98 CR 250 fork leaking

[80stars]

Need help, I just bought my first bike a 98 cr 250. The previous owner said he just had the fork seals replace in the fall and has done very little riding since. The bike was a total mess with mud/dirt, grease everywhere and after some TLC now looks great. It starts easy runs well and overall appears in great shape but the front right fork cylinder has a slight leak. I cleaned it up and slid some photo film under the wiper to clean out any dirt caked up under the seal. It appears to have stoped the drip, but how do I know if there is enough oil left in the strut? Also, the forks are coated with oil after I pump the fork up and down a few times, is this normal??? Am I looking at a rebuild? I plan to do only light non aggresive trail riding.

[Florida 393]

I'd hazard a guess that that seal is torn a slight bit and you probably need to look at replacing them. Do both since they come in a set, I use Pivot Works my self. Get a Honda Shop manual form their web site or a dealer. Helms Inc publishes them and sells them on-line. You have to pull the fork legs to take the cap off the top/damper rod and put the fork all the way down to measure the oil level from the top of the tube to the oil's meniscus.

Bill

[80stars]

Thanks for the advise, got a service manual and will order seals.