Need to replace the oil seals CX500C

for those of you that have M.B.S. (multiple bike syndrome) and have the "silver wing" models.
as our sponsors also have supplies for those bikes and they are popular with the "wing" crowd.

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eej1940
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Need to replace the oil seals CX500C

#1

Post by eej1940 »

I have been told that replacing the oil seals in the forks of my 1980 CX500C is very difficult and should be performed by a pro. I just did a complete disassemble, cleaning, and rebuilding of the carbs and it is running great. Do you think the fork seals are too much for me. Please give me your opinion. Thanks, Ed (rebuilding my 1980 CX500C which has been sitting since 1991.
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sunnbobb
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Re: Need to replace the oil seals CX500C

#2

Post by sunnbobb »

Forks are no big deal compared to a carb! Just make sure you have polished your fork tubes so they have no knicks to cause your new seal to fail.
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Sidecar Bob
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Re: Need to replace the oil seals CX500C

#3

Post by Sidecar Bob »

Who told you forks were hard to do? Like Bobb said, its much easier than carbs.

The procedure for changing the seals is in all of the shop manuals. While you are at it you should clean the forks and replace the fluid. Here's how I do it (NOTE: This applies to most bikes) http://choppercharles.com/cs/forums/28479/ShowPost.aspx

Re fluid: The book calls for ATF but that never seemed like the best idea to me because you have no control over what viscosity you get. My first bike's manual ('78 Suzuki) recommended 50/50 ATF & 10W40. This sounded much better to me so I have used this sort of mixture in all of the late '70s to early '80s Hondas I have worked on. I generally use ATF & the same 10W40 I use in the engine in the summer bike and ATF & 5W30 in the winter bike (I use 10W40 in its engine too, but I have 5W30 for the snow blower).

Many will recommend proprietary fork oil. I tried Bel-Ray fork oil once but I couldn't tell the difference. I think you will notice more difference from having the right ammount of fresh fluid than you would from different types of fluid.
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Re: Need to replace the oil seals CX500C

#4

Post by Rat »

This is one time I would go with OEM seals.

The aftermarket ones seem to be shorter lived.

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Re: Need to replace the oil seals CX500C

#5

Post by Sidecar Bob »

I have used both over the years. These days I get OEM if I need to replace the dust seals too (Honda sells them as a kit for the 'Wing) but I usually get aftermarket if I just need the oil seals and I am somewhere that has them in stock.

Honda seals are not too badly priced so you won't save a lot buying aftermarket. It was different when I had Suzukis. For some reason they used to charge almost twice the price of quality aftermarket ones.
Mr. Honda ('83 GL1100/Dnepr) summer How a motorcycle evolves thread
The Famous Eccles ('84 CX650EI/VeloUral) winter Never Ending Build (CX500forum)
Click: Colour schematics for all GL1000 & GL1100 and GL1200 standard models plus instructions on how to download the full size version
"A guy with two sidecars can't be all bad." - Cookie
Another guy with two sidecars..... Hmmmm... must be something to that....
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