Crack in front fork leg

Hi Guys,

I was replacing my front wheel while i discovered a tiny crack in my right front fork leg (see picture).
How the frikkin' hell is this possible?! Anyone ever encountered this with WP suspension??

My "man eyes" are failing me here: I'll assume that you don't mean the vertical casting seam ... I'm just not seeing it - maybe you could use Adobe or whatever to put an arrow pointing to where it is.

Regardless, I have no experience with this having occurred ...

It's only a hairline crack but I certainly wouldn't ride it until it's been checked out by someone in the know...

Sorry bud can't see it neither.
It helps to give it a proper wipe first and point at the crack while taking the pic.
Anyway never came across it or heard of it before.

It is indeed a very thin hairline crack, but the thing that worries me is that it coveres the aluminium piece from top to bottom.
I can barely feel it, but its looks unsafe.

Very deceiving as it is just on the casting rib. If it is a hairline crack it didn't appeared out of nowhere and it should not be there.
I suggest getting it inspected by a good mechanic who knows suspension.

i would be putting that in a van and taking it to a suspension expert to have the lower end of that fork replaced - do not under any circumstances ride it, unless you have a death wish and your teeth/face are stronger than tarmac….

….Where are you based in the world?

I'm from Belgium, i think i'll put a new fork in it before ever riding again, it looks dangerous indeed...
Problem is i planned a 2 week trip in the Alpes starting this saturday... This really comes at a bad moment

Nobody remembers a coward

No seriously, if it where a crack, wouldn't there be oil leaking out?

Well, the aluminium part does not contain oil i think, its the chrome tube that holds the oil.
The only function of the aluminium part is holding the front axle and fender.

Maby it's just a surface crack, created by too heavely torqued screws in the fork ... Long live tyre changing shops that have no knowledge of motorcycles at all

Correct me if i'm wrong though

Is it actually a crack or is it just casting flash?

Take a dremel or grinder with sanding disc and grind down a small area. If the mark remains it's a crack, if it disappears it'll be flash.

I know it doesn't contain any oil but the fork leg is hollow with no real bottom other then the aluminium part, if it where a crack all way through I believe it would leak.
I don't understand why the part that just holds the fender would crack, I believe it's a manufacturing fault if its a crack.
If you are going to replace it anyway you can file down the casting seam to see how deep the crack is.

I took some high res pics of mine for you...Looks to just be left over from casting. The outside edge of the mold looks to be "finished" while the casting edge on the inside is rough.

Nice one Aphex, thanks!

Now i can feel confident again to start my 2 week trip in France on my lovely SD!