Fork oil change

[Guest davyboy]

All i want to do is upgrade to 15w to stiffen the front end up ive dropped the forks out and unscrewed the tops and drained off ,so ive been into topics and got the re-fil measurements but am confused regard to the air gap? Surely if i fill with 446ml oil then my air gap will be whatever space left from top of oil level to crew cap? Do i have to undo allen bolt at bottom of fork leg to drain fully or will it all come out of top? Preeeeshiate any help! Cheers.:confused::confused::confused:

[x11r 386]

Just drain as they are Davy then fill up with the required amont , I did mine last year with 15w and I put 500ml in each leg and I havent had any problems.

[Guest davyboy]

Cheers for your reply will crack on now, like to be sure before i build it up,nowt worse than avin to go back n start again.

[Guest D_J]

What kind of jack do you use for the front end when you drop the forks out?

And is it mandatory to drop them out? Or could they be drained with this kind of tool?

[Guest redex]

Best way is to strip 'em completely, but turning 'em upside and pumping em will be fine. I don't reckon much of sucking it out with a syringe to be honest!

[Guest D_J]

The tool is sold as a tool to be used for changing fork oil. It seemed convenient to keep the forks mounted.

But before buying such a tool, I wanted to know if that would work or not. I'm a newbie on forks, I've never opened one before.

[fast_eddy 712]

Read this post... http://www.hondax11.com/ips/index.php?/topic/4325-fork-seals/page__view__findpost__p__15381

[Guest D_J]

Read this post... http://www.hondax11....dpost__p__15381

Read that one.

So... it seems I should buy myself a proper stand for the front and do it properly...

How hard is the pretension of the springs? Will they jump out violently when the fork leg is opened? Any difficulties when closing the fork?

[fast_eddy 712]

The tool is sold as a tool to be used for changing fork oil. It seemed convenient to keep the forks mounted.

It isn't, it's sold as a tool to set the hight of the oil correctly. I won't reach the oil at the bottom of the fork leg!

Loosen all of the bolts before putting it up on a jack, just use a good car jack under the engine with a soft pad. Use some straps to stop it falling over.

Undo the bottom bolt, at the spindle end, before undoing the spring cap. No difficulties with spring pressure unless you are feeble

Don't cross-thread that cap when you put it back on.

[Guest D_J]

OK, Thanks. Think I got it now. Except for one thing. Why would I need to undo the bottom bolt? I'm only planning to change oil. I guess the bottom bolt is holding the damper unit and I don't really see the reason to take it out.

[fast_eddy 712]

Well you may as well do a proper job of it. Seeing as you're doing a fair bit of work anyway?

You want to clean all of the internals and check the condition of the bottom bush.