Fork oil

[Billy Ricks]

When you put fork oil in, do the same thing to get all the air out of those passages before trying to measure your oil level.

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Good advice. It takes a village to get all the little tidbits assembled.

[tkent02]

Running ATF as fork oil for a few days riding will get the insides of the forks very clean.

[chuck hahn]

You can tap them up and down on a block of wood too ..just like mom used to bounce the cake pan around to get air bubbles to rise out.

[koolaid_kid]

OK, K_K, does that make up for it?

No, you made me bruise my bum when I fell out of my chair. I need a massage.

[GateKeeper]

why not just put the right amount of fork oil into a measuring cup and put the same in each fork

and to clean my forks I just used some Varsol, sloshed it around, drained and repeated until it was all clear, let them dry out overnight and added my oil, put in the springs and put the caps back on...

easy...

[Steve]

No, you made me bruise my bum when I fell out of my chair. I need a massage.

Not by me.

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[hampshirehog]

I wash the insides out with a rag dunked in white spirit tied to the end of a rod or a stick. After 30 years there will be a lot of gunk down the bottom.

[Biggie]

If you want to do this properly, take off the forks. But before you take em off, loosen the top caps half a turn (you won't be able to loosen the caps once the forks are off the bike).
Once the forks are out, put the fork on the ground with the cap up and undo the cap, keeping pressure with you're bodyweight (so it won't fly all over the place or worse, in your face...).
With the cap off, take out the spring(s) and spacers and lay them in specific order that you taken them out.
Watch out because there is oil in there so do this above a container so not to soil your whole garage. Next let all the oil drip out and pump the fork to take most of the oil out. You can try to flush out most of the bad oil by putting atf in the inner fork tube and pump again to make the oil pass thru the outer fork but if that oil has been sitting in there for a long time, don't cut corners and do it properly by taking out the inner tubes and clean the whole thing with brake cleaner.
To take out the inner tube, undo the allen screw on the very bottom of the outer tube and take out the circlips above the fork seal. Pull the inner tube like a hammer to take out the fork seal, once the seal is out the inner tube will come out easy.
Clean the whole outer tube with brake cleaner and do the same with the inner tube. Put the inner tube back in the outer tube and fasten the allen screw. Put in NEW forkseals by using a rubber hammer and gently tap them into place. Once that's done, put in a new circlips (if it's corroded or bend, if it's nice and solid, you can use the same one).
Now you will have to fill the inner tube with oil, search for a repair manual and find out how much oil your forks need (for my gs750L '80 it was 180cc, i put in 200cc's because i'm a big fella). Once you have put in the oil, put back all the parts you took out (cleaned) in the order you took em out and screw the cap back on. Put the fork back in the tripple tree, fasten them and check if the cap is well tightened (don't tighten it to much, if you want to take them off in the future!).
Do the same for the other fork and you have a fully refurbished front-end!

As i ride my bike a lot (5K a month) i do this every 3 months. You should see how dirty the oil gets in 3 months!!

I don't take out the inner tube every 3 month's but i do it every year so i'm sure that all of the crap is out and my front suspension is in top shape.

Have fun! (the first time is the hardest, the next time it will go like nothing)

[cowboyup3371]

As i ride my bike a lot (5K a month) i do this every 3 months. You should see how dirty the oil gets in 3 months!!

I don't take out the inner tube every 3 month's but i do it every year so i'm sure that all of the crap is out and my front suspension is in top shape.

Have fun! (the first time is the hardest, the next time it will go like nothing)

This brings up an interesting question - how often SHOULD you change out your fork oil?

[lurch12_2000]

This brings up an interesting question - how often SHOULD you change out your fork oil?

Once every 13 years would still be better than what 70% of the old bikes have been changed.

[SeanMora77]

Wow, thanks all. Very helpful. Steve, since day one you've had this snarky attitude about everything I post. I understand you have alot of knowledge about motorcycles, and im grateful for the help, but if it annoys you soo much that you feel the need to dispense half arse advice than keep your advice to yourself. I have a pretty vast knowledge about guitars and if im ever asked for advice on the matter I am happy to help... Its just a guitar dude. Get over yourself.... Although I guess I might be a little cranky about life if I lived in Ohio.

[cowboyup3371]

Where was Steve getting snarky with you? Looks to me like he was asking a very solid question since you only said "I want to add fresh fork oil" not that you want to change it out.

[SeanMora77]

It isnt just this thread Im referring to, it's every thread I start that he comments on. There's just this tinge of annoyance and arrogance that comes with every piece of advice. I appreciate the advice IMMENSLY I just don't need the extra remarks, or leaving out helpful warnings such as what occurs when removing the cap. I could go back and quote several instances but I have much more important things to do with my time. All im saying is, if it's as bothersome to enlighten me with your advice as it appears to be, don't bother.

[koolaid_kid]

Sean, I am going to offer a couple of pieces of free but unasked for advice.
First, if you have an issue with a member, any member, please use the PMs. That is what they are for. Please do not air your dirty laundry in public, we don't want to know about it.
Second, Steve is a smartass, as are many members here, myself included. You can read a couple of my posts in this thread and realize that. But he is also one of the most knowledgeable and helpful members on this forum. You are biting the hand that feeds you and being a jerk yourself.
To summarize: if you have an issue with any of us, fine. Please use the PM system to deal with it. Including this post from me.
Best of luck, and I hope you can come to terms with all the different personalities on this forum.

[Steve]

Wow, thanks all. Very helpful. Steve, since day one you've had this snarky attitude about everything I post.

OK, no problem. Just please point out exactly where I was being "snarky".

Here are the posts that you have started in which I have replied. These are the full threads, nothing edited on my part.

Where to begin?....noobster

Idle screw nightmare

New GS owner... First mile on a long journey

How to fix this mess?

Fork oil

You have asked some specific questions in them, I have provided some specific answers.

You have expressed some opinions, I have given you some reasons why your opinion might not work.

You may have seen that, unlike some others, I won't just tell you "do this" or "don't do this", I will give some reasoning behind it. If that does not appeal to you, sorry about that.

Feel free to hit me with a PM or do it right here in the open, I have nothing to hide.

And I will be very happy to add you to my "Ignore List", where I won't even see any of your posts and won't be tempted to offer you any advice, no matter how right or important it might be.

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