2011 leaking fork seals anyone?

[Shakey]

My 2011 has just over 200 miles on the clock and look exactly as mvk has pictured.

I'll give them a wipe over and see what happens.

[pistonbroke]

hi all
its probably just a protective oil covering the forks to stop them deteriorating while stored , or at the showroom , i have had this happen , after all who wants to buy a bike with rust on it from new .. best thing to do is to wipe them clean , ride the bike for week , dry off again . if it is leaking it will be wet and running down fork tube and it will not get better . my bike does get a scum black like substance around the forks ,road dust and filth thrown up but its not oil.
piston

[xbpod]

Mine is definately fresh oil, I have now covered 1500 miles and get a fresh film of oil every time I go for a ride. Strangely the leak seems worse after a fast motorway/dualcarriage blast than on spirited bumpy back roads riding? At the last visit to the dealers he could find no leaking with a static pumping of the front end so it appears to be caused by others forces on the forks when actually riding.

Pete.

[pistonbroke]

hi xbpod
this is not right , so if you left it for a week it would be dribbling down the fork? after a ride you ran your finger round the dust cover it would be almost a drip of oil?. if a few on the forum have the same problem then there must be a batch of inferior seals fitted .maybe a couple of hundred bikes . seals only go with age and damage , like a stone chip on the chrome or rust . i have repaired many on my bikes over the years (moto x mainly))and they only leak again if the get a nick in the edge or they are a cheapo copy, we all try to save money eh , its surprising how much your forks are working at speed even on flat smooth looking roads . i think if you see a drip forming of oil i would be straight back to the dealers, once they pull the dust cover up ,there should be a puddle of oil forming thats coming out the main seal , if they know what they are doing (supposed to be a tradesman bmw trained mechanic) they will see this and not fob you off with a silly story . ask them to see with the dust cover up .... least you will know if they have had a look and see yourself that they are ok .
piston .

[Roder]

hi xbpod
this is not right , so if you left it for a week it would be dribbling down the fork? after a ride you ran your finger round the dust cover it would be almost a drip of oil?. if a few on the forum have the same problem then there must be a batch of inferior seals fitted......
piston .

I agree with you, that is not normal, I am following this forum in order to know what to expect when I get my new bike. It seems evident that the problem occurs predominantly on 2011 bikes, so what were the changes in the fork that cause the leak. Bad batch of seals or cheaper outsourcing? That's the right answer as you pointed out. BMW has to get on the problem and if the owners do not complain they will do nothing about it.

[Fjm]

Thats what my dealer advised also. I have now more like a slight film smear on my fork tubes vs. lots of oil. I also get a noticeable scum ring forming at the top of the compressed fork tubes, which reappears after washing. I am sure if the oil was not leaking (as it shouldnt!) and acting as a binder for particle contaminants, the scum rings would disappear.

Updating my previous post on the condition of my front forks. I can report that after six months of riding, the 'problem' has now disappeared. I no longer have a scum ring or oil film on my forks. Its completely dry and clean.

[Roder]

Thanks for the report, I was just thinking about this tread a couple of days ago, wondering about the results.

[Mustang Man]

After 2000 miles, my forks on my 2011 are clean and dry. this seems to be an intermittent problem with some bikes. Still, since as said before, since there is no damping from the forks it should be nothing to worry about. That said, there are always exceptions. If you suspect a problem take it to the dealer while it's still under warranty.
MM

[grwrockster]

FWIW - looking at the OP's pics, then that looks like scoring of the fork tube chrome, and getting deeper near the end of travel (top). If these were conventional forks, I'd be expecting premature fork seal failure and lots of fork oil heading for freedom. I'd also expect any replacement fork seals to quickly go the same way, unless the fork tube was changed also.

Why/how did this happen? Can only guess at a foreign body in the dust seal/oil seal perhaps? Why is the scoring looking deeper at the top? I don't know this one either, but could speculate that hitting a big bump could quickly compress the forks and also cause a little torsional flex in the tube/slider arrangement, which forced the grit (or whatever) harder into the hardened chrome surface at that point perhaps? Possibly undue and unwanted additional flex due to manufacturing/assembly tolerances is letting some fork legs flex more than others, leading to the marks shown in the pics?

Also, chrome varies in hardness - so the newer bikes may have 'softer' chrome finishing on the tubes so are more susceptible to damage from foreign bodies getting where you don't want them.

All unsubstantiated speculation on my part, and I only add these comments as food for thought - I admit I could be way off.

If the bike were older and the owner not too fussy, then perhaps the scoring and sharp spots that dig into the seals could be flattened with gentle use of very fine emery paper. On a new bike though I doubt anyone would want to try that (and it would be noticeable) - esp. if under warranty.

If the seals are changed and the weeps come back within a few hundred miles I'd guess that the only way to eliminate it would be to strip the fork and check the innards are all as they should be (bushes etc.) and swap out the tube for a new one.

The good news is that these aren't conventional forks....... so maybe it doesn't really matter if they weep a tiny bit?

Sorry if my post seems all doom and gloom - I don't normally bother you folks with the new-fangled 1200 stuff with my inane ramblings, but I read the post and got interested in what the answer might be. Who knows - I might end up with a 12 myself one day, and need to know the answer!

[dmcd]

Same on my 2011 after 190 miles of ownership, I'll see what its like before the first service.

[mikecampbell]

I have just got back form the dealer having enquired about the fact that both fork seals leak on my new R1200R Classic (1800km on the clock). They said that there was an internal document released stating that the forks are not being correctly washed during the assembly process resulting in excess oil getting past the fork dust cover when in use. They say the issue resolves itself. I have made them aware of this issue on my bike and if the issue does not come right on its own then they will address this! The thing is - how long will this take?