GS 1100 E or 850 fork oil amounts

[cruisingram]

I don't have a book, but have a 1980 GS 1100 E with 1980 GS 850 forks on it. It was a botched chopper job, and we used the forks off a donor 850. Will provide pics later- but I need to know how much and what kind of fork oil is needed to fill these forks?

[Steve]

The Suzuki manual says 251 ml (8.48 oz) per fork leg. You should really measure the height, though, not the amount.

To measure the height, you need to remove the spring and hold the fork tube vertical. Allow the fork to compress fully, then measure 140mm (5.5 in).

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[BassCliff]

Greetings and Salutations!!

Hi Mr. cruisingram,

And how do you measure 140mm (from the top)? Use a pump from a plastic bottle and cut the tube to the length you need. I documented this procedure when I installed my Progressive fork springs. Have a look at the PDF file....

Install Progressive Fork Springs

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BassCliff

[cruisingram]

Thanks, ;I will probably just add the fluid at this point, I am actually not a newb, used to log on to this site all the time, but it seems my membership must have expired.

Thanks for the quick response again!

[Steve]

Thanks, ;I will probably just add the fluid at this point, I am actually not a newb, used to log on to this site all the time, but it seems my membership must have expired.

Thanks for the quick response again!

Feel free to simply "add the fluid", but how will you know how much is in there? The specifications are not there to ensure a minimum, they are there to ensure porper operation. If the level of oil is different in the two forks, the spring rate will be different as the trapped air will compress at different rates. This will affect how the bike handles. Personally, I like to avoid "funny-handling" situations.

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[Nessism]

No need to remove the forks, just compress them with the springs removed and make sure the fluid is about 5.5 inches from the top.

[cruisingram]

Feel free to simply "add the fluid", but how will you know how much is in there? The specifications are not there to ensure a minimum, they are there to ensure porper operation. If the level of oil is different in the two forks, the spring rate will be different as the trapped air will compress at different rates. This will affect how the bike handles. Personally, I like to avoid "funny-handling" situations.

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I am sorry, I had the forks off the bike, rebuilt them, they had 0 fluid in them, so I will simply add the same OZ in both forks. 'Course, not so hard to compress them either, will double check using measuring method as well- thanks guys