Sand in front fork bottom ball bearings
I recently purchased a late 80s Miatat 310. I have been riding the Lake Shore trail here in chicago and occasionally come accross small patches of sand.
After about five rides or so the headset started to sease and became hard to turn.
I took the fork off and noticed that the bottom ball bearings are packed with sand. I cleaned them off and placed in the wd-40 bath. Also cleaned out the inside of the fork.
I am ready to pack them with grease and reinstall the fork back on the bike, but would like to take some kind of measure to prevent this from happening again.
Have anyone else ran into a similare issue and/or has any tested ways of sealing the ball bearings?
Thank you,