Fork seal leak

[the Ferret]

Jim, a bikes front end is held up by the springs, so it won't collapse. Loss of oil changes the damping on the bike, and a leaking fork seal generally makes a mess of the right fork leg. When the front end is compressed the oil is forced thru tiny holes in the damper rod, as the fork decompresses the oil is drained back thru the holes in the damper rod. I believe I am explaining that right. The spring and air inside the tube controls the compression and the amount of oil, the weight of the oil, and the size and number of holes in the damper rod control the damping.

I'm sure someone much smarter and an engineering background will be along to correct me shortly lol.

Here ya go, found this which may explain everything better than I did

http://racetech.com/HTML_FILES/DampingRodForks.HTML