| Author | Message | ||
     Jphish |
I can go along with just about everything the Buell engineers recommend on the service schedule. In fact the Uly is one of the most maintenance free bikes I own. I do both oil & tranny @ 5K with AMSsynthetic. However...I've never had a 'road' bike require a 10K interval on fork oil changes - even my KLR is @ 18K interval (and ya don't even have to remove the fork assy from the bike). If you havent used the Uly like a 'mud mule' just how important is it to do the 10K change ? I was going to stretch it to at least 15K. Bad Bad Uly guy!! I'm willing to listen to reason though. j | ||
| Sleez |
no experience with an XB based bike yet, but when i changed the fluid in my S3 forks....whoa!!! night and day difference. you don't realize how much they change since you ride it all the time, but in my case, it helped for sure, and since then, i always do it on schedule! | ||
| Mbest |
On My '08 Uly the oil still looked clean when I changed out mine at about 10K miles. I took the opportunity to fine tune the suspension in the front to better suit my riding style by changing to 15wt fork oil instead of the factory "E" (10wt) oil. After some more ride time (only one change at a time) I also raised the fork oil level 1/2" higher than the book spec. After that I had better high speed damping, reduced fork dive on braking and improved response to damping adjustments. mike | ||
| Tginnh |
Jphish - I'm agonizing over the same issue right now. To the person, I'm sure you will receive nothing but positive advice on adhering to the maintenance schedule. And rightly so. Personally, I'm not up for disassembling the front end right now and I'm certainly not willing to fork over $200 (priced it recently) for an oil change (sounds ridiculous when framed that way). So, for now, I will suffer with a less than optimal performing suspension and deal with it in another 5k or so. btw - I have stated on other threads recently that my only disappointment so far with my Uly has been the sidecases. I lied. Learning the forks had no drain plugs (guess I should have noticed by now) was a major disappointment. My cynical mind can only draw one conclusion... | ||
| Dr_greg |
Hey, I've followed directions my entire life, and it hasn't turned out too badly. Consider doing the change yourself; it isn't that hard, and there are those of us who will help you along... --Doc | ||
| Tginnh |
Absolutely, Doc. I've followed many of your posts and others as well and appreciate all the photos and instructions. I will eventually get a round2it and perform the service. | ||
| Jphish |
Tginnh - I feel your pain. But Doc is usually right about such things. Dang ! So far no one has said "ah hell, you can double the mileage, no problem... Guess the easterbuny is just late. I got 287 mi before I hit 10K. I Got the manual for guidence, just need inventory of 'special' tools and warnings of the "DONT EVER DO THIS" or the bike will explode, kind. Doc - looks like you made some of the tools . Anyone else go up a notch on viscosity like Mbest? Thanks all - Gonna rain for next 10 days and I'm layed off/reretired again - may as well do something productive between naps. j | ||
| Jlnance |
ah hell, you can double the mileage, no problem. I've skipped them before. I did a fork oil change, rode around the country, 8000 plus miles in 3 weeks, a couple thousand more after I got home. So 5 weeks later and I've put 10k miles on the bike. There is no way in hell the fork oil is worn out, it's only 5 weeks old. I've tried to understand the logic between 10k fork oil changes myself. After all, the transmission oil has a 10k change interval too. The transmission actually has gears grinding away in it, and a clutch that wears off bits. Compared to that, what is there to wear out fork oil? It's just got a spring bouncing around in it. The only think I can think of is they are worried about water getting inside the forks. I suspect mileage is an extremely poor way to gauge the state of fork oil. Time would probably be better, combined with such factors as "how much have you ridden in the rain." The services are specified in miles though, so I guess they have to work it in there somehow. 10k miles is 5 years for a fair number of people, 2 or 3 years for a lot of people. That seems like a sane interval to me. There are people here who ride 10k miles a month in the summer. If they really need to change the oil every month, something is wrong. | ||
| Jphish |
Hey JInance - Good points all. Yeah, Mbest said his fork still oil looked new & I cant imagine it 'wearing out' in a year. You may be right about the 'mothership' concerns on water intrusion being primary issue. Since there is no bottom drain plug (like on my KLR) ya just gotta believe its not contaminated. Had my 08 for a year now - changed the tranny oil @ 1K & 5K - no discoloration - should have saved it for my chain saw bar oil - 20/50 probably a bit heavy for the forks. I don't want to disappoint Doc - but I'm steadfast in my wavering on this. Oh hell - I'll do it this time, but will run it to 15K next change...since I'm retired (again) will likely get all those miles this year. Did you stay with 10wt or move up to 15 ? j | ||
| Jphish |
