1980 GS850G Fork Upgrad Recommendations??

[BassCliff]

Just curious after the oil shoots out all over the garage how does one fill them up with oil?

Hi,

I had my forks off and measured the proper fork oil level. Lots of pictures in these guides (PDF files):

Install Progressive Fork Springs

Fork Seal Replacement

It really doesn't take that long to drop the wheel, loosen the triple tree clamps, and slide the forks out. Then you can get a more accurate measurement using fork oil level rather than volume.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[mike_of_bbg]

I have yet to hear a good argument, geometrically speaking, as to why the forks must be absolutely upright to get a good measure of the oil height. It seems to me if you take out the springs you could leave the forks on the bike, pump them a few times to get the air out of the lowers, compress them (in which case they'll be closer to upright), and measure at the center of the forks front-to-back and still get an accurate height measure. The level will be higher in the back and lower in the front, but should still be dead-on on the sides.

In any case, dead-on accuracy of the oil height is not as necessary as ensuring that you're close and the two sides are even. You're putting in different springs so your assembled oil level will likely be different anyway.

Just my thinkin'