Leaking forks when bikes hung up

[W7Ford]

Hello all,

I've got a problem with a bunch of my bikes, on the majority of my 10+ bikes, the fork seals are now leaking. I've been storing them hung against the inside wall of my shed with the front wheel at the top. Has anyone else come across this and got any tips to overcome it? Some forks are admittedly old, but a couple have been serviced in the last few years and have new seals. they havent been ridden very much since. Unfortunately I don't have the space to store them on the level.

Pic to demonstate method of hanging:

 

[Tsundere]

It might be that gravity is helping the oil to find a weak spot in the forks design. Bikes are meant to spend their time in a wheel down orientation, forks are probably designed with that in mind.

Could you not change the way you store them, perhaps having one over the other? It would require only slightly more wall space but would reduce the amount of floor space taken up.

 

[d8mok]

Hello all,

I've got a problem with a bunch of my bikes, on the majority of my 10+ bikes, the fork seals are now leaking. I've been storing them hung against the inside wall of my shed with the front wheel at the top. Has anyone else come across this and got any tips to overcome it? Some forks are admittedly old, but a couple have been serviced in the last few years and have new seals. they havent been ridden very much since. Unfortunately I don't have the space to store them on the level.

Pic to demonstate method of hanging:

View attachment 1002510

Hang them from the rear wheel. I have this issue on one bike and i simply do this

 

[W7Ford]

It might be that gravity is helping the oil to find a weak spot in the forks design. Bikes are meant to spend their time in a wheel down orientation, forks are probably designed with that in mind.

Could you not change the way you store them, perhaps having one over the other? It would require only slightly more wall space but would reduce the amount of floor space taken up.

Thanks, space is tight, they are all a bit squished in with the bars turned sideways, I dont think without making some sort of sophisticated sliding rack, I'd manage to get them all in if not vertical.

Hang them from the rear wheel. I have this issue on one bike and i simply do this

Thanks, I'll give it a go, simple solutions are the best! I was keeping one bike on the ground in the space behind the rear wheels which might need a bit of adjustment as the bars stick out further, but im sure i could hang that one off a couple of hooks instead.

 

[hamster]

Hang them from the rear wheel. I have this issue on one bike and i simply do this

Me too, the oil then stays in the bottom of the fork.