OH Jim - BTW. Appreciate your 'NEW ULY OWNER INFO' Efforts. It's helpfull to ALL Uly owners...new or not. I've used it as a check list for planned preventative maintenance. Still pondering the bearings. Thinkin I'm just going to change to the KBC's, and hopefully be done with it. What ever happened to BEER ? Florida, Ulywife, you and a few others, had that thread going last year. Perhaps a revival in order? I got some brand new NTN spare front/rear bearings I'd contribute to the parts pool. Would just clean and repack the old ones as spares in case the KBCs loose their marbles. j | ||
| Jlnance |
I'll check on BEER. It's still alive, it just needs a push. Thanks for being the push. As to the bearings. I had replaced mine with Koyo bearings when I had about 28k on the originals. The Koyos failed 14k later. That makes me think the problem, whatever it is, isn't low quality bearings. I replaced the Koyos with SKF bearings, which are supposed to be top of the line (for $32 a bearing, they should be.) I got rid of the bike 13k miles later, so I don't know how they would have held up. My understanding is the new bearings have a different seal. I hope that fixes the problem, time will tell I guess. | ||
| Etennuly |
Well I think the problem with the responses being slanted in the direction of 'keep to the book' has to do with people lacking pride in their show of laziness towards going longer on the fork oil change. I have 36,000 miles on my '06 Uly and have not changed the fork oil yet. The sky did not fall, my first born was not abducted by aliens, it just hasn't been done yet. I think the 10,000 mile interval has more to do with optimum maintenance conditions for the bike. I am going to do it, as a matter of when the fork seals will need to be replaced and when the front end might be apart for the triple tree up date. I bought the fork oil a year and a half ago, its just that the bike is still working well and has not had any signs of seal failure, but I know it will be the same as putting new shocks on the pick-up. It will seem new again, feel better, and handle better. The parts that move in the fork are not like those in an engine or transmission. I do not do track days or off road events, most of what I do is fast cruising, be it highway(nearly no fork travel), or twisties(uses fork travel, but not hard pumping). When I drove dirt track race cars you could not even touch the shocks after a race because of heat build up. Forks are the same way. Use them to the extreme, you maintain to the extreme. | ||
| Jphish |
Etennuly - Sky hasn't fallen here yet either, but with todays rain... seems alot closer to the ground. My daughter has been acting a bit, well...alien lately. But could be because she's turning 30 this year. Anyway - I ride the Uly maybe 5% dirt. Thats 500 out of 10,000 mi. Thought I'd do more, but it is honestly just too heavy for the rough stuff. Mostly use the KLR for that kind of riding - plus don't care if it goes 'down' too much either. The Uly is my camping/fishing/adventure machine. Dirt roads no problem. I do have pride in my shiftless, lazy ways. Thanks for the reminder and words of encouragement. Was going to start on the forks - but a nap sounds pretty good right now. j | ||
| Etennuly |
Here! Here!  A nap it is! | ||
| Etennuly |
Oh and please don't let me talk you out of doing it! I just don't want you to ruin a good nap by worrying about it.  | ||
| Jphish |
Great nap on a rainy NW Sat. But what other kind do we have here?? Yawn - dreamed that a bunch of Uly elves did the fork oil change while I was sleeping - would be inconsiderate of me to display any distrust and check their work - so guess I'm good for another 10K or so. That was easy !! Thanks for the encouragement ! j  | ||
| Etennuly |
Another job well done! 10,000 it is!  | ||
| Nutsosane |
I'm going to get the 10k service done in a few weeks. I'll have my dealer substitute f/r wheel bearing change instead of fork oil. Next winter I'll get the forks and seals done. I had the fork oil changed on my 04 Lightning at 10k and it didn't need it, 20k feels more appropriate to me.NUTS | ||
| Jphish |
Hey Nuts - Sounds like a good trade off. Tackling a known problem for a theoretical one. Who ever had a front fork failure on a Uly due to skipping the 10K change? Now the wheel bearings...seems like a crap shoot. The odd thing is some have gone 35K or more with no bearing problems - some less than 5K. We just dont know which category were in - change 'em. Make sure they put the fast black ones in. j | ||
| Panhead_dan |
I have not had to worry about the fork oil change on mine. The seals have blown out right on schedule. | ||
| Cadhopper |
FYI; If any one is looking to rebuild their front forks and don't have the tools or have limited time to service bikes this is the quote I just got from Mike Hardy at Traxxion Dynamics. E-mail response; For the forks we charge $200 to service the forks. We completely disassemble the forks, clean/inspect all components, measure the tubes for straightness, polish the tubes, then reassemble with fresh oil and new OEM seals. The forks are like brand new! Our Fork Spring Kits are $124.95 and there is no additional charge to install the springs. I also asked about a new rear shock and this is what I was quoted; The Penske 8983 Double gives you ride height, preload, rebound, and high speed compression adjustments. This is the most popular shock and what I would recommend for your XB. The 8983 is $875 but our special pricing right now is $788. Any shock you choose we will set up with the correct spring for your weight and intended use plus set the shock to a good baseline. As delivered the shock is ready to bolt on. Please let me know how I can help. Thanks! He told me on the phone that the turn around time for the fork service at the moment is about 5-7 days. I've had shocks and forks rebuilt by these guys in the past and have never been disappointed with their quality or service. (Message edited by cadhopper on March 14, 2009) | ||
| Panhead_dan |
It may be that the reason there is no drain plugs on the forks is that they are so easy to remove and turn upside down. 5 minutes tops. It can be done so fast that one can forget to bust loose the tops first... | ||
| Jphish |
Panhead - What schedule are your fork seals blowing on ? As per factory specs or on their own timing ? What do suppose is the cause ? Warped, defective/out of round tubes? - bad seals? You're probably getting to be the fastest seal guy around. The Navy is looking for a few. Sorry for your troubles though. j | ||
| Panhead_dan |
Actually I've only replaced one set of seals. The funny part is that when the rh one blew, I replaced it rather than both and I knew better. Guess what happened next... At least they are both new and all is well with my forks. (till the next time!) As for the cause, it's me I'm sure. I am fairly hard on the bike. On one occasion that I can think of right now, the seal blew as soon as the front tire came back down kinda hard. The next time I blow a seal, I will look very closely at the seal retainer. I have a hunch that it is just popped out of place and could be popped right back in. | ||
| Etennuly |
Wolfridgerider blew out a seal on our Daytona trip. Odd it seemed to start after a long high wheelie.  Not that any of us have ever done that kind of thing before. | ||
| Rotorhead |
I serviced my forks and all seals and bushings at 47,000 miles. I was planing on beating the crap out of my shocks off road for a few thousand miles so I wanted a fresh start on the oil. The oil was still transpartent and looked close to the new oil I was putting in. After 2 1/2 years the oil viscosity has to be broken down. There was light wear on the bushings. I could have rotated them and used them again but as cheap as they are they were replaced. Looks can be decieving. I was told buy a very good mech and 2 seperate HD service managers that they personnally would not replace oil at a milage interval but a time and useage interval. If you ride rough terrain and hard change more often. LD rides and slab forget about it change it when you get board some rainy saturday afternoon. Next time your in a HD service Dep ask what the interval for say a V rod or a fat boy or even a Ultra is. It would be neat to see what the difference is. One would think a larger diameter fork ( more oil and more surface area for wear) would be serviced less often. | ||
| Florida_lime |
-------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ FYI; If any one is looking to rebuild their front forks and don't have the tools or have limited time to service bikes this is the quote I just got from Mike Hardy at Traxxion Dynamics. E-mail response; For the forks we charge $200 to service the forks. We completely disassemble the forks, clean/inspect all components, measure the tubes for straightness, polish the tubes, then reassemble with fresh oil and new OEM seals. The forks are like brand new! Our Fork Spring Kits are $124.95 and there is no additional charge to install the springs. I also asked about a new rear shock and this is what I was quoted; The Penske 8983 Double gives you ride height, preload, rebound, and high speed compression adjustments. This is the most popular shock and what I would recommend for your XB. The 8983 is $875 but our special pricing right now is $788. Any shock you choose we will set up with the correct spring for your weight and intended use plus set the shock to a good baseline. As delivered the shock is ready to bolt on. Please let me know how I can help. Thanks! He told me on the phone that the turn around time for the fork service at the moment is about 5-7 days. I've had shocks and forks rebuilt by these guys in the past and have never been disappointed with their quality or service. I've been debating the same exact thing, in addition to their fork cartridge upgrade. A sale helps, but it would still be pretty pricey after upgrading springs front and rear as well. I wish they were closer to me, and the wait wasn't as long.  | ||
| Jlnance |
Does the $200 fork service include the $124.95 spring kit? | ||
| Pso |
I put traxxion stuff on my 01 goldwing at 10K miles. It was like a whole new front end. | ||
| Cadhopper |
Jlnanc, The spring kit is extra so the fork service and spring kit would be around $325. Pso, Last time I was at Deals Gap I got to see a guy called Yellow Wolf run the Dragon on his Gold Wing with a Traxxion Suspension and it was pretty amazing. I had never seen anyone ride a touring bike that hard on such a tight road. |
