairly local, I'm tempted to have a go myself as it can't be anything beyond my abilities though I'm not sure what special tools I might need?
I think it can be done by yourself. It's not crazy complicated. On my last bike I did my own valve clearance check and shims replacement. You may need to buy some special tools but I had a look online and again it's not super expensive. Much less anyway than having the dealer involved. The reason I don't do it myself it's cause I don't have a place to do it.
It happens mate. On track id rebuild my suspension atleast once a year. On the road probably 5 years max personally. It’s not the most expensive thing in the world either, cheaper yet if you can get the units out yourself. get someone who knows what they’re doing to do the build though. I’ve seen some shocking suspension work !
Happy to do it, the only thing the professional has over me is experience (and the tools). I'm happy rebuilding bikes, doing valve checks, gearbox/engine rebuilds etc. The only problem I have is that I'm currently a bit limited on clean space as I've got a Land Rover in component form in my bike workshop and it's taking up most of the space and is messy but I'll look into what's needed and get around to it eventually...
