71 T250 R forks, or so i thought.

Need some help? Put your question up here. Many years of experience on the board to help you get up and running.

Moderators: oldjapanesebikes, H2RICK, diamondj, Suzsmokeyallan

Post Reply
User avatar
jsyx
On the street
Posts: 22
Joined: Fri May 11, 2012 8:14 am
Country: USA
Suzuki 2-Strokes: 71 T250 Hustler, 72 Honda CL350, 03 Stella
Location: Minneapolis MN

71 T250 R forks, or so i thought.

Post by jsyx »

When i picked up my T250 from the shop last year, my mechanic suggested that i replace my fork oil seals.
So this summer, while cleaning and polishing everything up, i ordered a new set of seals from Babbits.

http://www.suzukipartshouse.com/home.as ... 0912900D14

I have been working as much as possible to get back up and running, and having started in the back and working forward, today i made it to the front wheel and forks.

I pulled everything off without incident, got the fork tube off on the right side, pulled the collar off and tried, unsuccessfully to pop the seal out.
thats when i got a little pang of concern...

after messing around trying to pop the seal out, i inspected the new seals.. 34mm, everything looked right.. just couldn't get the seal out.
then i managed to pop the little spring out from the inside of the seal, but still wouldn't budge.
i started to get worried i was going to ruin something, and i kept looking at the numbers on the seals to see if they matched exactly.
they didn't.

since i saw the little spring inside the new seals as well, i posited that it was just gunked up with old fork oil and crud so i grabbed a little flathead and a hammer and carefully started tapping. next thing i knew i was tearing the rubber off the seal with a pliers.
that's where everything went wrong.

it appears that the oil seals in my forks are an integral part of the collar that threads onto the lowers.
could this be correct? I looked at several different fiches of T250 (RJ, II, TC, TS) and they all appeared to have removable fork oil seals.
but then referred to my manual (which if i wasn't a complete retard i would have done in the first place) it confirmed that if the seals fail, the entire collar must be replaced.

here is the damage:
Image

so, i guess im just looking for a little guidance now.
summer is ticking away and ive had this bike apart for over a month now..
Am i doomed to trolling for another set of used forks just for the collar/seal, which might be bad anyway?
or do i look into replacing with aftermarket parts?

any help is appreciated, i really think i went and did it this time!
User avatar
jsyx
On the street
Posts: 22
Joined: Fri May 11, 2012 8:14 am
Country: USA
Suzuki 2-Strokes: 71 T250 Hustler, 72 Honda CL350, 03 Stella
Location: Minneapolis MN

Re: 71 T250 R forks, or so i thought.

Post by jsyx »

so, then i found this?

http://www.t20suzuki.com/discus/message ... 1035492842

i always knew Clymer/Hayes were a little vague sometimes..

What do i do?!? Just keep banging on it?
I assume the collar is tapered to allow for a press fit?
I just don't see what would hold the seal in to the top of the collar?
User avatar
jsyx
On the street
Posts: 22
Joined: Fri May 11, 2012 8:14 am
Country: USA
Suzuki 2-Strokes: 71 T250 Hustler, 72 Honda CL350, 03 Stella
Location: Minneapolis MN

Re: 71 T250 R forks, or so i thought.

Post by jsyx »

so, i think i banged out the old seal without any damage to the collar..
what next? just bang the new one in with a spark plug socket?
Post Reply