I recently thought it would be a good time to change the oil in my 2006 280's front forks and my dad thought he would do his 2007 250 at the same time

When we took mine apart i noticed the two springs where painted red and that a lot of the paint was chiping off, which wouldnt be good for the valving, it was near imposible to get the tubes completly clean but i guess it doesnt really matter if i am putting back the same paint chiping springs, and the same thing was begining to happen to my dads bike

so my questions are this:

Why would you paint these springs they are in oil so i dont think rust would be a problem?

I herd that someone is making stiffer springs...what weight are the original springs designed for? what weight are the aftermarket springs designed for? is anyone using these springs and what do you think of them? are these after market springs painted too?

well i have to admit changing the oil the front forks felt much improved

well i have to admit changing the oil the front forks felt much improved

I would not think painting them completely is a good idea as, or so you've already found, the paint flakes off due to the underlying steel flexing and the outer part of the coil rubbing against the upper tube and ends up in the shim stack, messing up the damping. Sometimes there will be paint stripes on the springs to indicate their spring rate, but other than Eibach springs that have a special flexible coating that works well, most springs are bare.

The stock springs generally work well for most riders as they can be preloaded (+ or -), as necessary, to suit and you can adjust for bottoming problems by an oil level change and change damping characteristics (individually for compression and rebound, which is why they don't have both in the same tube like MX bikes) by using different oil viscosities. You may want to have the springs glass bead blasted, which will remove the paint but not disturb the surface area.

Jon