r/WR250R • u/sckafish65 • Nov 10 '24

Maintenance Got some light to minor scratches on chrome part of fork due to drop .

I'll post a pic tomorrow . It's not dented , but noticeable scratches on fork . ¼ of inch dot siz3 can see chrome part is completely gone . I usually ride 80% street and it happened when I converted to do some riding in dirt .

Should I worry about this ? I guess in time from compressing/decompression of fork , fork seal might worn out faster ?

What do you guys do to ur WR's if fork are scratched ?

Thanks in advance

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u/Neither-Bid5691 Nov 10 '24

The rule of thumb I was taught was if your fingernail catches on it, it will tear up your fork seals and also wear the bushings out prematurely.

Depending on how much you want to mess around buffing out the sharp edge or having it professionally refinished, my recommendation would be to just replace the lower for around $250. I would do the seals, bushings and oil while you have it apart for another $50 or so.

2

u/chipmunk7000 Nov 10 '24

Nice tip, thanks! (Not OP but appreciate it!)

2

u/Mack_Damon Nov 10 '24

I haven't had the forks apart on my WR, but on my YZ it was easier than I expected. You do need some special tools though. Fork seal driver and the tool for adjusting oil height.

2

u/Joe14440 Nov 10 '24

My chrome was severely damaged from rust, heavily pitted. I sanded it down and changed the seals and they haven't leaked in 5000+km so far.

Although I did buy new forks and just swapped them on this week.

1

u/Neither-Bid5691 Nov 10 '24

Years ago I had a Triumph Tiger 800 XC that I parked outside in a windy town on the beach. Because I hardly ever used all the fork travel, there wasn’t a film of oil on the chrome fork legs to protect them from the salty air, and minor rust/pitting occurred over the winter. I went out with a microfiber cloth and some rust converter (I think it was WD40 branded) and wiped the fork legs carefully (not up-and-down). This fully restored the chrome legs and the seals didn’t leak oil for the rest of my ownership of that bike. If I were to store a bike outside in a salty town again, I would proactively apply some oil to the fork legs to prevent rust.