Cleaning Out Dirty Fork Oil

Lightning78
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Lightning78
Edited Date/Time 10/29/2014 1:25pm
While I was working on my 03 YZ250 I pulled to forks off and realized that the fork oil probably hasn't been changed since maybe 03 when it got revalved so Im looking to replace the oil in the forks and completely clean out the inside of the fork as I know these open chamber KYB's valving can get contaminated pretty easily.

Im just referring to the 46mm open chamber KYB's that came on the 03 YZ250, any recommendations on the best way to clean the internals of the fork without completely separating and disassembling the fork? Id like to get it back to as clean as it was when It got revalved by RG3.

Also RG3 told me that they put 65mm or 65cc's of oil in the forks, that seems like a very small amount, are they referring to filling up the forks until they are 65mm from the top?
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yota
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yota 10/29/2014 10:49am
10/29/2014 10:49am
if not serviced since 03 they need more than just new oil (unless it just sat in the garage). Do a complete tear down and replace all of the bushings. You will thank yourself for it. It will also make it easy to clean. Also, with open chamber forks the oil quantity would be in mm from the top, fork collapsed all the way.
DoctorJD
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DoctorJD 10/29/2014 11:09am
10/29/2014 11:09am
Its really not that hard to disassemble them. If you're not changing the seals, all you'd need is a damper rod retainer and a fork cap wrench.
Lightning78
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Lightning78 10/29/2014 1:25pm
10/29/2014 1:25pm
yota wrote:
if not serviced since 03 they need more than just new oil (unless it just sat in the garage). Do a complete tear down and replace...
if not serviced since 03 they need more than just new oil (unless it just sat in the garage). Do a complete tear down and replace all of the bushings. You will thank yourself for it. It will also make it easy to clean. Also, with open chamber forks the oil quantity would be in mm from the top, fork collapsed all the way.
Sorry I forgot to mention that they have been sitting for a LONG time....Id say at least 6 years, the bike doesn't have that many hours on it. It was trail ridden a couple of times over the 6 plus years....maybe even 8 years. The first guy that had it got the suspension revalved and when he sold it it went to a weekend warrior that rode Gorman trails (slowly) and rarely

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