AndyH

Fork Oil.....

14 posts in this topic

   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slowly withdrawn to allow the oil to drain off it.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 by AndyH
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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.

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Great write up Andy, you make it look easy..

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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!!!!!

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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.....

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I think its going on my to do list on my next service, which is in about 2 months time.

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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?

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No I didn't Mick..They seem o/k so were left well alone mate.

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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.....

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Very true Ken.

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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...

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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 !

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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 

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They seem to be nice and plush and work with no issues

that I can see dave...

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