thoughts - a leaky front fork help

[hella_erika]

I dove into the bike. Again, first time tinkering with a bike. I did end up creating a bunch of work for myself and I phoned a friend for help on a few things. Did a bunch of maintenance work, which was kinda of a first for me on motorcycles. Tiring but worth it.

I did the seals, which was interesting and bit of a learning curve as I'm not all quite sure what I'm looking at and what is and isn't "acceptable."

The leaky fork - actually I thought all the parts where actually in good condition. I was kinda surprised. After pulling the tubes, the pits were fairly deep and doing anything to it would've been useless. I figured I've taken it all apart and might as well put it back together with new seals. Plus I needed to move the bike next week. For some reason, that side the seal was difficult to get in. I almost thought I got the wrong part but I eventually got it in.

The non-leaking fork - in my opinion, it didn't look that great. But I'm not sure how important certain things are though. And I was kinda stumped but happy I bought some extra parts. And the seal on this side, went in a few minutes (like how I thought it should be).

Here are the photos:

I don't like the scarring on the fork leg(?). I was disappointed. I'm not sure how important this part of the leg is? Something tells me I'll be constantly replacing the bronze bushing

The bushing looks like it was peened for some reason.. which I guess why the leg is fairly scarred? I replaced the bronze bushing

Also, this thing (?) seems to either have hairline cracks in the "cup" area.. Or could be casting marks. Idk. but nothing rides there? Spring sits on top. So I don't know if that's relevant either.

And I went for a ride earlier today. Seals seem to be holding, but it's a little early to tell. Bike feels good, but I don't have much to compare against

So it's the waiting game to see how the seals hold up before I figure something else out. Just wanted to say thanks for everyone for their inputs! Hopefully I'll see some of you guys out riding!

 

[anytwowilldo]

The rust spots more than likely shredded the fork seals so the seals definitely need to be replaced.

The rust spots will also shred the new seals immediately.

The best option is to replace the fork tubes with new oem tubes.

If you can't afford that, the clean the rust spots off with chrome polish and/or very very fine steel wool (00 grade iirc).

Once the tubes are clean, check for nicks by running the edge/tip of your​ fingernail along the chrome surface. Anything that catches your fingernail will usually catch a seal and turn or tear the seal.

If you can't​ polish out all the rust spots, or there are significant divots left after rust removal, then the new seals will still leak.

I have yet to find a way to fill in the divots.

Once you have completed this fork service, keep the chrome parts clean and rust free by wiping them down at least once per week with furniture polish and a clean rag and the seals and chrome surface will last a lot longer.

+1, When polishing the rust spot try to polish as little off the tube as possible and go across the tube not vertically.

 

[m0t0_ryder]

Here's a Fiche page for a 1990 CBR250RR forks.
LINK

Should at least let you see the assembly sequence.
Part numbers too.

As for custom fork Tubes...
Franks Forks will make tubes to your spec... up to a certain diameter.

 

[hella_erika]

Thanks!! I did use their part numbers and it helped a bunch. I used Partzilla to buy the parts here since cmsnl.com is overseas I think. Thanks, I will look into Franks Forks if these seals don't last.

Another short commute, and it seems to be good. I'm hopeful

Here's a Fiche page for a 1990 CBR250RR forks.
LINK

Should at least let you see the assembly sequence.
Part numbers too.

As for custom fork Tubes...
Franks Forks will make tubes to your spec... up to a certain diameter.