[bigtoe250]

Jim, your info is greatly helpful and appreciated. I recently replaced seals and bushing in both shocks on 04 250x. 300ml drained out of each shock so I replaced each with 300ml. Is there a way to tell if there is too much/not enough oil? I do not know what/how much the PO had in the shocks and judging by the poor maintenance on the rest of the bike, it would great to verify. Tusk makes a fork oil level tool that might work but I can not find the required distance between the top of fork and top of oil level. I did not mess with the inner cylinders and don't know if any oil drained out of them. Now that the shocks are back together, will any air in the inner cylinders or elsewhere work its way out? And bleed through the air bleed screws? Can the Tusk tool be used in this application?

Also, I am also short but not so petite. What is the maximum amount the forks can be pushed up towards the handle bars?

Sorry for all the questions. Thank you!!!!!

[JimDirt]

If it has the Standard spring which would be 0.42 , then the oil would be 345cc/11.7 ounces ....min.303/10.2 ... max. 399/13.5 ...... if it has lighter springs 0.40 , then the oil capacity would be 350cc/11.8 oz. ....... min. 308/10.4 ....max. 404/13.6 ...I won't worry about giving you the spec for the heavy spring since that would not be the case for you ..... The oil is measured by volume , not height for this bike , so just get a container with oz./cc measurements on it that are usually sold in most moto shops ...

I personally use the Bikemaster measuring bottle and also the Maxima Quick 2 Mix Oil Gas Mixer , the reason I like those 2 is because they have lids to seal out dirt from contaminating the oil after use or when sitting on a shelf , as they have cc and oz. on them and can do 1 fork with each fill , so either one of those will be accurate and what I would recommend , I also the Ratio Rite graduated cup also has cc and oz. on it so that will work as well , and I believe they have a lid as well and you should be able to find them most any bike shop or Dealer .... All of them are inexpensive ...

Bikemaster cup:
https://www.crfsonly.com/catalog/produc ... ts_id/3667


Maxima bottle:
https://maximausa.com/i-30498337-quick- ... ?locale=en

Ratio Rite:
Any bike shop or Dealer should have them ..

As far as setting for weight for the forks ... if the bike has the correct springs for your weight range , then you should not bottom out the forks ... that is the goal ... what you can do since you have them off is get a large O-Ring (Harbor Freight sells Metric O-Ring kits) find the one in the kit that fits tight on the silver part of the fork tubes , so you have to manually slide it up/down on the tube , you can put it on the tube by slipping it over the fork lug (the part your axel goes thru) , do this on the right fork , slide it all the way to the top till it hits the seal , when you ride where and how you normally do , note how the fork reacts via the O-Ring , your lowest point on the O-Ring is how far the suspension traveled in the stroke , note where it stops in relation to the bottom lug .... if you are within 2 inches of the bottom on the biggest G-out you can hit or from slamming down from a jump of some kind then you are good to go ....

But also note it when you first get on the bike in full gear , sit so you are comfortable on the seat with all your gear on (don't bounce up and down , just sit on the bike gently so you don't compress the suspension more than you actually are when sitting) , or have someone help you by pushing the O-Ring up to the seal while you are sitting , then get off the bike and put it on a stand so both wheels are off the ground , now measure the distance from the fork seal to the O-Ring , it should be around 55-65mm , so 2.1 in. to 2.5 inches , anywhere within those boundaries is fine , otherwise you have the wrong springs or too little oil , you can add 5cc at a time thru the bleed hole in each fork to compensate to help with bottoming resistance , but it will also make the suspension stiffer .... also make sure your clickers are set right , the stiffer you set the compression (top) the higher the bike will sit in the stroke , but the stiffer it will be when riding , but with the correct springs you should fall within those numbers ...

Also very important , when reassembling the forks on the bike make sure you torque the clamp bolts to spec and no tighter or looser ... also , with the wheel off , set the left fork in the clamps snug (1 bolt is fine) , then slightly snug the right side , but loose enough so you can grab it and wiggle it up/down , set them flush or 2mm or 4mm up from the top clamp ... meaning the gold part of the tube , not the top of the fork cap , is either level or 2 to 4mm up in the clamp ... now slide your axel thru and let it go into the other fork , if it is snug or you have to push or pull up/down on the axel to get it to slide thru easily , then raise or lower the right tube till it slides thru easily every time , there should be little to no resistance when the axel gets to the left fork lug ... once that is good , then snug down the right tube , then check that the axel is still freely moving in/out , then torque the clamps to spec (it should be 20Nm bottom , 22Nm top, then pull the axel and go ahead and mount your front wheel ... what this does is make the forks level with each other so there is no fork bind , which can make your suspension feel stiff or harsh or just poorly when riding

Once you put the wheel on , tighten one right pinch bolt down enough to hold the axel in place while torquing the axel nut , make it tight enough that when you get to 88Nm on the axel nut torque the axel does not spin ... , once the axel nut is torqued , then tighten and torque the 2 left axel pinch bolts (I believe to 20Nm) , now loosen back up the single right bolt you tightened and spin the wheel by hand pretty hard , then grab the front brake and slam the wheel to a stop , do it 1 or 2 more times ... now go ahead and torque the right 2 pinch bolts and you are good to go , now you have centered the wheel between the forks so you are not pulling one in as you tighten the axel nut , this also eliminate fork bind , and something that most people overlook when setting the forks back on the bike after servicing ...

Hope that helped ..

[bigtoe250]

Helps tremendously! Thank you! Can the gold part of the tube be set 6mm, 8mm or 10mm above the top clamp (as long as the lower clamp is around the non tapered part of the gold tube)?

[JimDirt]

6 would be fine , 8 might be pushing it with the bars , 10 might hit the bars , all you can do is adjust them as far as you can go without hitting the bars , as when you go over bumps the bars will flex a bit and could hit the forks ... you are going to have to adjust the rear to match , otherwise the bike will be wonky ... either with a lowering link (Kouba makes a 1.75 in. drop link which works well with a 6mm fork raise , as that is how I have my 06 450X set up) you would then only run about 80mm sag to compensate for the drop , or a limiter inside the shock (basically you pull the shock apart like you were servicing it , then add a spacer under the valve stack on the shaft , this limits the extended movement/extension of the shock , this will shorten the shocks overall length , which will lower the bike.. But it can only be done so far , as you will run out of threads on the shock spring when you go too far/too long a spacer

Though unless you have taken apart a shock before I would recommend having a suspension shop that has done lowering before do it .... the forks you are better off moving them in the clamps , though again a suspension shop can cut a new spring groove on the cartridge which will raise the placement of the spring seats on the cartridge , which would also lower the sitting position because the spring would be higher up on the cartridge allowing the bike to sit lower but still have the correct spring tension , then you have to put a equal size spacer to the amount the groove was raised , inside the cartridge on the Rebound Rod/shaft to limit its extended movement so you don't get a sloppy fork ..... it can all be done fairly easily if you know what you are doing , and is all reversible should you choose to sell the bike

[bigtoe250]

Once again, you are an incredible source of information and an invaluable member. Thank you Jimdirt!!

[JimDirt]

No problem , glad I could help ...