Wr250r fork seals

[dan2929]

Hi, my bike has about 3000 mile on in a little over a year. Has anyone had forks leaking in that amount of time? I do ride in the winter. Seems to have started after the last ride in the the snow.

[Jens Eskildsen]

It depends on so many things, so although 3000 miles is low, its not all that uncommon.

[DPete]

Look on youtube about cleaning fork seals, it works for me most of the time

[asphaltaddict33]

One of mine was lightly weeping this spring at 5000 miles on a 2012. I didnt try a seal saver as the forks were already scheduled for a revalving service

[Yamaguy55]

I have noticed that the left side appears to start leaking before the right. Probably due to the disk and abbreviated fork guard on that side. I used 600 wet or dry auto body paper and polished up both fork legs while apart. Don’t grind off chrome. 

 

i redid mine with the SKF seals and BelRay 5wt oil at 110 mm. When you do this, and I am assuming that you will be doing this, remember to carefully torque the triple clamps. Otherwise you crash the upper tubes and then they are just aluminum scrap. Also leave the axle clamp bolts loose after assembly, and hold the brake and pump the front end up and down several times. This makes the lower forks find their own center. Then torque the axle clamp bolts.

Clean everything really well. Pump the cartridge until no more air bubbles after filling with fork oil. Then measure.

If the bushings look scored, change them out. You should use a seal driver to do it right. Mine is a motion pro, which works fine.
 

Also: while forks are off, it is a good time to check and refresh steering head bearing lube. Don’t let brake caliper hang from hose, use something to support it. I used some nylon line. It is also a great time to check the brakes and caliper. I’m sort of a one and done guy: go do everything while I’m there and then not have to mess with it again for quite a while. The stock seal and bushing kit from RMATVMC is very reasonable priced, 30-40 bucks last time I looked. The factory 01 oil requires two containers. It is KYB and the KYB containers are cheaper than the Yamalube containers, although the exact same thing. 

 

Take your time and don’t overtighten stuff, which is the usual thing. All bolt threads need to be clean for correct torque readings. I forget if the manual says dry or lubed, look it up.

Edited August 27, 2020 by Yamaguy55