'03 YZ 250 Front Fork issue

cheeze433

Member
May 21, 2009
25
0
Hey guys, I just replaced fork seals on my 03 YZ250. I weigh about 215 lbs and it was recommended to me that I use heavier fork oil, Maxima 10 weight, and use more oil in the forks than the factory level, which is 5.3 inches below the top of the outer tube. So I used the 10w oil and set the oil height to 4.5 inches below the top of the tube. The forks feel good, no binding or anything. But, I think they maybe a little too tight. I adjusted the compression screw to the softest position, didn't make much difference. I'm wondering if I can pull the cap off of the forks and remove some of the oil to a lower setting to soften them up. Is this a reasonable way to fix this? Or, did I screw up by putting the heavier oil in the forks? Any suggestions? I'm new to doing suspension work so I welcome any input. Thanks in advance.
 

scottiedawg66

Member
Sep 26, 2006
75
0
yes you can remove the cap and remove fork oil. I recommend a syringe and some vac. line, no lean makes ones just for this task.
 

IndyMX

Crash Test Dummy
~SPONSOR~
Jul 18, 2006
5,548
2
Amo, IN
The proper measurement on fork oil is taken from the top of the inner fork tube, with the spring out of the fork.

How you are going to manage this by just taking off the cap, I'm really not sure.
 

scottiedawg66

Member
Sep 26, 2006
75
0
Indy is telling you the professional way to do this, which is also the way I would do it. I was answering your question, which is yes you can remove fork oil and "eyeball" it.
 

julien_d

Member
Oct 28, 2008
1,788
1
IndyMX said:
The proper measurement on fork oil is taken from the top of the inner fork tube, with the spring out of the fork.

How you are going to manage this by just taking off the cap, I'm really not sure.

If they were set equally to begin with, removing the same amount of oil from each fork will accomplish the task, yes?
 

2strokerfun

Member
May 19, 2006
1,500
1
And going from 5.3 to 4.5 was quite a change!! I normally experiment in very small increments
 

Matt90GT

Member
May 3, 2002
1,517
1
Fork oil is not a substitute for the proper spring rate

Remove the oil and the spring, install the correct springs and add the correct amount of 5wt oil back in them.
 
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