CR250R Forks stuck on 2000 cr250r

[swapnifty]

So my fork sealls have been leaking and I wanted to do a full fork rebuild but I’m stuck already, I can’t get the forks off the bike, I loosened the 2 upper clamp bolts and bottoms, no movement, fully removed the bolts, nothing , am I missing something? 

[PhilthyX]

Use a large flat headed screw driver and GENTLY pry the clamps open a little bit.

Or something like this if you want it wider and should only need to insert a bit to loosen the clamps and not damage them.

 

[bergilong]

Sometimes the forks just get stuck in the clamps. You can try gently prying open the triple clamps and that should help. That always scared me, so what I normally do is just whack the top of the forks with a dead blow hammer. Be careful not to hit the fork bleeders. It would probably be smart to remove them and install the screws instead.

[PhilthyX]

Personally I loosen the top caps bit while the forks are still clamped and if you remove the bleeders, I'd use a rubber mallet and a few gentle taps rather than a hammer but IMO you only need to barely pry the clamps open but to each their own.

[Piney Woods]

A little WD-40 or P B Blaster first is advised. Let it sit a little while.

[bergilong]

16 minutes ago, PhilthyX said:

Personally I loosen the top caps bit while the forks are still clamped and if you remove the bleeders, I'd use a rubber mallet and a few gentle taps rather than a hammer but IMO you only need to barely pry the clamps open but to each their own.

A dead blow hammer is essentially a rubber mallet with beads in it to stop it from bouncing back. I definitely would not hit the forks with a normal hammer

[PhilthyX]

6 minutes ago, bergilong said:

A dead blow hammer is essentially a rubber mallet with beads in it to stop it from bouncing back. I definitely would not hit the forks with a normal hammer

Got it 🙂

Then dealing with getting them back in to the correct height.

Edited January 17 by PhilthyX

[swapnifty]

5 minutes ago, PhilthyX said:

Got it 🙂

Then dealing with getting them back in to the correct height.

Yeah I’m not worried about the rebuild or putting them back on the bike, I have a pretty good idea what im doing , I’ve just never had forks that wouldn’t come off before, I’m kinda looking for out of the box suggestions as I already soaked it in penetrating lube opened up the clamps with a screwdriver and tapped on the top but they still will not budge, I never worked on this bikes forks before this is my first deal job with this so I’m hoping it’s not from someone warping the tubes from cranking it too tight 

Edited January 17 by swapnifty

[bergilong]

4 minutes ago, swapnifty said:

Yeah I’m not worried about the rebuild or putting them back on the bike, I have a pretty good idea what one doing , I’ve just never had forks that wouldn’t come off before, I’m kinda looking for out of the box suggestions as I already soaked it in penetrating lube opened up the clamps with a screwdriver and tapped on the top but they still will not budge, I never worked on this bikes forks before this is my first deal job with this so I’m hoping it’s not from someone warping the tubes from cranking it too tight 

I had the same issue on my YZ125. I eventually had to just remove the handlebars and fork bleeders and beat the top of the forks with a dead blow. Not a gentle hit, but a few really good whacks. The issue was that the inside of the clamps has corroded a bit and caused the forks to get stuck in them. I won't promise that you won't damage anything by doing this, but that's what I had to do to get the forks out.

[PhilthyX]

13 minutes ago, swapnifty said:

Yeah I’m not worried about the rebuild or putting them back on the bike, I have a pretty good idea what im doing , I’ve just never had forks that wouldn’t come off before, I’m kinda looking for out of the box suggestions as I already soaked it in penetrating lube opened up the clamps with a screwdriver and tapped on the top but they still will not budge, I never worked on this bikes forks before this is my first deal job with this so I’m hoping it’s not from someone warping the tubes from cranking it too tight 

Wrap a rag around the upper tube and try GENTLY try twisting with some large adjustable pliers?

IMO sounds like you need to wedge both the clamps open farther and try tapping the 90 deg end of the pry bar I posted above into the lower clamp then use another one on the top if needed.

Might help if you had someone twisting the forks while you GENTLY pried on each clamp of the clamps

This is about as out of the box as I can get but remember you still have to deal with getting them back into the clamps if they are this hard to get out.

Good luck and just be gentle prying open the clamps.

 

 

Edited January 17 by PhilthyX

[PhilthyX]

3 minutes ago, bergilong said:

I had the same issue on my YZ125. I eventually had to just remove the handlebars and fork bleeders and beat the top of the forks with a dead blow. Not a gentle hit, but a few really good whacks. The issue was that the inside of the clamps has corroded a bit and caused the forks to get stuck in them. I won't promise that you won't damage anything by doing this, but that's what I had to do to get the forks out.

Once the bleeders are are remove, maybe a block of wood on top of the fork, then have at it ?

I got my 05 CRF250R forks out after like 12 years by prying open the clamps by myself but this is just MY experience.

Otherwise I'm bored 🙂

[TarzanXR650]

Take a drill bit a little larger than the bleeder screw caps  (so that you have a little play) and pre-drill the block of wood of the bleeder caps to fit inside,  Then you can hit the block of wood with a dead blow hammer without worrying about your bleeder screws being damaged. 

[PhilthyX]

2 minutes ago, TarzanXR650 said:

Take a drill bit a little larger than the bleeder screw caps  (so that you have a little play) and pre-drill the block of wood of the bleeder caps to fit inside,  Then you can hit the block of wood with a dead blow hammer without worrying about your bleeder screws being damaged. 

Personally I'd take the aftermarket bleeders out cus why risk snapping one off if the block moved during that process?

 

[Piney Woods]

Wow!

[PhilthyX]

Whoopee 🙂

[bweighmaster]

Fun times ..    try driving them up instead of down .....

[blaine gravagna]

Flat head to pry the clamp open and wiggle the fork at the same time til it comes out

[old off roader]

Everyone is pointing you in the right direction But what I found works best is to GENTLY drive 2 large flat blade screw drivers in the upper and lower clamps at the same time than apply WD- 40 or PB Blaster and let it sit awhile.

you might want to buy a rubber strap wrench, very useful. Good luck.

[gregsportster]

Triple clamps may be out of alignment.  If so, loosen the top nut, put the tyre back on for leverage if necessary, and pull them back into alignment.  When aligned properly the fork tubes should drop right our after you have loosened the pinch bolts, spread the clamps, and added some WD-40.

Good luck, Gregg

[Robert Knott]

Once the screwdrivers are inserted into to upper & lower pinch slots, can't you use a socket & breaker bar/ratchet on the top nut of the fork to attempt to rotate the upper fork to break it loose?

Bob