i need some advice

last night i took my front forks off to replace the oil seal on one of them. i havent taken the forks apart yet, but other than the seal, how do i check what else needs to be replaced. im trying to keep this cheep so i would rather not buy new springs but how can i tell if i need them. from reading other threads i herd guys talkin about spring rate and bad valves and all kinds of crap that went over my head. i need a hand on what to look for. oh, and its an 02 r6 with over 20k on it. i just got it so help telling weather things have already been replaced would be cool too

thanks

There really isn't an easy way to tell if your internals are shot. You can get your springs checked for spring rate at a machine shop and you can measure their length for sag. I can get you the rate and length tomorrow.

As far as valves go... Stock valves are good for stock but kind of crappy compared to what is availible in the aftermarket. You can get an idea of their condition based on the fluid you pour out of the fork. If the oil looks really shiny and metallic then the reeds in the valve stack are probably degrading. Some of the metallic flakes come from the springs and the insides of the fork tubes, but that is a cheap indicator. The down side is you probably don't have a lot of fork experience to be able to compare and contrast what comes out of your forks.

ok, i took the forks completly apart yesterday, cleaned them up and put in the new seals and dust boots. the right tube was the only one that was leaking and the oil in it was pretty nasty. the left side was like new, the oil was stil golden and all. i noticed later that the sombody had put the seal in backwards on the right side so i guess that was the problem.

anyway, i still need to put the new oil in. can i just put in the recomended amount and be done, or is there bleading involved? is that where that screw on the bottom side of the fork comes into play? if not, what is that screw for!?!