K, so my fork seals are fubar.

After a ride through the mud, I put a business card under my dust seal to see if it was muddy, and accidentally pushed all that crap up into my fork seal. Long story short, even the film trick isn't helping.

So, i'm lining up all the stuff i'll need to disassemble and repair my forks, and the first thing is fork oil. I don't have a service manual just yet, and need to know what weight they use out of the box.

Second thing is fork seals. I still haven't decided just yet if i'm just going to clean up my seals or actually replace them, but in any case, I don't know what sets will fit. I see a ****load all over the place for 250R up to 1996, but nothing about the 250s/h past that date.

Will klx300 fork seals fit?

I'm actually pretty pissed about this, as the bike only has around 500 mi on it [:@]

I don't want to take it to the dealer because, well, if you don't do it yourself, then you never learn how to, and i'm not willing to drop 80+ dollars on what should really be a 20-40 dollar job.

 

I was about to do the same process, but managed some success with the thin plastic trick. Sorry you didn't have the same luck.

Anyway, after talking to a few people more knowledgable than I in this dept, it was the common consensus that this actually is something better off done by those with the tools and know how. I hate to say it, I really believe in the "do it yourself so you know how" motto. However, talking to a few MX'ers / off roaders that have been riding for years and had done the process before, they all had the same response - they wouldn't do it themselves again. So, I was about to head to a local shop (fork legs removed from bike to save some labor). However, one last weekend hurrah, post plastic trick, pre take it to the shop for fixing, and I managed to ride about 170 or so miles off road with not a single drop. So, no seal change for me.

 

Well, I posted the same question on thumpertalk, and they said that so long as I have the right tools and some people willing to guide me (IE them), then it should be a breeze.

So, i'm going to give it a shot

I'm just really pissed that this is comming so early. FFS, I only have 500 mi on the bike! And it's not like my seal is blown, it's just dirty, and I know that for a fact!

 

Make sure to take lots of pics and share your experience

 

Actually, i'm going to try one last thing before I go ahead and order up the supplies.

I think I scratched the tube just a tiny bit, right by where the seal sits. It's a teeny tiny barely visible scratch, but i'm hopping that it's the problem.

I think what happened was that, I was using this real sharp edged screwdriver to pry off the dust covers, and I slipped and hit the tube, but didn't notice the scratch till now.

Dear god I hope that's the problem. I'm thinking it isn't though, since there are rings of oil around the tube, rather than just a steady drip comming from near the scratch.

EDIT: Maybe I will call a shop and get a quote

 

personally I would just take it in to the shop. I'd be scared of doing something wrong and having something fall apart while riding.

 

Did you take your bike to the shop to get your oil changed too?

 

no smarty pants, i did not. good luck with your forks

 

Just buy the tool for $70, get the seals and the preferred fork oil. Some soft jaws for the vise and maybe after installed, 1 hr later.

 

Is it possible to just jam some lead or rubber into a traditional vise grip?