FORK OIL CHANGE!

RED CAT

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Anyone done it? Have the volumn and measurement but not sure weather the forks have to be dismantled to drain them. Was hoping to just pull the caps off and drain them upside down. Also not sure which weight fork oil to use. Accepting experienced advice. Thanks. ::001::
 

stevepsd

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Not a bad thing to do every year. The oil (especially the factory fill) gets pretty nasty.

The best way is to disassemble the forks to completely clean and purge the old oil out of the cartridge, but just dumping out the oil and replacing is better than nothing. I would measure how much comes out and replace with like amount.

The Yamaha oil (Suspension oil type 01) is a 5wt oil. However fork oils with the same rating are vastly different in viscosity. Here is a link to Peter Verdone's viscosity chart http://www.peterverdone.com/archive/lowspeed.htm if you want to tweak your suspension response a bit.

I use Race Tech Ultra-Slick Fork Fluid myself http://www.rockymountainatvmc.com/p/44/54/280/1065/-/38266/Race-Tech-Ultra-Slick-Fork-Fluid/race+tech+oil
A Liter is enough for one change.
 

greg the pole

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I had to change out one of my fork seals. May revisit both forks this winter, as the oil in the forks is slightly different
(oem in one, aftermarket in the other)
 

Firefight911

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A very good thing to do when inspecting servicing forks is to get a cotton ball or cheese cloth and lightly run it up and down the fork tubes. If the cloth catches anywhere on the fork you know where the ding is and you can now take care if it. Helps prolong seals.
 

RED CAT

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Luckily I run Fork Skins since new, so no problem with fork seals yet. In case anyone is interested, the recommendation is for 01 Oil ,(Whatever that is) 17.11 Imp. Ounces or 5.91 inches without springs and guide from the top of the outer tube compressed. ::001::
 

greg the pole

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yup, went for a ride with him before the snow fell, and managed to steal his rox risers, install them on my bike,
Lovely jobely! I did buy him replacemnt risers, as a plus...no new brake lines needed!
 

RCDantzscher

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Just completed my fork seal replacement; they were bleeding ever since my trip to the Yukon in July. Wished I had a p :-[air of Shock Sox before hand...an ounce of prevention...pound of cure thingy. :-[
 

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Tremor38

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RCDinMN said:
Just completed my fork seal replacement; they were bleeding ever since my trip to the Yukon in July. Wished I had a p :-[air of Shock Sox before hand...an ounce of prevention...pound of cure thingy. :-[
Quote from Greg the Pole:
"that was a hard lesson for me, when I took the fork apart, i could have cleaned it with a seal mate, and been good to go without the rebuild,
but fork skins are on, seal mate in the tank bag
blackfoot carries them"
http://www.ebay.com/itm/-/290768538578

Jumping on seal replacement is trying the hard route first. Hopefully you tried the above before taking the forks apart. If not, I highly recommended having a seal mate handy to try to clean the seals first, if you encounter leaking again.
 

Toyamaha

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Thanks to RED CAT who told to use theses fork protector a while ago. I guess i just did not realise how a pain changing the oil in fork or seal would be. Toyamahahttp://www.yamahasupertenere.com/Smileys/DarkB/smiley008.gif
 

greg the pole

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straight forward enough.
Unscrewing the top part (not sure about the name) will require some colorful language. A spring tool would make the job much easier, but a second set of hands is just as good.
Remember to pump out all the old oil out, then draw in the new oil into the damper (remember when there's a drag on the dampner you're good to go).
Add proper amount of oil, measure level for correct oil amount in both legs (with spring out)
 

RED CAT

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Thanks Gentlemen. All good info. If I have the volumn amount (17.11 Imp oz.) and make sure to get all the old oil out, do I really need to bother with the measurement or Air Gap method? ::001::
 

mcrider007

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RED CAT said:
Thanks Gentlemen. All good info. If I have the volumn amount (17.11 Imp oz.) and make sure to get all the old oil out, do I really need to bother with the measurement or Air Gap method? ::001::
Yes, because you will never get all the old oil out unless you completely disassemble the forks. You should also use some kind of cleaner to remove the crud that will accumulate in the bottom of the forks and eventually get into the low speed compression damping circuits.
 

greg the pole

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Once taken apart, dunk the fOrk in a bucket of varsol,
Also pour some down the fork itself.
All internal parts can also be cleaned with varsol.
If you're in a pinch, I can allways give you a hand
 

RED CAT

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Thanks Greg. I have varsol handy. Good shit. Not expecting any problems but you never know. I'll flush with varsol then flush again with fork oil. Still not sure which weight fork oil though. Most likely start with 5W. ::001::
 

greg the pole

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i put in 10W on the blown fork seal that I had to fix...seems a bit stiff still for me (185 lb) may go with 7 or 7.5W next oil change.
5W might be a bit light for your weight
 
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