fork oil leak

[RonWhitm]

Hi folks, haven't posted in a while but need some advice now. I recently noticed one of my fork tubes is leaking oil. I checked out the manual and I suspect this repair is not a project I want to mess with, for several reasons. Has anyone here ever disassembled and reassembled their forks to change oil, seals, etc.? It looks like a special tools and equipment project and might best be left to the pros. Any ideas on the approximate cost if I take it to a shop?
Any and all comments appreciated.
Ron

[Water Warrior 2]

Just my opinion. Take the forks to some one who does it for a living. Once took forks to a dealer and had new seals installed. Put the forks back on the bike and happily road away.

[Badbob]

I've never done this myself. Never had to. However, my daughter does hers and they are bit more complicated that a GZ250.

[RonWhitm]

I stopped in at the nearest Suzuki service dealer today to inquire about my fork issue. They were somewhat helpful and encouraging. I could tell they don't deal much with little bikes however. The man I spoke with looked at the bike and was surprised there was no drain plug for the fork oil. He did mention he had seen much worse that were still on the road. BTW if anyone is interested, the going rate for labor at that shop in League City, TX is $75/hr + parts, etc. Makes me want to rethink doing it myself. I did get some good free advice though.

[xt477]

" I did get some good free advice though"

Like?

[johncruise]

BTW if anyone is interested, the going rate for labor at that shop in League City, TX is $75/hr + parts, etc. Makes me want to rethink doing it myself. I did get some good free advice though.

Still cheaper there. Down here in Sunnyvale/Santa Clara California... it's around $85+ (GP Sport, Bike World, and Santa Clara Cycle).

[RonWhitm]

The free advice, not much really, was that adding small amounts of oil to replace what was lost could delay my having to pull the fork and do a major overhaul. I was also told that as long as I didn't notice any uneven travel in the suspension, the dampers were still working and no damage has occurred. I bought a heavier oil to use, hoping the leak will stop or slow done, until I can do a proper repair.

[anjames]

I have the same problem with a GZ250 I've been nursing back to running condition, and bought new fork seals and wipers to replace the old ones.

There is also a small copper gasket at the bottom bolt which I'll have to pick up, but the really frustrating thing just now is that there is some sort of special tool which I don't think the service manual mentions for the step 'Remove the inner tube from the outer tube'. It looks like there's some sort of locking piece at the bottom of the tube which needs to be removed before you can separate the inner and outer tubes... or maybe I'm just being a sissy and need to muscle them apart... but I'm not really in the mood to buy new forks if I destroy the old ones so I was wondering if anyone has experience with this bit?

[anjames]

Nevermind. No special parts needed, just some caveman action. You basically have to sort of ram the inner and outer tubes apart numerous times which gradually will work out the fork seal, then the whole thing will separate easily. Der.

[spicciani]

I have replaced the seals and oil on ninja 250 forks it was a trip but really its not that hard. The the problems i ran into is that im weak and you had to pull them apart pretty hard , but it came apart . and i had to buy pvc pipe to use in place of the special tool to get the fork seals back in.

is crapy seals pretty common on the gz250 i just bought one yesterday and it looks like the need to be replaced

[alanmcorcoran]

Don't think that they are "common" (mine are fine after two plus years) but many of the bikes on here are more than a few years old and it's probably something that occurs more often on the older bikes.

[Easy Rider]

is crapy seals pretty common on the gz250 i just bought one yesterday and it looks like the need to be replaced

We haven't heard much about it here.
Not keeping the fork tubes clean can make them fail faster.

[spicciani]

ok so i've bought the seals on ebay and oil . have ethier of you guys been able to replace them . and whats this copper gasket you speak of

[Water Warrior 2]

ok so i've bought the seals on ebay and oil . have ethier of you guys been able to replace them . and whats this copper gasket you speak of
Exactly that. A copper gasket. The old gaskets may be deformed so new would be the way to go.

