Are these e-bay fork seals any good?

[Mandres]

Anyone have experience with the "Pyramid" brand fork seals:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Suzuki-GS500-E-GS-500-E-1989-to-2000-New-FORK-SEALS_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ35592QQihZ017QQitemZ270029252426QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWD1V

Seller claims they're "OEM quality natural rubber" and not silicone.  I think I'm going to grab a pair unless someone tells me they're not any good. 

Thanks

[Chuck]

Good question.  You're not saving too too much over OEM seals.  They're ~$18/pair if you get 'em locally.  (Online you'd pay shipping of course.)  I assume your dust seals are ok...

But if no one answers and they work out for you, be sure to let us know. 

[Janx101]

bahahahahahah.. zombie thread!!!!! 

i would now say ... maybe not any good.... i used them .. and the left one is leaking... but it was the one that was leaking before...

so apart from the seal... whether OEM or pyramid parts .. what else makes the leaky seal situ ??.. over fill oil? .. bad bottom bushing?... bad top bushing? .. .is there another gasket/o-ring of copper or rubber that acts as crush washer or something? ... scoring on the chrome slidey piston bit? .. although it looks very blemish free!?

there is enough oil weeping out over the dust boot to ooze down the leg and make it dirty but its not dribbling/running out..

got myself a fork brace from reload now (THANKS BRO!) .. its purty! ..

got a pair of .95 sonics coming from santa ..

gotta get (i think) another set of seals .. cos even though the right one is not leaking, the oil on the slide bit above the right wiper/dustboot is there more than before! so i think i want oem anyway ..

i have mentioned a few times with my fat ass/overall weight 140kg+ when geared up ... i have thought that as the oem springs are so soft and under a heavy braking moment or a pothole situation or into my driveway the forks 'just' bottom out .. does this bottoming out also cause oil to be forced past the seals?... or maybe enough 'flex' in the shaft and components would distort the seal/piston/tube faces enough to squeeze some out?....

oh and one other thing... i will definately order the OEM seals online/overseas .. unless i can find them in AUssieland online for a reasonable price ... the local 'stealer' wants $132 AU for a pair!!!!!!!!! 

[RichDesmond]

Fork seals typically leak because of nicks and dings in the fork tube chrome. Caused by rocks, sand, gravel and other crap kicked up by traffic ahead of you. The nicks have sharp edges that tear up the sealing surface of the fork seals.
These nicks can be really small (damn near invisible) and still mess up your seals. The solution is to take some extra fine steel wool and buff the surface of the tube. Important to remember that you're just trying to knock the sharp edges off, if you try to make the pits disappear you may go right through the chrome.
If you just replace the seals but don't buff the tubes the odds are good that the new seals will leak in short order.

Bottoming the forks won't in and of itself cause the forks to leak (unless the tubes are overfilled) but if the forks are already "leaky" bottoming will pump more oil out.

FWIW, I've had the best luck with OEM seals.

[Janx101]

The mate that did the pyramid seals last time is a mechanic .. And he did buff some rust pits (minor) out with steel wool .. All the the chrome is still there but I think just the seals were dodgy .. They looked different from oem ones too ..

And ha! Looked at bike bandit dot com ... $17 each for seals .. But bloody 79 for shipping! .. Pirates!

[Janx101]

Which provokes another thought .. Do bike bandit do counter sales? .. And if so can a US member buy some and post them over? .. PayPal funded of course!