Fork Oil Level Questions Again. Please Help.

[Anonymous]

I inquired about fork oil amount and level on a 83 GS1100E. I was told 8.31 ozs and 7.7 oil height. I put in 8.3 and have an oil level of around 10 inches. 7.7 would have the oil level higher than the air hole. Does anyone have different specs. Am I missing something or do I have different forks. Also if anyone has a diagram of the 82-83 type fork could you email it to me. My forks had different numbers of copper washers in the bottom of the tubes. 2 on one ,3 on the other. Help. I really need to finish this.
TIA

[Don Lobacz]

The quantity of oil is straightforward: drain the forks (and anti-dives) and add the oil. The oil level should be the distance measured from the top of the fork tube down to the oil level with the fork springs removed. If you noticed something odd like the numbers of washers not matching, then I would definitely get a manual and recheck everything.

[moto_dan]

Re: Fork Oil Level Questions Again. Please Help.

I inquired about fork oil amount and level on a 83 GS1100E. I was told 8.31 ozs and 7.7 oil height. I put in 8.3 and have an oil level of around 10 inches. 7.7 would have the oil level higher than the air hole. Does anyone have different specs. Am I missing something or do I have different forks. Also if anyone has a diagram of the 82-83 type fork could you email it to me. My forks had different numbers of copper washers in the bottom of the tubes. 2 on one ,3 on the other. Help. I really need to finish this.
TIA

For a diagram of your forks, try http://www.bikebandit.com
Another N. Texas GSer. Check out the Forum GS Meeting Place from time to time. We're trying to organize periodic rides in N. Texas and you're welcome to join in.

[Anonymous]

Fork oil levels

Is the front tire off the ground? I'm not sure what the specs are for your bike, but make sure you find out. The guy at my local Suzuki shop didn't bother to look it up (supposedly he knew it in his head) so he wrote it on the oil container. I ended up overfilling them on my '79gs850g and it seeped out of the seals. I don't know about you guys, but Suzuki shops don't seem to want to waste their precious time on vintage bikes.

[Anonymous]

The quantity of oil is straightforward: drain the forks (and anti-dives) and add the oil. The oil level should be the distance measured from the top of the fork tube down to the oil level with the fork springs removed. If you noticed something odd like the numbers of washers not matching, then I would definitely get a manual and recheck everything.

Could someone who actually has a bike like mine chime in and tell me what is up. My springs are out. Forks are compressed. 8.3 ozs gets me about 10 inches from top of tube. 7.7 would have oil draining out of the air inlet hole as it is about 8 inches from the top. Am I supposed to tape up the hole until I get ready to uncompress the fork tube and install the spring. Also the washers I am talking about are so small. Human hair thin that I doubt they are effecting anything but I thought I would check. From the looks of things everything that I am doing to this bike is the only time it has been done in its 19 year history.
I do not mean to come off as an arsehole to anyone I just need to correctly without estimated guesses put my fork oil at the correct amount and height.

TIA

[jpaul]

I will check the shop manual when I get home and post the specs. I can scan the pages tomorrow at work and attach them to an email if you don't get the info you need sooner.

[Don Lobacz]

Buy the manual. The Clymer should only be $28 or so, and you'll pay for it bigtime the first time you screw up. Your picture shows a GS1150ES - make sure that whoever gives you specs doesn't go with the picture.

[Anonymous]

Buy the manual. The Clymer should only be $28 or so, and you'll pay for it bigtime the first time you screw up. Your picture shows a GS1150ES - make sure that whoever gives you specs doesn't go with the picture.

Sorry if I sounded frustrated earlier. It was not a shot at you or anyone. I have read lots of your replies in the Tech Q&A that were rather informative. I would just like to get my money pit rolling before it gets real cold.
I will get a manual. I have one for 80-81 that is helpful. Forks are different though. I work 2 jobs so going out to find manuals during the week is difficult.
Thanks to the people who offered their help. I can use it.
I am a mechanic so I know enough not to do something that could screw things up. I know when to ask for help and that is what I am doing now.

The picture was the best looking thing I could find until I take some pics of my bike. Hopefully that will not confuse anybody.
TIA

[Anonymous]

I will check the shop manual when I get home and post the specs. I can scan the pages tomorrow at work and attach them to an email if you don't get the info you need sooner.

Thanks I would appreciate that very much.

[Billy Ricks]

That level requires the springs be removed.

[Anonymous]

That level requires the springs be removed.

They are.

[billp]

Haynes makes a manual that covers the later models.
The washers you found could be the washers that go on top of the damper rod seat, there should be 3 per side, 1 flat and 2 wave. They should be about 1/2" I.D.


bill

[jpaul]

Sorry I didn't get back to you last night. When I got home the wife had other plans for my time. I'm borrowing an old acanner from work this weekend, and if I can get it running, I can send some scanned pages out of the manual. If not, I'll just post the info for you.

[jpaul]

I haven't been able to get the scanner running at home, so I can't scan the diagram until I get back to work. I read through the section on forks and they say to use 246 ml or 8.31 fl oz of oil. This is measured with the inner tube compressed, fork spring removed, and the tube held vertically. The info billp gave on the washers matches the shop digram.

[jpaul]

I finally got the page with the digram scanned. If you still need it, send me your email address and I'll send it to you. If you need any other pages, let me know.