how to change fork oil?

[xbubbax]

i want to change all the oils in all shock, how do i go about doing this?

[SweetLou]

Post in the mechanics forum

[Mojoe]

it is a little too long to explain cuz I am short on time, but I can give you a warning. One thing you want to make sure you DO NOT do, is remove the cap/seal at the top of the forks while the drain plugs are removed from the bottom of the forks. If you do.....BANG! Your forks will compress faster than you can say, "SHIT". I made that mistake when I wasn't paying attention last time I did mine and it scared the crap outta me. It was enough to knock my bike off the center stand and I was lucky to have caught it in time.

[woobie]

There's a write up in this months Cycle Canada on how to change the fork oil with out removing the forks. You just have to remove the wheel and fender.

If a Canadian CC subscriber has a scanner maybe we could get a scan of the article posted. I would but my scanner is down right now .

i One thing you want to make sure you DO NOT do, is remove the cap/seal at the top of the forks while the drain plugs are removed from the bottom of the forks.

You have drain plugs?? must be nice 98-05 600 and 750s don't .

[stevnmd]

There's a write up in this months Cycle Canada on how to change the fork oil with out removing the forks. You just have to remove the wheel and fender.

If a Canadian CC subscriber has a scanner maybe we could get a scan of the article posted. I would but my scanner is down right now .

i One thing you want to make sure you DO NOT do, is remove the cap/seal at the top of the forks while the drain plugs are removed from the bottom of the forks.

You have drain plugs?? must be nice 98-05 600 and 750s don't .

Wow... I can't even imagine doing that. You'll NEVER get all the oil out that way. Never trust adding fork oil by volume. ALWAYS set fork oil height correctly instead...

[Mojoe]

There's a write up in this months Cycle Canada on how to change the fork oil with out removing the forks. You just have to remove the wheel and fender.

If a Canadian CC subscriber has a scanner maybe we could get a scan of the article posted. I would but my scanner is down right now .

i One thing you want to make sure you DO NOT do, is remove the cap/seal at the top of the forks while the drain plugs are removed from the bottom of the forks.

You have drain plugs?? must be nice 98-05 600 and 750s don't .

Wow... I can't even imagine doing that. You'll NEVER get all the oil out that way. Never trust adding fork oil by volume. ALWAYS set fork oil height correctly instead...

I have a pretty good method to do mine. And I don't have to remove my wheel and fender. I remove the drain plug from one fork and I bounce the front end up and down and squirt out as much as I can, then let it drain for a few minutes. Then I put the drain plug back in and then add oil from the top and crew the cap on. I then remove the drain plug again and drain just enough to push out the rest of the old oil. Then I fill it to the correct level. Then I repeat it for the other side. When I had the front end slam down on me, it was because I was screwing around with 6 forks looking for the 2 in best shape....so I lost track of what I was doing.
And yes...I have a drain plug. You don't? That sux. It's a pita to remove my forks. Quite a bit more complicated then using a drain plug.

[stevnmd]

How do you fill the fork to the correct level with the forks in the triples? The fork oil levels supposed to be set with the inner fork tube as far inside of the outer fork tube as possible. Do you just measure the length it goes inside the lower tube and add that to the oil level?

[Mojoe]

How do you fill the fork to the correct level with the forks in the triples? The fork oil levels supposed to be set with the inner fork tube as far inside of the outer fork tube as possible. Do you just measure the length it goes inside the lower tube and add that to the oil level?

Mine are not like that at all. I used the manual for mine and it gives no level specs that can be measured by length. It is cc's...volume. Once I drain it good, I add the right volume. What I squirt out the second time was measured and replaced. I squirt it into a clean container, then suck it up with a syringe to know how much to add back in. I have a big syringe I used to add oil to my forks. A measuring cup was a pita and the guage on the fork oil bottle was hard to read for my old eyes. It is designed to all be done with the forks on the bike....the way it should be. I really feel sorry for you kats who have to pull the forks. Now that I have done mine and have the hang of it, I can change the oil in under 30 mins. 15 of that is letting it drain while I drink a beer.

Wow... I can't even imagine doing that. You'll NEVER get all the oil out that way. Never trust adding fork oil by volume. ALWAYS set fork oil height correctly instead...

I measured what came out against what is supposed to go in....cuz I thought the same thing and didn't want to overfill. After 10 min or so of draining, there was under 10 cc's difference...i think it was around 7-8. I was surprised it was so little. I would pump out 15-20 to try to get what was left out. What little bit of old oil left inside won't make a bit of diff. My suspension is fine.

[Yellow]

How do you fill the fork to the correct level with the forks in the triples? The fork oil levels supposed to be set with the inner fork tube as far inside of the outer fork tube as possible. Do you just measure the length it goes inside the lower tube and add that to the oil level?

I put in my new fork oil with the forks in the triples (long story as to why); I simply lowered the front end until they bottomed out when I measured the oil level.

So basically I overfilled them slightly with the front end supported, pumped the air out by pumping the whole front end up and down... then lowered the front end and used a syringe with a measured tube to suck the excess oil out of each fork leg. I had the exhaust headers off anyway, so it was easy to raise/lower the front end with a jack under the engine.

I did empty the forks by taking them off, though, as I changed the oil and dust seals.

It is a PITA to remove the forks just to change the oil... Could you drain them by just removing the allen head screw at the bottom of the outer tube (nr 12 on http://67.15.65.225/spst/1988%20GSX600F/24.htm )? I wouldn't need to do it within the next two years, but it would be interesting to know...