2000 YZ 250 forks leaking

[MikeT]

Hi guys, it's been a while but I want to do a little riding this year and at the end of last year I took my YZ out to ride a little and the forks were leaking AGAIN! I am really tired of them leaking and I have replaced the fork seals twice now and they only really last a small amount of time. Someone has told me that I need to replace the bushings or get a bushing kit for them in addition to replacing the seals. I am about to take them to a professional (Andrews motorsports here in Charlotte) to have them do a full service and replace the bushings and seals. He quoted me about $35 per leg for the service and an additional $60 for the parts. Does this sound reasonable?

I just don't want them to leak anymore.

 

[wake_rider]

That's pretty reasonable. Just the bushings alone will be around $60 total (for the pair). Bushings more than likely are your problem, but it could also be that the surface of the inner fork is getting chipped up and worn which will cause your seals to tear up faster. I invested in some seal savers and that has seemed to lengthen the life of my seals dramatically. You might look into a set of those as well. Just remember to pull them up/off and wash out underneath them after every couple of rides, or after every mud ride. They will do a great job of saving your seals a little longer, but they also tend to store the muck when you ride through the nasty stuff.

 

[MikeT]

OK. I will probably not be riding for the next 2 months since it is cold and then I will take them in for servicing. I never knew about the bushings or to even replace them.

 

[wake_rider]

If you have the tools at home, it's pretty easy to change those out on your own. I'd recommend a shop manual, even though most forks are similar, just until you start to understand what you're looking at, and why you're looking at it. If you have a friend who might be fairly mechanically inclined, it's always great to have around another set of eyes and some good mechanical experience.

 

[MikeT]

I've changed the fork seals myself before and I guess in the process I had the bushings out. I just don't know if what I was looking at was worn out or not. I didn't think the bushings had anything to do with the forks leaking. I thought the forks leaking was simply because of bad seals. If I got the forks apart far enough to change the seals then I guess I did have the bushings off correct or not?

What does a worn out bushing look like and how do they hold back the fluid from leaking??

 

[wake_rider]

They don't stop leaking, they stop your seals from wearing out as fast by keeping things lined up correctly. When the bushing gets worn out the teflon-like coating on the exterior of the bushing starts to look almost like it's peeling off. By having worn out bushings it allows side to side movement and keeps your lower fork tube from being correctly lined up which in turn will cause premature wear of your seals. It can also begin to do internal damage to the inside of the upper fork tube if it gets too out of hand, but normally you just wear out your seals way too often.

 

[MikeT]

I remember seeing that peeling you were talking about. It was just off of the ends. If that is a sign of wear then I definitely have it.

 

[wake_rider]

Yep, that's exactly what that is. So now you know what you're looking at! If you have done your fork seals before, then installing your bushings will be a breeze so I'd say go for it. You'll save yourself some money, and get some more experience while you're at it.

 

[helio lucas]

don´t forget to change the dust seals also, most likely they are damaged and let dust into the oil seals...

 

[wake_rider]

I use the Moose fork seals and the package comes with the dust seals as well. I always replace the two at the same time. It just seems like a waste of my time not to.

 

[MikeT]

I use the Moose fork seals and the package comes with the dust seals as well. I always replace the two at the same time. It just seems like a waste of my time not to.

I didn't know aftermarket companies made fork seals. I'll take a look at the moose ones. Any recommended places to look?

 

[wake_rider]

Moose runs a pretty clean program where they only distribute to bike shops and not on the internet. Rockymountainatvmc.com has "Tusk" brand fork seals, but I would not recommend them. I bought a set and they lasted me two rides before they were trashed, but every other Tusk product I've bought has been pretty solid. The fork seals were just junk.

Here's a link to the Moose Racing website for the fork seals (http://www.mooseracing.com/catalog.jsp?level1=1151&level2=1176&level3=1197&product_group_id=5375), and from there you can search to find a local bike shop that carries their parts. From that, you can just call and see if the shop has them in, or get them ordered. Honestly, I think they're worth the process of ordering. I have had better longevity with my Moose seals over any other aftermarket brand, or OEM.

 

[MikeT]

I will get the Moose seals.

I am looking on the Yamaha Parts Fiche (2000 YZ250 2-stroke) and are the bushings part #4 "PISTON, FRONT FORK" and part #5 "METAL, SLIDE 1" ? Are those all the parts that I would need?

 

[MikeT]

Anyone?

 

[mathd]

I rebuild my fork for the first time this winter.
I used the Pivot Works kit from rockymountain.
Dont know if they are any good, i have to wait for the summer to use the bike :(

All you need is fork oil, seals kit(dusk seal + oil seal) and the piston/metal slide are the inner and outter bushing. Thats all you need for parts.
Also a oil level tool(you can make one cheap),a fork seal driver and a manual. They will be helpfull.

 

[MikeT]

I am calling to order the parts now.