[blaine]

The copper gasket is under the bolt on the bottom of the shock,and should be replaced to prevent leakage.It is similar to the copper gasket used on brakes.
:cool: :)

[cayuse]

Help! I'm in the middle of tearing down my forks and I've got a puzzle. I'm trying to get the bottom bolt out (the one with the copper gasket) and it's just spinning. Looking down the inner tube I can see the damper rod spinning with it. How do you get this out?

I've got this situation on both forks. On the first one I was able to get the seal out but I'm wondering if leaving the damper rod in place is not correct and impeding removal of the seal.

Any insights??

[blaine]

Help! I'm in the middle of tearing down my forks and I've got a puzzle. I'm trying to get the bottom bolt out (the one with the copper gasket) and it's just spinning. Looking down the inner tube I can see the damper rod spinning with it. How do you get this out?

I've got this situation on both forks. On the first one I was able to get the seal out but I'm wondering if leaving the damper rod in place is not correct and impeding removal of the seal.

Any insights??
you need to loosen the bottom bolt first,before disassemble, so the rod can't spin.
:) :cool:

[cayuse]

Thanks Blaine! That's easy.

[cayuse]

I'm in trouble again, Blaine. I put the fork back together and this put some pressure on the rod, and the bolt is harder to turn, but it still spins. I can put more pressure on the rod if I find a way to compress the fork and hold it there while I try to turn the screw.... Or, I can take the spring out again and press a dowel down there onto the rod to try to hold it, but having never seen these parts I don't know what I'm going to damage.... Any ideas?

[blaine]

I'm in trouble again, Blaine. I put the fork back together and this put some pressure on the rod, and the bolt is harder to turn, but it still spins. I can put more pressure on the rod if I find a way to compress the fork and hold it there while I try to turn the screw.... Or, I can take the spring out again and press a dowel down there onto the rod to try to hold it, but having never seen these parts I don't know what I'm going to damage.... Any ideas?
You may need to give it a good "snap" to get it to loosen,rather than steady pressure.If they are that tight a impact gun or air ratchet will save you a lot of grief.The last thing you want is to strip the heads of the bolt.Hope this helps.
:) :cool:

[cayuse]

I see what you mean.
First, though, I have to somehow secure the rod so it doesn't turn.
Do you remember what this damper rod looks like once it's out? There's supposed to be a damper rod "ring" near the top. I'm wondering if I jam something down there like a broomstick and hold it there under pressure with a pipe clamp, will I be damaging this ring? If it's only spring pressure that's supposed to stop this rod from spinning so you can tighten up the bolt during re-assembly I'm starting to think the last guy put this together with loc-tite. :??:
It's maddening to get this close on a relatively simple job and have to give it up to the local MC shop. :mad:

[blaine]

I can't remember what the top of the rod looks like.I did not have that kind of problem removing the damping rod bolt, but I have a impact gun.I don't see any problem with your way of keeping the rod from turning,if you are careful.
:) :cool:

[cayuse]

Woohoo! Problem solved! I borrowed an electric impact driver from work and in 5 minutes had both forks apart. One of them was still together so I just leaned on it real hard to compress the spring as much as I could while cranking on the driver. The 2nd one was mostly apart so I put a sawed-off broomstick in there and pressed that assembly into the ground while cranking on it. Seems like the impact driver is THE tool to have for this job.

Thanks for the help and encouragement, Blaine!

BTW, my wife liked the Balls & Guts definition!

[blaine]

Woohoo! Problem solved! I borrowed an electric impact driver from work and in 5 minutes had both forks apart. One of them was still together so I just leaned on it real hard to compress the spring as much as I could while cranking on the driver. The 2nd one was mostly apart so I put a sawed-off broomstick in there and pressed that assembly into the ground while cranking on it. Seems like the impact driver is THE tool to have for this job.

Thanks for the help and encouragement, Blaine!

BTW, my wife liked the Balls & Guts definition!

I always found a impact gun to be a invaluable tool to have.If you don't have a compresser,the electric ones work well also.Glad I could help.
:2tup: :rawk:

[cayuse]

While I had everything apart I thought I would take a photo. This is a little clearer than the diagram in the manual.

http://s2.postimage.org/6p5hgk9w/PICT0015.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/6p5hgk9w/)