Questions after NCT fail

Ardennes1944

Bike went through its MFK (NCT equivalent in Switzerland) and failed on fork seals and the front wheel being too sticky.

I have ran around the seal with a sealmate which removed quite a bit of dirt and grime, and the forks are drier now. My question is, how much residue if any should be on the forks?
Right now if I run my finger over the fork I cant see any at all on my finger, now does it feel oily, but I can see where the fork has gone through the seal after I wipe it clean due to having a slightly duller look, is this normal??


The front wheel was very sticky after changing from disc and pads. When I change pads on a car I usually leave the top off the brake reservoir, I didnt do that on the bike. It has loosened out since a bit but the disc was still very warm today after a 25min ride, can I leave some pressure out of the system without having to bleed?

Thanks for any help.

Del2005

If the seal is gone in the forks then you need to replace the seal not a temporary bodge, there should be zero oil on a properly sealed fork leg.

Replacing brakes can be different depending on the bike. You'll need to Google or YouTube your bike for instructions.

CJhaughey

I wouldn't worry too much about the seal just yet, as long as the fork itself is not running with oil its probably OK for the moment.
The brakes are probably sticking because you pushed the dirty piston back in and that or the slider pins are sticking.
Pull the caliper carrier off and inspect the pins, clean and regrease with some Motorex Fett 2000 grease. Thats rubber safe stuff and should be easily available to you.
Make sure the piston is cleaned off as well pump it out and use a rag to clean the piston so its spotless.
When you push the piston back in, undo the caliper bleed screw and let the old fluid run out, that usually has a high concentration of dirt in it.
Top up at the reservoir with fresh fluid when its all back in and pumped up.

Ardennes1944

Thanks for the replies. There is pretty much no oil coming from the seals now, as I said, just an ever so light film that is not even noticeable from running a finger over.

I have a feeling a will need to take apart the caliper alright, my main worry was having to bleed brakes as I dont have good experience with doing that on cars
Ill take it apart this week thanks.

Del2005

Ardennes1944 wrote: »

Thanks for the replies. There is pretty much no oil coming from the seals now, as I said, just an ever so light film that is not even noticeable from running a finger over.

I have a feeling a will need to take apart the caliper alright, my main worry was having to bleed brakes as I dont have good experience with doing that on cars
Ill take it apart this week thanks.

If you are not good at bleeding brakes pay someone to do it, they are critical for your safety and you don't want to find you made a mistake when you really need them. Ask the person to show you how they do it.

Ardennes1944

Del2005 wrote: »

If you are not good at bleeding brakes pay someone to do it, they are critical for your safety and you don't want to find you made a mistake when you really need them. Ask the person to show you how they do it.

When have I said I was going to bleed the brakes? I said I had a bad experience before with bleeding the brakes, i did not say I didnt know how to do them or that it was a dangerous job.