Changing front fork oil

[HarryHornby]

Hi All,


I keep hearing from you focers how replacing the fork oil with heavier oil makes a difference to the handling and so, when I bumped into my local mechanic in Asda earlier I asked him how long it would take.  He reckons an hour or so, but bonus, says he does private jobs and would be cheaper than at the garage...... BONUS!


His question that he wanted me to ask you guys was, if we are replacing with 15W (I think that's what you guys say to replace it with) what air gap do you leave in the fork?


Oh and one more question I think I know the answer, but is it ok to do this mod before changing the rear shock?  That's my next treat at some point.


Cheers

[flakey]

i bought my oil from a local garage and they said they always use FUCHS oils and there supplied in 10, 20, 30, wts, if I remember correctly it was 465mm I used in each fork after letting the drain overnight, i opted for 20wt oil in each fork and wound the rear shock up as hard it will go, suits me lovely and I dont have the budget for fancy shocks etc, bike is transformed and sooo much less dive from the front and the rear is no longer like a pogo stick, I like my bikes to have fairly stiff suspension so suits me well


wasnt a hard job to do on my own, I just ratchet strapped the front of the bike to garage roof beams and took the front wheel out, easy to then remove the forks, just take your time.


good luck

[His Dudeness]

The workshop manual says "Front fork leg oil level a (from the top of the inner tube, with the inner tube fully compressed and without the fork spring) 121 mm"

[darrsi]

The workshop manual says "Front fork leg oil level a (from the top of the inner tube, with the inner tube fully compressed and without the fork spring) 121 mm"

top top top


That's the level for a 98/99 model.


The 00/01 and 02/03 models have the adjusters in them so the air gap is 132mm.
(apart from my bike which has older forks on)


It's a great but simple mod and i promise you you'll notice a big difference with much firmer handling up front.
Doing the front first can only be an improvement anyway so just do the rear whenever you can.

[HarryHornby]

mine is a 51 plate so should have an adjuster

So does that gap stay the same regardless of what weight oil goes in?


And what weight is the "recommended" weight from you guys?  Is it 15w?

[darrsi]

mine is a 51 plate so should have an adjuster

So does that gap stay the same regardless of what weight oil goes in?


And what weight is the "recommended" weight from you guys?  Is it 15w?

The gap is just for oil level purposes, to allow the correct space for the up and down movement of the forks without squirting it out of the seals.


15w all day long for me.


I changed my forks for older ones which was part of my nightmare that i had when i had braking issues a few years back, there was nothing wrong with my old ones, as i now know, and i sprayed them up and re-laquered them and some lucky sod got a right bargain from me.
I never found that the adjusters did anything at all anyway, and i always had them set at the firmest point.


I just read somewhere of someone using 20w, but that would be really firm, although if you're a bit of a lump then i s'pose it may suit.


But seriously, stick with the 15w, 10w simply isn't up to the job if you're sticking with stock fork parts.

[midden]

mine is a 51 plate so should have an adjuster

So does that gap stay the same regardless of what weight oil goes in?


And what weight is the "recommended" weight from you guys?  Is it 15w?

if you don't know whether your forks have adjusters then perhaps your best first mod would be to adjust the adjusters you'll surely find when you look

[darrsi]

[quote author=HarryHornby link=topic=20191.msg232969#msg232969 date=1464327471]

mine is a 51 plate so should have an adjuster

So does that gap stay the same regardless of what weight oil goes in?


And what weight is the "recommended" weight from you guys?  Is it 15w?

if you don't know whether your forks have adjusters then perhaps your best first mod would be to adjust the adjusters you'll surely find when you look
[/quote]


That is a bit of a valid point  :lol