2001 KX 250 Leaky Forks

[rames90]

I just bought a new KX 250 about a month ago, The first time i took it out I noticed the left fork leaking oil from out of the dust seal area. Being that I have no place to do major repairs on my bike (wife frowns on the kitchen table being used a a workbench) I took it to a shop and had the left fork disassembled, cleaned, and a new seal put in. The mechanic said it was from dirt getting under the seal, as he found a bit of dirt inside the fork. Last weekend I took my bike out again and the smae thing happened to the right fork after only a few hours of riding. I'm not going to pay for a shop to rebuild the right one now, so my question is how big of a job is rebuilding a fork? And what do I need for parts/special tools before I begin? (I have already found, through some helpful dirtrider.net advice, that packing the area between the oil seal and the dust seal with white lithium grease should help keep the grit from getting to the oil seal)

Is there a way that I could just refill the oil in the fork ?(I have already cleaned out the seal/fork tube contact area with a business card and it seems to have stopped leaking, unless its already run so low on oil no more will flow out) Or should I rebuild just in case a bit of dirt got in the tube? I would rather refill but don't want to be replacing expensive parts a couple of months from now because I wanted to save a few hours of labour.
Thanks for any replies/advice.
James

 

[Hogwylde]

James,

there are a couple of posts on how to take care of this leaky fork problem u have. But, i've pasted a link on how to solve your leaky fork problem from another thread anyway.

http://www.dirtbikemagazine.com/detail.asp?id=76

follow these instructions and it will help GREATLY!! I know this procedure has helped tremendeously with my KX. As far as just refilling the oil.....you got me there.

 

[rames90]

Thanks for the link, I ended up removing the fork and changing the oil in it anyway and , I'm very happy to report, it was not a big job. The business card/film negative trick worked very well, the seal no longer leaks.

 

[Buzz Bomb]

That's wierd that your forks started leaking so soon. Anyway, to avoid this problem, you could try packing the area between the oil and dust seals with grease to keep dirt from getting into the seals.