Posted May 16, 2016 (edited) Well,tackled the fork oil yesterday.All of the calipers,linked brake pipes and gubbins were already removed from the forks when I resprayed the bottoms so me and my mate Pete from around the corner waded straight in. First off the trolley jack and a piece of wood were used to elevate the front of the bike a few inches and then the wheel was whipped out.Left hand fork first...The two pinch bolts were loosened and the fork slid out.Round to Petes house as he has a vice. The top cap was undone using a huge Allen bit..fortunately I have a box set of 6 and the largest one was the correct size..Once the cap was unscrewed from the fork leg,a 14mm spanner was inserted underneath and the locking nut was loosend. The top cap was then removed followed by the spacer,then a washer and finally the spring was slowly withdrawn to allow the oil to drain off it. The fork was then upended over a measuring jug and the contents poured out.The stanchion was pumped sevral times and then so was the damper rod. What came out was a disgusting dark grey watery mushroom soup type fluid...Probably been in there for 16 years and 20000 miles. We then suspended the upended fork still over the measuring jug using some wire from Petes garage door. This was left for about 20 minutes to continue to drain and drip while we had a cup of tea and Pete had a nourishing Fag !!! The correct amount of fresh fresh fork oil was measured and poured in.The stanchion and damper rod were pumped about 10 times. The air gap was checked and was about 6 1/2 inches or thereabout..I arnt going to loose any sleep over a few mms.. The spring was measured to see if it had reached the minumum service length of about 314. mm and was easily longer than this and so was reused. Spring in,then washer,then spacer then top cap was screwed onto the damper rod and locked off again using a 14 mm spanner.Make sure that the rubber sealing ring isnt pinched!!! The fork was refitted and the pinch bolts torqued up..I think it was 17 foot pounds top and about 37 foot pound bottom..I cant remember ,but its all in the electronic manual. Then this was reapeated on the right fork leg. Easy peasy...If I can do it ,then anyone can. Would I recommed it??? Having seen what came out of the forks ,then absolutely yes.Maybe every 5 years or so. Here are some pictures. http://s1031.photobucket.com/user/andrewhigginson/slideshow/Fork%20Oil%20May%202016 Edited May 16, 2016 by AndyH 1 Share this post Link to post
Posted May 16, 2016 Hi after seeing the stuff that came out I think thats an other job on my list. Brill pics hope the misses didnot mine you using her measuring jugs for the day. 1 Share this post Link to post
Posted May 16, 2016 Cheers Ken.Its just big boys meccano really..just like the rest of the bike.. Didnt tell the missus Brian...dont think that I will be trying the gravey for sunday lunch for a while though!!!!! 0 Share this post Link to post
Posted May 16, 2016 The only let down on this procedure chaps..is that I cant give you a before and after comparison.I have only ridden the bike home a couple of months ago,and it is now sorn and off the road for a while longer..... 0 Share this post Link to post
Posted May 16, 2016 I think its going on my to do list on my next service, which is in about 2 months time. 0 Share this post Link to post
Posted May 16, 2016 Great job Andy, if I tried to type that much it would take me at least a week. Did you change the seals at the same time? 0 Share this post Link to post
Posted May 17, 2016 No I didn't Mick..They seem o/k so were left well alone mate. 0 Share this post Link to post
Posted May 17, 2016 I once replaced the seals on a XJR 1200 which I used to own, not leaking just replaced them same time that I changed the fork oil... the new buggers leaked from day 1 eventually replaced with genuine Yamaha seals..result. so if it ain't broke..... 0 Share this post Link to post
Posted May 20, 2016 Just in process of doing mine, also replacing the springs with hagon progressive.. However I'm a bit confused, as it says 446ml of oil but hagon are saying 130mm air gap. Well to get the 130 mm air gap I've not used all the 446ml of oil... 0 Share this post Link to post
Posted May 21, 2016 When I had standard forks I put 15 wt oil in and put 1/2 ltr in each leg to reduce the air gap . If you like braking hard this stops the forks bottoming ! 1 Share this post Link to post
Posted July 14, 2016 any updates on wether you have noticed a difference with changing the oil andy.?? im interested in trying this myself but not sure if i should just change the oil or put some thicker oil in forks, or just go all out and spend a £100+ on some new fork springs 0 Share this post Link to post
Posted February 15, 2017 They seem to be nice and plush and work with no issues that I can see dave... 0 Share this post Link to post