CR 250 fork help

[jdager]

Hi all,
I just purchased a 2001 Cr250, and am going to be changing the fork seals on it this weekend. I am waiting on the manual to arrive and dont think it will be here in time, so I was looking for a little help. does anyone know the level and weight of the fork oil? does anyone know of a manual online to look at, or if anyone could scan the few pages about doing the forks for me, I would be much in debt. I have rebuilt a couple of kx's but never a honda, and dont want to get into it, just to realize I dont know what I am doing. thanks so much,
Jim D

 

[sharky243]

The 01' cr250 has showa forks. They are a twin chamber design. First, back off both clicker ajusters. Loosen the top fork cap. Slide the outer fork tube down to the bottom of the lower fork tube. Drain the oil from the outer chamber. Turn the fork up side down, becarefull not to let the outer tube slam back into the top cap. Unscrew the bottom fork cap(re-bound adjuster assy.) Compress the spring and insert a pushrod holding tool bellow the nut. Loosen the lock nut and remove the adjuster assy. Remove the holding tool and allow the fork spring the decompress. You can now remove the inner chamber for service. The fork tubes can now be separated the same way as the KYB's on your kawi. Remove compression valve body from the inner chamber. Drain the oil from the inner chamber. Pump the pushrod a few times to drain the rest of the oil from the system. Flush the system if desired with clean fork oil. Basic oil type and levels are as follows. Use a good quality 5wt. fork oil. Fill the inner chamber with aproximatly 6.6 oz. of fork oil. Pump the push rod several times to purge the air from the system. Re-fill the inner chamber to the desired fork oil level, measured from the step at the lower end of the inner chamber to the top of the oil. This range is usually bettween 42mm-49mm. Re-install the inner chamber in the outer fork tube assy. Fill the outer fork tube with 11-14oz. of 5wt. fork oil. Finish assembling the fork, reset your clickers and your done. Adjust as nessesary.

 

[jdager]

sharky, thanks a lot for the information, very helpful, I can almost picture it just off your description. what is the pushrod holding tool, and is it something I can use something around the shop for, or is it a special tool I have to buy from the dealer? thanks,
Jim Dager

 

[sharky243]

Hey jdager,

The tool is somthing you can make if you're good with a hacksaw and a drill. Take a thin peice of aluminum or steal flat stock, cut out a peice roughly about 1 1\2 inches wide and about 3 inches long. Drill a 1\2 inch hole about 1 inch from one of the ends of the cut peice. Somewhere in the middle of the end you choose will do. From the other end, make a 12mm wide slot all the way down the peice and into the side of the hole you drilled. Clean off any burrs or sharp edges and you now have a "factory spec." push rod holding tool. LOL !!! Remeber, if you're unsure of how to do the job, it's far cheaper to pay a shop to do it than it is to try it and screw something up. Good Luck !!! hope this helps !!! Sharky243

 

[James]

You can also use a 16 mm open end wrench for the holding tool. I position it right below the 17mm I am using to loosen the locknut. I dont scratch the damper rod this way whereas the holding tool does if you aren't careful.

 

[sharky243]

Thats actually a really good idea !!! In all the years I've been working on dirtbikes, I never thaught of that !!! A 16mm wrench for a holding tool !! Hmmm!!

 

[jdager]

thanks for the help guys. does anyone have a pic of where the push rod deal is? just being able to see it, would help and make me feel better. part of the reason I got into dirtbikes was to learn how to do all this stuff, that and im broke, so I like to try stuff, just like to have a little guidence before I tear into it. thanks again, anymore advice would be great
thanks,
Jim

 

[Matt90GT]

Do you have the proper tools?

Fork cap wrench
Seal driver 47mm

Both are a must if you are going to do this more than a few times. also an impact gun with thin sockets will help.

You will have to put about 200cc in the inner chamber, bleed and then fill the outside. Here is a good guide for recommended levels:

http://www.tech-care.com/honda.html?year=2001

you may want to pay someone if these are your first TwinChamber units. ask if you can watch and learn.

yes and run 5wt oil.

 

[jdager]

thanks for all the advice. can anyone explain bleeding the air a little better? I dont have any tools.... but was hoping I could get by. what is the fork cap wrench, and can you just use a large wrench? I have never used a fork seal driver, just cut one side of the old seals, and use those to drive the new seals in, has always worked great. any other tips would be much appreciated
thanks,
Jim Dager

 

[Matt90GT]

you need the seal drivers to drive in the fork bushings. Makes the job so much easier.

and the cap wrench will keep you from marking up the fork caps with pliers or other mickey mouse way to do it. Tools are a good investment for this job!

for bleeding, you have to remove the inner chamber from the outer. take off the cap with the base valving there. extend the rod fully. fill the inner chamber to about 200cc, enough to cover over the taper in the bottom of the chamber where it narrows. Then use 20-80% of the stroke and pump it about 10 times. never full extending or collapsing. it should feel smooth without air. After that, fully extended, then collapse and back to fully extend the rod. you should not have any air in there now. If you do, check the oil level and repeat again. Then install the cap with the rod fully extended. This can be hard to do as you will have the inner chamber slightly over filled. once that is screwed down, the rod should extended rapidly and fully. compress fully and then drain the excess fluid from the bleed holes in the side of the cartridge. Then make sure the rod full extends on its own. if it does not, you either have air or a bad seal there.

from there, it is install the spring, put back into the outer tubes, install the rebound rod and adjuster and then fill then fill to the recommended outer amount +/- what you need for more plush ride or better bottoming resistance.

Hope that helps. if not, get a good honda manual.

 

[kaboom1371]

watch these. they will help you a lot.


part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2G-b66F3es
part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xoep91eDadI
part 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVcKQRjviEE


it's real easy and he explains every step and the tools that make it easy. :cool:

 

[jdager]

thanks Kaboom, those are awesome, exactly what I needed.

 

[kaboom1371]

thanks Kaboom, those are awesome, exactly what I needed.

any time. always easier to see it done that to explain it. thanks to all the people that video stuff.. :cool:

 

[jdager]

thanks all, got the forks rebuilt this weekend, went easy, and the videos made it cake. for anyone else doing this, couple of pointers to save you some bucks... 1. you dont need the inner fork tool to hold the spring down, I used a 14mm wrench that worked great, or you can have a buddy just hold the spring down while you undo the nut. 2. you can get by without the tool to undo the top caps as well. it takes a large wrench to undo it, something like 2 inches, otherwise, honda sells a tool to do it, but it is 50 bucks. also, to use the honda tool, the forks cant be on the bike cause the handlebars get in the way. what I did was take the forks off, and take them into the honda service department and had them break them loose. worked great and was free. just my .02

 

[kaboom1371]

it takes a large wrench to undo it, something like 2 inches, otherwise, honda sells a tool to do it, but it is 50 bucks. also, to use the honda tool, the forks cant be on the bike cause the handlebars get in the way. what I did was take the forks off, and take them into the honda service department and had them break them loose. worked great and was free. just my .02

here's a much cheaper tool that I use. might have to cut and paste it since it doesn't seem to be active address. :think:

http://www.motosport.com/dirtbike/product/HP-TOOLS-FORK-CAP-WRENCH/?catalogId=103040&words=fork+tool&srchHistoryURL=mkygpxdu||words~fork%20tool^parentCategoryID~category_root^categoryID~1^categoryName~Dirt


and for getting it off while on the bike you can loosen up your triple tree clamps lower your forks enough to get the fork wrench on and re-tighten just the lower fork clamp since the top one should be loose when loosening up the fork cap.