Fork oil change

[dazza]

Hello Foccer's, after reading a thread somewhere where Mike (Falcon) referred to damage caused by not changing the front fork oil regularly got me thinking I need to change mine. So,  what's the easiest way to do this ? Can I do it with them in place ? Are they drain holes located at the bottom of the stanchions ? What's the recommended oil ? Is it worth changing the springs to Ohlins to complement the rear while I'm at it ? Sorry for the barrage of questions but I've never felt that confident when it comes to working on front forks for some reason. Any advice much appreciated.

[sadlonelygit]

don't forget to do the filters while you're at it.

[dazza]

don't forget to do the filters while you're at it.

?....Now I'm confused, wasn't aware there was a filter in them.

[sadlonelygit]

DISASSEMBLING THE FRONT FORK LEGS
The following procedure applies to both of the
front fork legs.
1. Remove:

cap bolt 1
(from the damper adjusting rod)

nut 2
Remove the cap bolt with the piston rod holder 3 .
2. Remove:

spacer 1

spring seat 2

spring 3

damper adjusting rod 4
3. Drain:

fork oil

from the manual and............fork oil filters............april comes early this year

[unfazed]

don't forget to do the filters while you're at it.

?....Now I'm confused, wasn't aware there was a filter in them.

[dazza]

Yeah,  good one.  I did wonder. They don't call you git for nothing I suppose.

[Camshaft]

you and me both mate, mine need doing also, looks like a fairly easy job just a fair chunk of time to allocate…..

[sadlonelygit]

seriously now!!!
to do a proper job you need to fit new seals and clean out the crud that has gathered in your fork legs.
allow 6 hours to do it properly (if you have access to an airline).
get some wd in a non aerosol form, pour it into each fork leg, bleed the damping up to work it into all those little orifices, pump it a bit more and drain. dry with the airline through the damper rod bolt hole (bottom of fork leg).
no special tools req'd apart from rattle gun or damper rod holder, jut a methodical manner and somewhere clean to lay it all out.

[Dead Eye]

Delboy's Garage, How-To replace regular type fork seals.

I used this for reference when doing my 600 and the thou won't be significantly different I imagine. Its worth doing the seals and oil, replacing the spring is completely up to you, but is easy enough considering the rest of the work

I had a few issues with the damper rod bolts being stuck and ended up buying a wooden broom handle from Homebase, soaking one end in water (for more resistance / friction) and putting the fork leg upside down on top of the broom handle. Got them off that way in the end

[Simon.Pieman]

seriously now!!!
to do a proper job you need to fit new seals and clean out the crud that has gathered in your fork legs.
allow 6 hours to do it properly (if you have access to an airline).
get some wd in a non aerosol form, pour it into each fork leg, bleed the damping up to work it into all those little orifices, pump it a bit more and drain. dry with the airline through the damper rod bolt hole (bottom of fork leg).
no special tools req'd apart from rattle gun or damper rod holder, jut a methodical manner and somewhere clean to lay it all out.

To do it 'properly' would actually mean dismantling the forks and cleaning the valve stack thoroughly and checking wear on the bushes, rather than messing about with WD40 (which incidently has no detergent properties so wouldn't do much anyway)
 In the interim of a strip down, draining the oil and replacing with new is sufficient.
No need to replace seals if they are not leaking, K-tech don't, there's no reason to.

[lewiseyers]

youll be amazed at the perfectly good uses wd 40 has i clean all sorts with it.. it cuts through grease and crud better than any detergent ive ever used


spray in to a rag and wipe your chain ready to re lube is also another ace use


cleaning of "grease/lube fling"  of the body work from the chain is a sinch too, not to mention a superb wheel and brake dust cleaner, NOTE not the brakes just the dust off the wheels

[red98]

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