fork seals

[Trow]

Guys I need your expertise,

i have a 1990 CBR250 with leaky fork seals and my experience is not minimal but limited, I can pull the forks out but I need help changing the seals... I live in the north shore, if anyone would care to help that would be awsome!! I will feed you and send you off with a supply of beer

thanks guys

[Paul in NZ]

What state are the fork tubes in?

If they are damaged there is no much point in changing the seals..

Cheers

[Trow]

the tubes are fine, I think it's jst the fact the bike has been sitting up for a while then when I used it they burstdue to age, I kinda hope I can get away with changing the dust seals as their isn't much oil on the forks and it still feels quite firm

[Warr]

the tubes are fine, I think it's jst the fact the bike has been sitting up for a while then when I used it they burstdue to age, I kinda hope I can get away with changing the dust seals as their isn't much oil on the forks and it still feels quite firm

Changing the seals is easy with the right gear, spanners etc.
My advise is take them to a shop that knows what they are doing and have the gear.
You have already saved 1/2 your $'s by getting the forks out yourself.
I know for my forks you need some real long box spanner to allow them to come apart.
Take them to a shop for peace of mind.

[MOTOXXX]

yea dude. if they are usd forks take them to a shop. if your not sure take them to a shop anyway. ull be needing those front breaks

[loosebruce]

Hey bro, i'm doing mine on my gixxer 1000cc tomorrow, i'll be free in the weekend, as i'm sooo freakin poor i cant ride. So if you wanna bowl over to my place at some stage, i'll do it for ya. PM me if ya keen.

[loosebruce]

the tubes are fine, I think it's jst the fact the bike has been sitting up for a while then when I used it they burstdue to age, I kinda hope I can get away with changing the dust seals as their isn't much oil on the forks and it still feels quite firm

Oh yeah and dust seals dont do a hell of a lot to keeping oil in, if it's leaking it's the internal seals, the internal seals will last longer if the dust seals are intact and in good nick, as long as the stancihon (sliding tube thingee, speeling not the best) is nick and rust free the new seals should last a while. I'm only doing the fork seals on mine. Mainly cause it's all i can afford.

If anything you could get away without doing the dust seals, depends though on how bad the oil is leaking out, one of mine is fully shot and the oil drips off the fork legs once i've stopped, doh.

If you do need a special spanner to drop the sliders out i'm can get hold of it pretty easy.

[Sniper]

Hmmm, so bren's idea of hacking them out with a screwdriver is a bad idea?

[Pancakes]

I did the seals on my GN the other week and its sooooo much better now. You can get them out with a screw driver if you like but the easiest way is to undo the bottom bolt, drain the oil and use the slider like a slide hammer to knock them out (keep it straight and square when you do). The forks being stiff when you lean on them is the springs not the dampening which is what the oil does so doesn't really mean much. You'll need to find out what weight and volume of oil to put back in once your done and there is a real knack to getting it in the fork not everywhere else. Doing your own work is pretty rewarding, you'll save money but spend time. Fun though, 1/2 the reason I like machines is pottering around. I'm away this weekend but if you want a hand PM me and we'll suss a time out (LooseBruce would have way more experience than me here so if your free when he is head west). Craig Brown at Colemans was reccommended to me as someone who can tell you the right weight and volume for you to use. I found the total cost of parts was about 1/2 the cost of the job (about $65 bucks compared to a quote of $120 for the shop to do it) and spent 3-4 hrs teaching myself how to do it. Oh, keep the old seals once you've removed them as they are good for placing over the new ones when your tapping them in so the new ones don't get damaged.