Cost to replace fork seals st1300

First recommendation: make sure you get the shop to use OEM fork seals. They are twice the price (at least) of All Balls and others, but you will see on this forum that people have much better luck with OEM. I replaced mine myself last year using OEM parts which were expensive ($130 CAD if I remember correctly).

If you are having the work done, I would recommend replacing the fork bushings as well given yours are 15 years old. They are relatively inexpensive and won’t add to the labour charge. Not sure if OEM are as critical here.
 
SEAL SET, FR. FORK (2ea)
51490-MCA-003
Retail Price: $34.65
Your Price: $25.73

BUSH, GUIDE (2ea)
51414-MCH-003
Retail Price: $10.11
Your Price: $7.51

BOLT, SOCKET (8MM) (2ea)
90117-MCS-G01
Retail Price: $2.89
Your Price: $2.15

WASHER, SPECIAL (8MM) (2ea)
90544-283-000
Retail Price: $2.27
Your Price: $1.69

BUSH, SLIDER (2ea)
51415-MCS-G01
Retail Price: $5.25
Your Price: $3.90

O-RING (37.2X2.4) (SHOWA) (2ea)
91356-MW0-003
Retail Price: $2.29
Your Price: $1.70

These are the parts you will need. These are off the RonAyers.com parts diagram, and show Honda Retail and their discount (and its close by where you live).
Michael did a fantastic wright up on how to rebuild the forks in the Article section of this forum.
You'll only need basic tools: 8,10,12,14 mm sockets/wrenches, 5mm,6mm allen sockets, 17mm allen key or socket for the upper cap, a Honda Service Manual, and some fork oil.
If you don't want to purchase the over priced Honda brand fork oil, a Quart of Bel Ray 10 weight will be fine.
If you feel comfortable removing the front wheel, the forks are pretty easy to rebuild.
A piece of PVC pipe will work as a fork seal driver (see Michael's write up)
Hope this helps.
 
Thanks Larry and Eric. I am somewhat mechamically proficient and do most of my own work on the standard stuff. I've never done forks before and am a little intimidated. Don't want to screw it up and then have to get it redone. I'll read through the instructions and see if I feel up to it or not. Would you recommend Progressive fork springs while it's already apart?
 
Since you are mechanically proficient, I would do them yourself. I did mine about 2 years ago and it was easy changed everything in the list, the bushing were still good with some wear, but changed them anyways. It will take less than a day and it is a great way to bond with your bike. Got to give love to your bike and your bike will love you back.....
 
CUTiger said:
Thanks Larry and Eric. I am somewhat mechamically proficient and do most of my own work on the standard stuff. I've never done forks before and am a little intimidated. Don't want to screw it up and then have to get it redone. I'll read through the instructions and see if I feel up to it or not. Would you recommend Progressive fork springs while it's already apart?
Click to expand...
If you want an improvement from factory, without spending a lot of money, I would suggest sonic 1.1 springs, 130 mm schedule 40 PVC spacers, and 7 weight oil 125 mm from the top when compressed.
I'm standing by the :WCP1: if you need to reach out for help.
 
There's a few "traps for young players" in fork disassembly.
The socket bolt can be a bear to remove; access to a rattle gun is the answer.
The seal itself can be difficult to shift, you will be using the fork stanchion as a slide hammer to drive it out. I've had to heat the fork leg to persuade this to move in the past. On my old ST1100 (which was probably on its original seals and 28 years old) this also caused some damage to the bushings which needed to be replaced. There are some sneaky hydraulic methods online (fill the forks completely with any oil, seal them then compress the leg using a hydraulic jack).
Take some time to re-prime the cartridge with oil and displace the air; it will happen easily in use, but if you don't do it the oil level can't be reliably set.

An option to keep the cost down would be to take the bare fork legs to the shop and let them do the fun stuff.
 
I did mine myself 2 years ago , first time , was glad I did - not paying someone else extravagant money just for that ! You also get stuff cleaned up that wouldn't happen with somebody else doing it , , because in Michigan - they don't care what they do ! - ( observations for 24 years )
 
Last edited:
You can use a plastic drain tailpiece for a bathroom sink (1 1/4") for the spacer. A long one will cost a buck and change at Hopot. One will do several forks and its easy to cut.
 
OP, if you are thinking of a spring upgrade, check out Racetech, sonic or other spring suppliers and use their online spring calculator to get springs that suit your weight. The proper springs will make a big difference, as will the wrong ones (just in the wrong way). The recommendation made in post #8 are some stiff springs and unless you are a bigger person and/or ride 2-up, you may be wasting your money.
 
If you just want to make the leak stop, the first thing to do is see if the Sealmate (or some homemade version of it) will help. I've had 3 leaks on my forks that were fixed with the Sealmate (google is your friend).

At around 135k miles last year, I decided to replace my fork seals, along with all the bushings, etc. Not a difficult job at all. I used PVC pipe to make the little seal driver tool, though I had to get a little creative to make it work. I used the All Balls seals and they worked fine.

I did have one problem though. A ridge had developed on one of the fork tubes, right where the seam of the top bushing was. I tried to reduce the height of the ridge before reassembly, but it leaked afterwards (as I expected). So I ended up replacing that tube, which drove up the price of the project. Funny - the old seal probably deformed over time as the ridge developed, so no leaking.

This bike is so reliable, I've been doing proactive things the last few years (like all of the coolant hoses the year before). After replacing the seals last summer, without thinking twice, I hopped on the bike and rode from Ohio to northern California, then up into Washington before returning home.
 
I've tried the Seal mate several times with no positive results. I've used that before with a couple of bikes and it did work, but alas, not this time.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom