| Author | Message | ||
     Ontheroad68 |
I need to add some fork oil (29mm) to the front forks. I just had them rebuilt at a reputable suspension shop, but they felt really soft and wallowy. I looked at my receipt and it says they added 90mm of 5w oil. Great! Supposed to have 119mm. I haven't taken these apart, but it looks like if I just need to add fluid I can remove the snap ring off the preload adjuster, remove preload adjuster, then add oil. Is this correct? Or do I have to remove the fork cap? I''d like to leave the forks on the bike if possible.... | ||
| Ontheroad68 |
aprox 2.25oz if I did my math right | ||
| Nillaice |
Did you check the rebound and compression settings? The fork caps gotta come off to add oil. You can guess and add oil but you are supposed to pull the spring and fully compress the forks to check the level. Sounds like the shop didn’t have a service manual to reference. ... hmmmf I know there are several threads on here about rebuilding the forks. It’s about as easy as it looks | ||
| Shoggin |
Buellmods.com  | ||
| Hangetsu |
Forgive the question, but why are you even considering doing this yourself? A "reputable" suspension shop screwed it up; have them fix it. Why spend time and more money to fix the mistake of a shop that is responsible for their work? | ||
| Ontheroad68 |
Good question. The short answer is the guy running the shop is a major •••••••, and not only do I not want to deal with him again, I also just don't trust him at this point. When I went to pick up the forks and pay with a credit card, he suggested I pay with a check when I clearly didn't like the 3% fee he was going to charge for using the card. I called the bank this morning and put a stop payment on the check. When the suspension shop opens tomorrow I'm going to call and have a discussion with them. I am really, really sick and tired of being forced to pay for other people's mistakes (not just motorcycles). The fact that a suspension shop couldn't take 2 minutes to look up the correct fluid level after I very clearly specified that I want everything factory original (No changes!!!) makes me disappointed, pissed off and not inclined to pay anything if I don't have to. | ||
| Hangetsu |
Sorry to hear of that experience. Let's hope the forces of free-market karma do their job. | ||
| Mark_weiss |
A few notes, you should not need to add, but remove, fork oil. For oil measurement is taken downward, from the top of the tube. That is, if your fork oil height is supposed to be at 119mm, that is 119 mm BELOW the top of the tube. The measurement is taken with the air bled, the fork fully compressed, with the spring removed. The measurement indicates the smallest that the airspace above the oil should ever get. If the shop filled the forks to 90 mm down, small bumps should feel the same as normal but larger bumps, or heavy braking, should feel stiffer. This is the affect of the air inside the fork, above the oil, being compressed and "adding" some spring stiffness. Damping, compression and rebound, are unaffected. Before removing fork oil, check the setting of the rebound damping needle. If the fork is correctly assembled, the total number of clicks from closed to open will match the specification for your year forks. If that's OK, check your owner's manual and set the rebound and compression damping adjusters to the factory recommended setting for your climate and riding preference. Then, check the ride. | ||
| Tootal |
Mark is correct. The rebound damping needle must be preset to a specific amount of clicks. I missed this in the book because it's just one paragraph and I glanced over it and had to go back and do it correctly. Also he said he used 5wt. oil. Shock oil varies from brand to brand. It's not like motor oil, there's no standard. I used 5wt. Amsoil because I found the stock fluid too stiff. My adjusters didn't make much difference. They do now and I like it. Stock is Type E Harley fluid, whatever that is. The Service Manual is very good if you don't have one. | ||
| Mark_weiss |
Assembly of the top cap to damping rod is very specific on our generation of Showa forks. The needle needs to be pre-set to a specific position, then the cap lock nut lightly snugged down, then the needle backed off while the nut is brought to locking torque. Finally, check that the needle has not lost it's adjustment by more than one click. This is not hard at all do to, it just needs to be remembered to be done. |
