99 Bassa Fork Seals, advice sought...

[Michael_A]

Hi All,
The bug struck me again... got another one! A 99 Bassa, great shape, but has been sitting several years in a garage. Looks like the fork seals may have gone bad and are known aftermarket installed maybe 4+ years ago by the soon to be PO. No problem, I've probably done dozens of fork seals but not on a Guzzi. My plan is to leave the uppers in place and drop the lowers, clean, replace the seals. Reassemble. Where I am needing some guidance is the bit where fork oil needs to be added. This will entail removing the fork top caps, easy enough - I have big sockets and wrenches. But I am concerned about the adjusters on the caps and if any special accommodation needs to be made regarding them or is there another procedure I am unaware of that should be done. Do you remove them? Leave in place? Or ??? Again, this is not a full "strip and rebuild", and I do have a factory manual, but it's... well... yeah. I got a factory manual. Any tips or guidance would be appreciated! I am excited to be getting the bike and look forward to riding it, and intend to do a pretty thorough "recommissioning" rather than a restoration and the seals were identified as suspect early on. I recover the bike this weekend and will post pics, but for now am trying to get ahead of the game a bit!
Thank you!

[guzzisteve]

The adjusters are to be set to zero and no need to remove caps. Top has a small hole & screw w/oring on it, good enough to add oil. I use it. Easier than taking cap off. Drain is on bottom, may be last year for a drain plug.

To fill I use a bottle like a mustard or catsup bottle with a small tip.

[Perazzimx14]

Why not do it right and tanke the forks off the bike, drain, disassemble and clean them then install new seals and refill with fresh earl? As Ron Swanson says don't half ass two things, whole ass one thing!

[pehayes]

Top has a small hole & screw w/oring on it, good enough to add oil. I use it. Easier than taking cap off.

I do the same but use a horse sized hypo syringe to inject the oil into this hole.  I can't be successful adding all of the oil at once  as it overfills without draining down.  I have the bike on the centerstand, add some oil, grab the front brake and pump down on the front.  That helps to quickly suck the oil down into the lower section.  Rinse and repeat until specified quantity is in place.





It came with a sharp injection needle.  I ground that off square so that I wouldn't inadvertently inject myself with oil.  :-)

Patrick Hayes
Fremont CA

[Michael_A]

You guys are right! I'll pull them both and strip them down for a big cleanup. Fork seals... Was planning on ordering Harper's kit, out of stock! Any recommended alternatives?

[guzzisteve]

Here----------------

https://www.mgcycle.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=197_199&products_id=117

https://www.mgcycle.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=197_199&products_id=116

[marcmorrison]

Mike....hope you are making some progress on this particular project.  I see where our customary vendors are showing "not in stock" or "back ordered" (except MG Cycle doesn't indicate that is the case with them but maybe they aren't up to date on their website).  Anyway, don't know what all you intend to refurbish on the forks, but if you trust ebay, you might find at least the fork seals and wipers.  Other than giving the fork innards a good cleaning and some new fork oil, the seals and wipers were the only parts I replaced.  Good luck and enjoy!!

Just a sidenote observation on the forks....after my refurbish job on the forks and playing with the adjusters, I really couldn't detect a difference in rebound, but perhaps I was missing something??

[Michael_A]

Thanks All! Looks like there may be some pitting on the upper tubes. Might be higher than the seals at full compression, but I'm not sure. Will get it running and see where things are. If it is weepy, then I'll see about new tubes and do a full strip and rebuild. Oh the joys of old bikes....

[pehayes]

I don't know the part number right off.  IIRC, Triumph made a removable, plastic fork tube guard to keep rocks from hitting the tubes right above the sliders.  I have them on both of our 98EV which should be the same fork tube.  Can't find that part number in my records.  Maybe someone else knows.

Mine look exactly like this but my memory says they were Triumph parts.  Same-same.
https://traxxion.com/product/fork-guard-kit/

Patrick Hayes
Fremont CA

[Perazzimx14]

You can also search the internet for a 45mm x 55mm x11mm single lip end shaft seal and see if there are any cost effective alternatives.

All-Balls has 45 x 55 x 11 seals for about $12 a set.

Or you could get seal and wiper kits from Happy-Trails.com or a myriad of other places for less than $50