I don't yet have the maintenance manual. The user manual shows how to adjust for atmospheric pressure. Should this be done with differing weather conditions?

One of my forks is wet with oil, but I only have 80 miles on it so far. Could it have had too much pressure or too much fork oil added by the dealer during prep? If it was adjusted when it was 32 out and then went to 76 degrees (last Monday) could that cause a pressure build and some fluid to blow out?

How do you check the fork oil and what kind do you use?

 

Go down to your local motorcycle shop they have fork oil there, differrent weights for more or less rebound. Heavier weight or more oil= less rebound, lighter weight oil or less oil the opposity. Where is the oil leaking from the top or from the seals? If its the seals, you have blown a seal my friend if its coming out of the top near the triple clamp those seals are either not there or blown. If your just talking about oil coming out of the screw holes after you have taken the screws out, your front tire was still on the ground when you took out the screws. Your front tire must be off the ground letting the fork extend fully when getting back normal pressure in your fork. You may have done that you may have not, just offering some options. The dealer doesnt add fork oil the factory does, and yes you should adjust in different weather conditions, at different altitudes, and after you have done some serious riding. But I dont think that the oil coming out was due to the temp change. To check the fork oil you have to pop the tops off your forks and check or you can use a skinny rod threw the screw housing and measure from the same point like a dip stick; Havn't tryed it on this bike yet but worked on some of my old CR.

 

The oil was coming out of the bottom. I had it tied down without a 'fork saver' when I brought it home last week, was tied down for a 2 hour trip and sat there 3 more hours at work before I got it home. I just noticed the oil on the left fork only today, not enough to drip on the floor but enough to cover the fork a good 6-8 inches down. I'm hoping it was forced out during the tow home. I cleaned it up and am going to ride it some and see if it comes out more. Could that constant pressure for that long have allowed some to be forced out without blowing the seal?

As far as the fluid level, with the front tire in the air and the top screws out, is there a certain level the fluid needs to be at? A few inches down? Is there a spec for this somewhere? I guess I could look at the right fork for a baseline on the fluid level.

 

Over the years I had a lot of bikes tied down in the back of my truck(with out a fork saver) and I never had any forks seals leak. I don't think that it should have leaked.. I would take the bike for a good ride(get the forks really moving) and then check it, their should be no oil at all... If their is bring it back to the dealer and have them fix it,that is a factory defect and covered under warranty.. Keep us posted!!

 

onestarr is right! One test you can do now is wipe the oil off the fork get close to a wall kick up the kick stand and jump and push down on the bar with your hands to compress the fork. Do it about 20-30 times then check the fork. Second test is do some riding on extremely harsh terrain in wich you can use most of your fork travel then check for oil again if no oil was found it was a fluke(not likely). If you do have more oil leakage follow onestarr's recomendation and see your dealer about factory defect but leave out the part that you had your bike tied down for 2 hrs +. The oil level Is really more of preferance I'm not sure what stock fill is but it's at least a good idea to to have the forks even. It also depends on what you ride. If you can find a KLX 300r service manual it will give you a better idea of stck recomendations because the forks are the same.

 

Or I just found out you can get a KLX 250H6F service supplemental manual at the kawa web site heres the linkhttp://www.kawasaki.com/Default.asp?...D=2&intParts=0

 

Just serviced my forks last weekend. From both my Kawi dealers: 540ml(dry) or 97mm from top of the fork compressed(spring removed) of 5wt shock oil. I drained 450ml from each fork, replaced it, then check the 97mm depth. Rear: 304ml of 5wt with 142lb of nitrogen. The oil I removed looks much thicker than the 5wt I put in. AND...my right fork had two wet lines last night. GRRRR. Hope that was a FLUKE.

 

I dried it all up and after only 10 road miles today (and over a few parking blocks !) it showed signs of leaking and pooled on that little ledge at the bottom. That's a lot.

I decided to take it to my dealer (late next week, he is pretty booked). He said it is under warranty and not worth fooling with. He said the tube might be scored or the seal blown but obviously it is a factory defect.

He gave me a depth measurement of 97mm +/- 2mm which comes out to ~3.74 to 3.9". I've been seeing differing numbers....

I plan to wait a year for an updated manual, can't see spending $32 on a manual and another $32 on the supplement. Those microfish pictures are awesome on their site though!

 

Hey rkutzner, I am by far the least experienced in this issue I'm sure, but a few weeks ago I was out at a friends house watching half a dozen riders race around the track, and one of the bikes developed an oil leak in one of the fork seals. The guy who has two sons that both race took a look at the bike and knew exactly what to do. He took a thin plastic card almost the thickness of a playing card and slid it up behind the seal and twisted it around the fork, pulled it down and did this a couple of times, and there it was a small piece of sand, and then after that no more leaks for the rest of the day. He explained that sometimes really small dirt particles get rolled into the rubber seal, and you have to get it to roll back out. I probably didn't really describe it too well, but he said it happens a lot at the races, and that's what he learned.

deej

 

That's interesting. In my case, I've been breaking it in on the street only and everything looks brand spankin' new. In this case I doubt debris is the case, might even be a scratch in the fork from the factory. I might as well take it in, but in the future imagine that trick might come in handy on the trail or track. Thanks.