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I just purchased a 2001 RM 250. The guy I bought it from told me the right front fork is leaking. He said by the time I got home I should expect to see fork oil in the bed of my truck. That didn't happen. AS a matter of a fact I have seen no evidence of leaking at all. This makes me wonder if there is just no oil in the front forks. I am not familiar with this type of fork. I haven't owned a dirt bike for over 12 years. I didn't get an owners manual with the bike. Can anyone please tell me how to check the oil and/or point me in the direction of a place to see maintenance information on this bike and especially the front forks?
 

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You should be able to remove the fork cap while it's still in the triple clamp. Loosen the top clamp bolts and then loosen the the fork cap. Be careful because it might be under some pressure from the spring. The oil level should be 100mm (3.94 in.) below the top edge of the fork. I got this info from my Clymer manual. If you have no oil, then you'll obviously have to replace the fork seals. I've done it on my '99 RM250 and it wasn't too bad. My forks are different than yours. I have Showa whereas yours are Kayaba. I strongly suggest purchacing a manual asap. Try eBay. But I wouldn't be too afraid of pouring some oil in to see. Good luck.

P.S. Here's your standard compression (bottom) and rebound settings (top).

compression clicks out: 9

rebound clicks out: 14
 

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First loosen the Top Triple Clamp bolts that hold the fork in the Triple clamps. Loosen the cap at the top of the fork tube. Don't take it off, just loosen it.
Then once the wheel, brakes etc have all been removed, take the fork out. Loosen the cap at the top of the forks completely and drop the outer tube down as far as it goes. You will need to seperate the cap at the top of the forks and the nut just underneath the cap, by putting a spanner on the bottom nut(17mm spanner) and a spanner on the fork cap. Turn the cap anti clockwise and the nut underneath clockwise, and once loose, screw the cap off completely.
The spring will then come out, and the tube in the centre of the spring will slide down. Push the tube all the way down as far as it goes, and then using a thin ruler or something straight and non flexible to measure from the top of the outside tube(compressed all the way down) into the tube, and see what the measurement is between the top of the tube and the oil level. It should be 100mm. If there is less oil than that, add 5wt fork oil in small qauntities, and pump the centre rod up and down a few times slowly before re-measuring the oil height until you get the oil to 100mm from the top of the outer tube. Pull the centre rod/tube back up to the top, and quickly drop the fork spring back over it and into place. It may drop down a bit by itself, so just use a size 14 spanner and fit it between the coils of the spring and onto the shaft of the centre rod, and turn the spring until the rod is at the top. Then put the cap back on and tighten it onto the centre rod, by turning the cap clockwise while holding the nut at the top of the shaft. Then screw the cap into the top of the fork and put the fork back into the triple clamps and tighten everything. Assemble the front wheel/brakes, but dont tightn up the locking bolts on the front axle just yet. Tighten the size 21 nut at the end of the shaft, and then pull the front brakes and bounce the front forks up and down quite a few times with the front brakeon to align the forks and wheel properly. Then tighten the locking nuts on the axle and make sure the nut at the end of the axle is also tight.
This is just to check the oil height etc, seal replacement is a bit more involved, and for that I would suggest a manual. If and when replacing seals, be sure to check that the shafts of the forks do not have any chips on them which could be damaging the seals.
 

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I will look at home, I may have a manual left from 2003. The manual that comes with the bikes is pretty good and has a breakdown of each part and how to service/dismantle and re-assemble the parts, and will let you know !!!

Geoff
 

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I just bought a 01 rm 250 also nad havent been in the dirt for 20 years. theres a guy selling the 03 manual on cd on ebay I didnt buy one yet because im not sure how much difference there is between an 01 and 03 model.i really like the manual on cd I have one for my zrx1200 and miata.
im looking for a skid plate and hand guards to ready it for trail use.
 
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