Change your fork oil
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Not to bad for my first go at it. The next time will take less than one hour.
I swapped the stock springs with Racetech springs. The oil swap only took about two hours. I spent a lot of extra time working the damper rod to get all the old fluid out and then work it again to get new fluid working through the rod before assembly. I measured in the fluid 50ml at a time to get exactly the same amount in as recommended (a little anal retentive on the measurement stuff).
I spent another hour and a half measuring the old spring and spacer stack and cutting the new ones. I ended up with about .001" difference. A lot of measure twice and cut once and taking my time. I don't know if the precision is necessary, but it is easier to do then find out later and redo.
I'm fabbing up a shock spring compressor to swap that out with a Racetech spring this coming weekend.
The info I got from some of the other posts helped a lot. When I started taking things apart it did not seem total new.
I swapped the stock springs with Racetech springs. The oil swap only took about two hours. I spent a lot of extra time working the damper rod to get all the old fluid out and then work it again to get new fluid working through the rod before assembly. I measured in the fluid 50ml at a time to get exactly the same amount in as recommended (a little anal retentive on the measurement stuff).
I spent another hour and a half measuring the old spring and spacer stack and cutting the new ones. I ended up with about .001" difference. A lot of measure twice and cut once and taking my time. I don't know if the precision is necessary, but it is easier to do then find out later and redo.
I'm fabbing up a shock spring compressor to swap that out with a Racetech spring this coming weekend.
The info I got from some of the other posts helped a lot. When I started taking things apart it did not seem total new.
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Wow... that's pretty nasty stuff! I guess I too need to look into doing this as well
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I applaud you for doing the work yourself. But you have to be careful on your next project with the shock spring. I have a simple lever-type changer for changing springs, but it's for when bikes had two shocks. The single shock spring stores twice as much destructive energy.f4ilapper said:
I'm using both Pitbull front-forklift and rear stands to hold the bike. The pic was of a rear shock spring compressor.
Quote:
That handle looks short. (it might just be the pic)
You might have to get some extra leverage for 100lb's+-Jeeps84
I'm also considering one that has two threaded rods and a 1/4" plate at each end. It seems a little safer and should have pletty of strength.
Thanks for the advice and words of caution. :twfrox:
Quote:
That handle looks short. (it might just be the pic)
You might have to get some extra leverage for 100lb's+-Jeeps84
I'm also considering one that has two threaded rods and a 1/4" plate at each end. It seems a little safer and should have pletty of strength.
Thanks for the advice and words of caution. :twfrox:
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893 Posts
We've changed people's fork oil that hadn't done it in years. Man, that stuff stinks! It'll stink up the whole 4,000 sq ft shop in no time flat. Yuck! 
Here's my :2cents: worth of understanding.
The color indicates the degree of contamination from everything moving and amounts of external dust that comes in around the seal. The way the fork oil is being used is different than that of engine oil as a coolant. In the fork the fluid is one of the working component that it's viscosity as it is moving through the valves is directly related to the performance, how fast or slow it flows. Where as in the engine it is just a coolant and to flush contaminents from moving parts. In the engine there are more moving parts and more friction related contaminents, a little bit from everything makes it dirty. In the fork there are only a few moving parts, less parts means more friction per part to get the same dirty oil.
I'm not sure if this makes sense reading it. Hope it helps.
The color indicates the degree of contamination from everything moving and amounts of external dust that comes in around the seal. The way the fork oil is being used is different than that of engine oil as a coolant. In the fork the fluid is one of the working component that it's viscosity as it is moving through the valves is directly related to the performance, how fast or slow it flows. Where as in the engine it is just a coolant and to flush contaminents from moving parts. In the engine there are more moving parts and more friction related contaminents, a little bit from everything makes it dirty. In the fork there are only a few moving parts, less parts means more friction per part to get the same dirty oil.
I'm not sure if this makes sense reading it. Hope it helps.
This forum and the dialog made it a lot easier diving in and doing it myself. The info that Speedwerks, Twisty, Gas Man, and others put up helped out a lot. For the $12 or so for new fluid it is a cheap insurance to keep the bike working ok. :twfrox:
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That's what the shop owner said...SpeedWerks.com said:We've changed people's fork oil that hadn't done it in years. Man, that stuff stinks! It'll stink up the whole 4,000 sq ft shop in no time flat. Yuck!
F4i... glad we could all help and I give ya :dthumb: for goin' at yourself!!!
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