The Solution
Seal Savers are Lycra booties that wrap around the inner and outer fork tubes.
They're designed to keep out the crud. I've been using these on the last three bikes
I've owned, including my '99 KTM 300EXC with conventional forks.
On my '99 EXC, I decided to combine the booties with fork boots as a last-ditch
effort to never again have leaky fork seals. The booties go on first, and then the
challenge is to get the rubber fork boots expanded around the booties. Not an easy
task, but three hands and a couple sets of needle nose pliers make the job much
more tolerable. I put these on in April 2001 and didn't have a seal leak for the rest
of the time I owned the bike (sold it in May 2003). The Seal Savers allow some junk
to get past the rubber fork boots (via holes from rocks, sticks, crashes, etc.) without
letting the seals get dirty.
On my '02 KTM 300MXC and '03 Kawasaki KX250, fork booties are pretty much the
only solution. The good thing about upside-down forks are than the water and crud
tends to flow away from the seals, as opposed to conventional forks where all the
junk slides down the tubes and comes to rest on the seals.
Here's an easier tip that might also help. The round springs on the fork and dust
seals can be shortened, i.e. the diameter made smaller, to make the seals tighter
around the fork tubes. Look closely at the springs and you'll see where the ends are
connected. The ends screw in together, so they can be unscrewed and separated.
Cut off a few millimeters of the "female" end, screw the ends back together, put the
spring back on the seal, and you've now got a tighter seal.
