I bought a used mountain bike and went to service the forks, which had been neglected for a while. The dust wiper seals would not budge, so after some searching online I came across advice to bring a pot of water to boil, turn off the heat, and submerge the lowers in the hot water for 15 minutes. This absolutely worked, and the seals popped out with very little force, but after everything dried out, I've been left with discoloration on the lowers where they were submerged in the water. Has anyone run into this before or have any advice on how to restore the finish?
by ballardist
15 Comments
Here to ask the real question: so how long do you have to boil these lowers in order to get them to a perfect *al dente*?
I’d try a paint polish like something for a car.
you got hard water
Wipe with vinegar? Could be minerals from the water.
Any silicon based detailing spray or ‘engine brightener’ spray will work. I use Penrite MC ultimate shine on my black motorcycle fork legs. Makes them look brand new.
You got very bad advice…
probably annihilated the clear coat, I would see if there’s some kind of car paint restoring product at an automotive store that could possibly bring it back to life.
Next time use a heat gun. Way more faster and easier. Just don’t get it too hot.
Seems like a good opportunity to desticker, sand, and paint them.
Maxima makes a product called SC1. Its does a pretty good job bringing the shine back to discolored form lowers.
Normally I put spoons into boiling water, not forks.
I wonder if car plastic restoration liquids would work
Boil the whole thing.
You need really good leverage and these things pop off. Long flat head screwdriver with shop towel worked for me. I was trying other plastic scrapers, smaller screwdrivers and I felt like I was wrenching the hell out of it. Picked up a long one and presto.
Interesting. Haven’t tried cooking wiper seals out of forks but I’ll remember that. I’d try cleaning with 99% ipa and see if it is a surface contamination thing with water getting trapped in the outer paint layer and if that doesn’t work maybe a polishing compound to cut through discolored section. When all of that fails boil the rest to match. I’d love to know if you find a good solution.
Well you’re halfway there to prepping them for repainting