fork oil change without removing forks?

[snowbeard]

so I looked at my clymers and it only describes the oil changing procedure in conjunction with removing the forks and rebuilding everything, but if I look at the forks it seems there may be drains on the bottom if you have the front wheel removed...? can I get away with it on the bike??

if I can drain them on the bike, how do I know the exact oil measurements? it was listed in the clymers, but can I trust that?? I can measure oil down to the mL (cc) with a syringe if need be?

thanks!!!

[gspaul]

From your avatar it look's like you have a 650GT, nice bike.
OK, you do one fork at a time without takeing out the front wheel.
On the outside of the fork leg down near the axel, there is a small drain bolt, loosen this, put a rag around the fork leg to direct the oil in to a container or it will squirt all over the place.Remove the drain bolt.
Now get on the bike and pump that front end, all the oil will squirt out, just keep pumping till it's all out,then just let the last bit drain for 1/2 an hour or so.
Replace drain bolt do NOT overtighten or it will strip.
Remove the cap out of the top of the fork, now you can either pour a bit of kero in there put the fork cap back on and pump it to clean out the fork, or go straight to refilling with oil, a 15w or a 20w seem's to work well on the 650s, I use 15w.
The Suzuki workshop manual say's 251ml per fork leg, The Clymer's I have say's 210ml which I believe is wrong!So you should be right with 251ml.
I have 265ml in my Kat ,and that feel's good.
Some people will tell you you must mesure the level of the fork oil ,but I never have, I'm just carefull how much I put in, never had a problem.

[snowbeard]

well not that it changes anything, but it is a GX

I've changed some things on it over the years.

one big question I've had is oil wt, if I'm a light rider, would I want thinner oil to let it react more quickly to less force, or will thicker oil help counteract the tendency to throw me off with it's rebound... :?


so is the drain bolt on the rear side of the fork, the outside (opposite the wheel) or... and it's just a regular bolt head, right? I usually can identify these things, but haven't looked as closely as I need to...

so maybe as long as I at least have the same amount of oil in each I'll be pretty well off?

thanks!!

[jimcor]

Its just a small bolt or phillips screw at the bottom of the forks on the outside near the axel. If there is no drain plug (later Kawasaki Concours models do not have a fork oil drain plug) you can use a "Mighty Vac" to suck the oil out from the top of the fork legs after you remove the springs.

I reccommend using the Suzuki spec oil values before you begin to experiment.

I would call my local Suzuki Dealer, ask for the service manager and ask could he please look up the volume of oil for your bike. Send him a thank you note. These guys get **** on a lot. If you can make a friend at the shop with a card it's really worth it. Go by and buy the fork oil if they're close and have it in stock.

Rock On!

[snowbeard]

I should have some friends in one of these shops, I bought the guy a sixer for a free rubber strap for my battery! no one seems to remember... :roll:

thanks for the advice tho, I just need to find the right shop! found the bolts too, got them confused and thought it was just the one that holds the wire loop for the speedo cable!

now to find a station that still sells kerosene!! 8O