'01 KDX200 front fork question

[peterryan01]

I replaced the oil and the springs in the front forks of my 2001 KDX200 this weekend and had some interesting issues with the oil. The bike has about 1,200 miles on it, which is why I think a possible problem with the forks would be interesting. I have never bottomed the suspension, so I think it would be even more odd to have a problem. When I drained the oil from the forks, one side poured out clean (even though it looked like light brown baby snot), but another side had a lot of metal suspended in the oil. When I say "a lot", I mean it was enough to turn the last drainage into opaque, shiny, metallic dragon snot (instead of clear, light brown baby snot). This was a bit concerning because of how much metal was suspended in one, and how little was suspended in the other. Has anyone else run into this? What kind of problems am I looking at because of this? If anyone has any info about this, I would really appreciate it -

Thanks,

Peter :ohmy:

 

[canyncarvr]

Did the oem springs both come out with a washer clipped to the bottom of the spring?

I'd be wanting to take the forks apart for further inspection.

 

[peterryan01]

Yeah, the OEM springs came out with a washer clipped to the bottom of the spring. Everything that came out of the forks (on both sides) were in good shape, and didn't show any signs of damage or malfunction, which is another reason I am curious about the one side that spit metallic oil.

Thanks,

Peter :)

 

[canyncarvr]

I don't have an answer.

Certainly I'd be suspicious of one fork's waste oil being so different from the other.

Some bikes had completely different fork actions from one side to the other. That would be notable The kdx isn't like that.

The clincher would be seeing the same situation next oil change. Obviously that would mean something not-so-good happening.

Maybe don't worry about it for the next six months, see what happens next time?

 

[peterryan01]

Thanks for the help - I hope the better fork oil helps, or at least reduces the problem. I'm not going to worry too much about it, but I will definitely be keeping an eye on it. Hopefully the wear (whatever it may be) is reduced by new oil.

Thanks,

Peter

 

[Lutz]

Same thing happened with my bike. My bike had around five years on it before the forks were taken apart. One side, the oil came out looking new - light brownish and translucent; on the other side, the oil was black and nasty. I have'nt had it apart since, so I don't know if the situation will repeat itself. I wondered about it for a long time, but never bothered to dig for "answers." It will be interesting if anyone else has experienced a similar situation.