Blown air seals on forks

[Threebeards]

Hi All
I've just taken delivery of progressive springs for my 88 and I'm fairly sure the air seals are blown. I've noticed a lot of you run with no air anyway, BUT is the air damping integral to the rest of the forks operation?
In other words if I don't fix the seals will it matter?
Thanks in advance for any help.
Threebeards.

 

[Redbone]

I keep the air drained on my early forks which has had no effect. Just to be sure are you talking about the air seals at the top of the triple trees? If your talking about where the fork lowers meet the smaller diameter upper fork tubes then those seals are extremely important! Besides all the oil that will leak over everything it will affect your fork dampening, less at the start but will quickly evolve into a spring only suspension...boing boing boing down the road you'll go. So I guess I'm saying to fix the forks, not very difficult to do.

 

[DMAN999]

^ Agreed Fork Oil Seals are VERY important, if you're installing Progressive springs you should replace them while you're working on the forks anyways.

 

[Threebeards]

Hey
Thanks for the reply, that's a big yes on the air seals at the triple tree. I can only imagine the mess of riding with no fork seals whatsoever
I'm just about to buy the new fork seals and retainer clips, for the business end of the forks online, and I'm hoping to save myself the cost of the air seal o'rings if I don't need them.
To put it another way if the air seals are blown does it affect anything OTHER than the air damping?
I hope this makes sense, I feel my ambiguphobia kicking in

 

[DMAN999]

I don't think those O-rings on the forks caps should really matter much if you are going to run the forks without air.
Personally I'd probably replace them if mine were bad, just because they are only about $3 a piece for my 2000 Vmax:
http://www.boats.net/parts/detail/yamaha/Y-4V4-23188-L0-00.html
It looks like they are $3.81 each for your 88:
http://www.boats.net/parts/detail/yamaha/Y-26H-23147-00-00.html
http://www.boats.net/parts/search/Yamaha/Motorcycle/1988/V-MAX%201200%20-%20VMX12U/FRONT%20FORK/parts.html

I have Progressive Springs with 15 wt. Maxima Racing fork fluid in my forks and I don't run any air at all.
I'm very happy with this setup, the bike feels better in the corners, brake dive is all but eliminated and I can actually see out of my mirrors at highway speeds now.
I weigh about 180 lbs., I know a lot of the heavier guys like to use 20 wt. fork fluid though.

 

[dannymax]

Don't need any fork air with Progressive springs.

 

[m-cman]

I highly recommend OEM fork seals.

 

[Threebeards]

Thanks for the feedback everyone, being able to see whats in the mirrors above 20mph is a luxury I never considered. I shall replace the O rings anyway and have a poke around to see if the air dampeners are indeed independent of the physical.
Dman thanks for the links, the parts I was referring to are actually labeled as 50 (4 required) these are a bit more costly, I didn't even notice part 12.
Grateful for whatever you guys can teach me.
Cheers.

 

[dannymax]

Threebeards, are you planning on doing a complete flush and rebuild? Not a bad idea on older bikes as a fair amount of sludge will build up in the fork bottoms.

If you are then there are some other parts you should get and a few other tips to pass on.

 

[HyperPete]

Good morning Threebeards / Mouse.

I just did my fork seals - very easy. Here's a how-to, and I'll try to find the videos by Sean Morley I referenced to do mine. They make it incredibly easy!

http://www.vmaxforum.net/faq.php?faq=vmax_tech_faq_1#faq_front_forks

 

[HyperPete]

Here is the disassembly video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWjsB0eHcFo

Here is the reassembly video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKKdbwMQ5fY

 

[DMAN999]

 

[Threebeards]

Hi Danny max and Hyper pete yes I am doing a complete rebuild so would appreciate the tips and am grateful for the how to.
Cheers
Threebeards.

 

[dannymax]

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